I am still trying to figure all this out. I play music right now, but before that I was a painter. I don't know what is next. I just know that I have something inside of me that feels better when I give it a chance to run around and have some exercise.

I started playing music when I was 17, mainly because I met Pete Novembre, on the first day of college at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He wanted to start a band. I went up to him and said, "I hear you want to start a band."

He said, "Yeah, I do. What do you play?"

"Nothing," I said, smiling.

"Um, ok. Do you sing?"

"Well, not really."

We were destined to become close friends.

Pete showed me some chords on the guitar, and I learned to play some Neil Young. Neil is brilliant, but he also writes some songs that are very kind to new guitar players. Pete and I played some open stages and college events, and I started working on singing. I wrote an occasional song, and played for my friends. It was good fun.

Something happened, though, at some point in the first few years. I started painting less, and playing more. I started needing music. I started playing guitar and singing with urgency. I started meaning it.

I am leaving a lot out of this story here. I am leaving out the year I spent traveling, living under the stars, playing guitar with the Bedouin in the Egyptian desert where strangers communicated through music, playing at pickin' parties in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where everyone was a musician and a singer and a dancer.

I learned that music bridged the gap between my heart and theirs. I learned that music was personal and social all at once. I learned that even if I wrote a song that was about something very specific, someone else related to it, and neither of us felt alone anymore. I learned that I play music both because I need to understand myself and because I need you to understand me. I play music both because I need to be alone and because I need to feel close to you. I play music both because I need to stand out and because I need to fit in.

The songs started coming very fast. I created several projects to provide a vehicle for the songs I was writing. Some were dark and heavy and loud; others were smooth and jazzy; still others were traditional and folky. My bands played in cafes and rock clubs all over New Jersey, and included anywhere from 2 to 10 musicians. We created several recordings, some studio, and some live. The final project was a studio record, Bedouin: Book of Storms, a culmination of the work of many of the musicians I liked to play with the most, including Arthur Scammacca, Carlos Pino, Pete Novembre, and Jon Francis, all of whom are brilliant and inspiring. Pete can be seen performing with Om Trio, a completely mind-blowing national act. Carlos, Jon, and Arthur all still play in New Jersey and New York, and make profound contributions to the local scene.

I moved to Colorado in June of 2002, and I have been playing out here, mostly solo, since I got here.