bassist, composer, climbing guide, artist, software engineer, husband, father...certainly not always in that order

I started playing music in 1965 at the University of Florida in Gainesville. It was an amazing time for music and for me. I played in a bunch of bands and hung out with the guys in Tom Petty, Lenyrd Skynner and other groups that were around. Purlee, one of the better bands I played with, toured the US for several years, opening for Tower of Power, Argent, Canned Heat, Elvin Bishop and numerous other acts of that era.

In the mid-70's I came off the road and applied for and got a scholarship to the University of Miami. There were many great musicians at the school at that time including Bruce Hornsby, the Dixie Dregs and Pat Metheny. I was in a pop band with Bruce for a year. I got my bachelors in Jazz Performance there in '73 and hung out for another 2 years, playing & enjoying the beach life.

In '80 I moved to NYC where I lived for 5 years. I got into the scene and played with a lot of jazz, rock, and country bands. I got in on a reunion of BS&T and toured with them for about 18 months and spent several months with Buddy Rich. I played with composer Scott Johnson's ensemble which featured lots of great players including saxophonist Lenny Pickett and I did studio work with a variety of producers.

In '84 I got a scholarship to Columbia University in computer science. After completing that program in '85 I started a software company called Dr.T's Music Software with Emile Tobenfeld. We were one of the first companies creating MIDI music software for musicians that ran on the personal computers of the time. I moved to Boston in late '85 and we ran that company for 12 years. Along the way we got venture capital funding and created a line of children's music-education software which was very popular at the time.

In the mid 90's I got into rock climbing. After Dr'T's closed in '95 I did software consulting for a variety of companies including Papyrus and KinderActive. I married in '97 and moved to North Conway, NH and continued consulting and developing different projects for a variety of clients. I got back into music in 2001 and have been playing professionally since with 5-6 different bands:

  • Sounds Clever - R&B horn band that is very popular in the area
  • Bear & The Honeydrippers - great blues quartet
  • The Jazz Meisters - classicjazz quartet
  • The White Mountain Boys - very popular honky-tonk and country band

 I also run Hoot Night at the Wildcat Tavern, the great 24 year long running open mic.