bio

teaching

I’ve been a music teacher since 1981. I’ve taught guitar, banjo, bass, piano, and ukulele. I’ve taught at music stores and music schools, for community education programs in St. Paul, Lakeville, South St. Paul, and North St. Paul, and, from 2002 until 2021 for the City of Woodbury’s Parks and Recreation Department. I’ve taught people from 7 to 70-something, beginners to professional players, in just about every style.

Currently, I teach piano, guitar, mandolin, and ukulele at Cadenza Music in St Paul. I expect to bring back the banjo later this fall, but no longer teach bass. I'm at Cadenza on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

performing

I’ve been a professional musician since 1975. I’ve performed as a solo singer-songwriter, as a member of a folk trio, as a member of a mime troupe, as the leader of a variety band, and, since 1990, as a solo guitarist at coffeehouses, restaurants, bars, concerts, and private events. In 1997, I began performing jazz on the 7-string guitar. I still love, and play, the 6-string and 12-string versions of the instrument. In the past. most sole performances featured jazz tunes, original compositions, and ragtime, and several guitars. These days, I'm mostly just jazz and only bring one axe to any one gig.

From 1996 till 2005 I played in the jazz duo Duotonic with drummer Carole Selin (that was the main reason I took up the 7-string guitar). We resumed playing. with Carole on guitar and voice, in 2019. The pandemic and its aftermath ended our run as a duo and we've each moved on to other projects.

education

A few years after I got my B.A in English from Carroll College (Waukesha, WI), I went back to school at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (Milwaukee, WI). I attended full-time for three years as a Jazz Performance major in both piano and guitar. I took courses in music theory and ear training, and performed in many student ensembles.

In 1994, I received an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Hamline University (St. Paul, MN).