About
Well, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t interested in the music, at least a little bit. In the rare event that you’re interested in the man behind the music, this page is for you.
I grew up in Abilene, Texas, which is centered in the direct center of the state. I spent most of my years there studying piano and competing in various performance competitions, losing far more often than I won. I modified Beethoven works for recitals to make them more palatable, rethought the entire function of timing in performance, and generally just did all of those things a pianist wasn’t supposed to do technically. It was through these experimentation that I discovered composition. My piano skills have been in constant decline since.
Right now my wife and I live in Fort Worth, Texas, and we’re quite happy here. She is a high school theater teacher, and moreover she is the person in my life who keeps me going every day. At one time in my life I claimed music to be more important than anything else, but Becca has proven that statement wrong. She and I were high school sweethearts a long long time ago, even though we attended different schools in towns separated by a couple of hundred miles of road. After a number of years dodging the issue, we married in June 2005.
I am currently working as a contractor in the IT field around Fort Worth. My background is a solid blend of UNIX, Linux, Windows, and Novell engineering, plus some project management, application support, and network administration. I find contracting to be a pretty decent way to make a living, though the lapses between gigs can be troubling. My latest project has me working with the Information Security group in an environment containing more servers than most companies have workstations. It’s exciting work, though I must admit that the cloak-and-dagger tales told by the movies are quite untrue. The reality is that it’s far, far more exciting; the women are far, far hotter; the cars far, far faster. Even the hackers are far, far cooler than Wolverine makes them look. Or at least they would be if Information Security was even remotely like that.
As for musical influences, I enjoy Pink Floyd, David Arkenstone, the Dave Matthews Band, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Jeff Buckley, Willie Nelson, Sarah Brightman, Dire Straits, Enigma, Enya, James Taylor, Rush, the Moody Blues, Robin Trower, Carlos Santana, and Steely Dan, to name a few. I don’t know if I would claim to draw style or inspiration from these groups, but I do spend a fair amount of time jamming to their respective works. My strongest musical tastes are of the Classical persuasion, and encompass everyone from Beethoven to Satie. I do especially enjoy Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Scriabin, Wagner, and Led Zeppelin, all of whom I believe either changed music forever or should have.
Thank you for taking the time to get to know me a little better. If you’re still here, why not take a few minutes to listen to a piece of music or drop me a note?
