Note - feel free to view my web journal (blog) Random Thoughts. I learned to play the piano when I was around 12 years old or so growing up in Rock Island, IL. Typical piano lessons - learned by mostly playing easy classical pieces.  As with most kids that age, I didn't last too long - I think I had about three or four years of lessons. I sort of stopped until my parents decided I should join the high school jazz band as a sophomore. I hated it because I had no idea how to read the charts - it was all in chords! 

I did really like the music that we were playing though so I got out the books and studied music theory and started to listen to more jazz. At that point I was hooked! If it wasn't for my parents 'forcing' me to take jazz band I probably would never have discovered that I had some talent in music. 

I started to play gigs with a couple of bands that played weddings and special occasions - great way for a high school kid to make a few bucks. I have 'fond' memories of lugging a 88-key Fender-Rhodes electric piano around town. At this time I also played around with the flute and the trumpet and even did some jazz solos with both of them with some of the bands - though I would never go so far as to say I was very proficient. Then I had to go to college.

As a freshman in college (University of Illinois) I continued to play keyboards a bit - one local funk band on an occasional basis as well as playing for the U of I basketball games - that was kind fun - I played little piano riffs during timeouts. I was on TV when Eddie Johnson (I think that his name) smashed into my poor Fender after a fierce rebound. My fraternity friends thought that was pretty cool but had to have the legs on my keyboard welded back together. I was in engineering school, however, and pretty quickly stopped playing music because of the time demands. 

About twenty years later (!), I decided it was time to get back playing again. I bought a grand piano in Spring 2001 and couldn't believe I had gone twenty years without playing music. I soon got addicted again! One thing led to another and I started to acquire more gear and some recording equipment starting in Spring 2002. I've also been teaching myself how to play the guitar since buying a Fender Stratocaster in Summer 2002 and a Taylor acoustic guitar in January 2003.