Bio

I was born in 1957 in the pre-Beatles rock n roll era. All three of my older brothers could play either piano or guitar and my earliest memories include one or the other of them playing trumpet, trombone and an accordion as well. We were the grandsons of a well-known musician in our town of Fresno, California. I can remember when I was twelve and my mom had taken me to the music store to get my first guitar.The manager heard she was Johnny's daughter and started talking about what a great player he was. I remember thinking right then, "Yeah?..Well, I'm his grandson! Just give me a few years..."

I had been writing songs on the piano since I was ten but I wanted to be a guitar player as well. Artists who were writers and singers and who played both piano and guitar became my biggest inspirations...artists like Paul McCartney, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens. I was also inspired and stretched to achieve by keyboard players like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. When I was fifteen in '73, I was introduced to the growing genre of Christian Rock. Now my new inspirations included artists like Keith Green, Michael Omartian, Phil Keaggy, Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill. In the later '70's and into the '80's, artists like Dan Fogelberg, Don Henley and Michael Hedges were great influences for me. To a certain degree, I'm a product of this collective mix of artists who inspired me, but I now stand as an artist in my own right and am best known so far for songs with a cutting message. Songs with titles like "Reverend Twistruth Blues" and "Neatly Tied Religion" are two of my releases with videos that have received the most views on YouTube to date. Since I love so many styles of music, my compositions will range from a variety of genres from rock to neo-classical to jazz/fusion and then some.

My wife Nava (musical partner and best friend), and I, currently reside in the Ozark hills of south east Missouri. Together, with ten others, we share a small farm we call "Goshen."  We are also the co-founders of Congregation Beth Menuchah (The House of Restoration) in Piedmont, MO and have been officiating Sabbath services since 2001. 

This ninth project, "KINGDOM COME" is the current focus for us. It should contain about 12 songs...most of which were written over the course of the last 20 some years. Four tunes were freshly written post COVID-19. It's a collection of songs relevant to our current times, with a prophetic focus on the greater world coming, and a number of congregational worship songs.