Who is this masked man...????



I was raised in the burbs in Ogden, UT where my dad managed a well known dairy plant and mom raised us while doing her phenomenal art and pottery. Our neighbor's boys owned Music Village and when I was 9 mom signed Chuck and I up for lessons with Jay Ruben. I started my first band a couple of years later with well known Cowboy Poet and Western singer Bren Hill. (we wanted to be Depeche Mode, and we stunk.) I stayed at it, more or less, until we moved to Bountiful when I was 12. There I took lessons from Matt Memmott and Mark Wagstaff and started jamming with friends. A lot of my learning from this time forward was done independently and I began to figure out tunes by ear. I played in some bands through high school (Woods Cross) and went out into the world.



In my twenties I got serious. I played for a year with a ska/funk band called Catfische. That motivated me to really start studying my craft and I began to explore music beyond pop and rock. After a conversation with Utah native and then Bay Area session drummer Pat Campbell I began buying classical and jazz albums and exploring music. I fell in love with progressive and fusion bands from the 70's like King Crimson, Weather Report, and Genesis, and got extremely geeky.



In 1999 I had gotten very enthusiastic about technology and decided to attend the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences and earned a degree in Audio Engineering. I came back to Utah and kept playing guitar and doing sound. In 2002 I played briefly with Brian Anders at the Olympics for a few gigs. Brian's label was owned by Jim Peterik of Survivor and at a couple of gigs I had the honor of being on stage with Jim for renditions of Eye of the Tiger, Vehicle Woman, and other hits. 



In 2003 I decided some proper music education was in order so I applied for Utah State's guitar program and was accepted. I studied with Mike Christiansen and Kris Krompel for 2 years. I expanded my understanding of music theory and had an epiphonic semester exploring music from a variety of cultures around the world. I also played bass in an experimental reggae/folk/funk band call the Ghost Mules and tried to enjoy college. 



In 2005 I returned to Salt Lake, spent several months rehearsing with Carmen Rasmussen (American Idol - Season 2) and became friends with a fiddle player named Dennis Harrington who taught music for Park City School District. Dennis played in a progressive Irish band with my friend and piano genius Kenny Gordon. Several months later Dennis called with an opportunity to play Irish music in another band we would eventually call Swagger. 



With Swagger I have played for audiences of thousands from Las Vegas to Montana, toured with the Young Dubliners, gotten our music on PaddyRock.com, released 2 albums, eaten the best bratwurst on the planet from a hot dog cart in Boise, watched large men throw tree trunks in the air, been pulled over at 2 AM in Butte, seen a real Yew wood bow at the Ren Fair in Las Vegas, had Sarah Palin not turn a gig into a political rally at the Sundance Film Festival (no kidding, she just walked in and invited herself on stage, used my microphone and everything. She is a cute lady) and slipped on a puddle of icy water on stage in Sun Valley while attempting to pull a Pete Townsend in front of 1500 inebriated snowboarders (I didn't stop playing, nor did I cry). It's fun, but if your kid asks me if he or she should be a musician, I will tell them NO.



I have 3 kids, I fly fish religiously, work professionally in Facilities Management, have a huge extended family between my adopted family and my biological mother's family, and am a bit of a bookworm.  



I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with you and talk about buying yourself a decent guitar and learning to play it. Drop me a line.