My very early start in music got me onto a stage by the age of thirteen as a drummer/singer in a youth rock band. The seventh of the seven sons my parents created, each of us began a life of music early on, our parents' realized it was a good way to "keep us focused" as teens, the discipline of learning would instill a sense of responsibility and serve as a "great hobby after working real jobs". So I grew up in a house full of music where literally every genre of the day could be heard. Singing since four, I could belt out a Bing Crosby, Hank Williams, Beatles, Elvis, or John Fogerty track by the time my voice changed.

 

As my brothers' left the music scene for wives and children, I went on to learn the art of balancing becoming a performer and what my father called a "real life". My parents' loved music, it was a big part of our lives along with many other art forms but they hadn't intended for us to take it seriously, and their youngest was taking it far too seriously. I have had the best of both worlds some might say, and that's how I see it. A life full of music, a close, loving family and a grown son who's made it all worthwhile.