I grew up in Plymouth Meeting, a suburb of Philadelphia. Having lost a son, Todd, to a hit and run accident, my traumatized mom was encouraged to have another child. And so I was born. To bring laughter back into a heartbroken home.  Around the age of 7 years old, after drumming on any flat surface I could find, my parents bought me a drumset. My brother Jeff (who was with Todd at the time of the accident) is 7 years my senior. That age gap meant that by the time I was 10 years old, not only did I know every Beatles song ever recorded but I also loved atypical David Bowie albums like Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World. Heavy lyrics for a kid, for sure. 

While The Beatles cast their forever spell on me, I was drawn to Bowie’s bigger than life, otherworldly, sexual androgynous image. By age 13, I was turned onto Bob Dylan. I consumed every Dylan album, sold my drums and figured out how to play guitar and write songs. All the while, the dark cloud of the family’s past hovered over our house. 

In addition to music meant for listeners twice my age, I was seeing movies in theaters with my parents that were way out of the norm for a kid. Whereas my friends were seeing Star Wars, I was seeing Ingmar Bergman films, DePalma, Woody Allen and a ton of indie art films in between. 

Along with the films, records and songwriting, I always loved to draw. Nothing more exciting to me than a blank piece of paper, a pencil and time. When I wasn’t drawing, I was drumming. Not “practicing” per se. No, I was hittin’ those Ludwig’s loud enough that our next door neighbors called the police more than once. 

The pieces of the puzzle that would become my life’s inspiration and soundtrack were now in place. Now it was my turn. When I sold my drums and bought an acoustic guitar, it was like finding a best friend. Where nothing “normal” ever came easy (sports, people, commonalities), songwriting did right from the start. I understood how songs worked and I could communicate quite naturally with them. I finally had somewhere to get my anger, my happiness, my sadness and my confusion out. With my guitar being the only one I could talk to, I hit the folk clubs, rock clubs and any place that would have me. 

This nonstop inspiration and frustration finally landed in ‘95 when me and my band Wanderlust signed a record deal with none other than the label Bowie was on, RCA.

I had written a song that was unique for me in that it had stormy verses with an upbeat chorus. The song was called, ‘I Walked’ and Wanderlust toured the U.S. and Canada while it was the #1 most requested song on stations across the country in the summer of ‘95. 1995 ended with a bang when Wanderlust opened up for The Who at the US Air Arena.This same year, I signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Studios in L.A. which lead to many adventures. From hearing my song ‘(I Am) The Summertime’ in the film and soundtrack of American Pie (and receiving a Gold Record), to watching Oprah Winfrey mouthing along to “Like We Never Loved At All”, a Grammy- winning song I co-wrote for Faith Hill. 

In 2009, myself and Sharon Little were picked by Robert Plant, Allison Krauss and T-Bone Burnette to open every show on their Raising Sand Tour. We were not only playing venues like Madison Square Garden but also signed to CBS Records. Many of our songs were heard all over TV shows like ‘CSI:NY’ and we even appeared in one of the episodes. 

Since then I have delved into my other childhood obsession: film. 

I made a documentary about the lives of singer-songwriters starring Steve Forbert, Lisa Loeb and others. My own story of course was included. My next film was a fictional short called, ‘Playback Is A Bitch’, that won several awards on the film festival circuit. The next film is a very different subject, a documentary about a young hip hop artist who committed suicide called, ‘This Is Major’ and it is currently being seen around the world in documentary film festivals.

In between films and documentaries, I make videos for bands and artists alike. I was asked by Lucinda Williams to create onstage background videos for her ‘Car Wheels 20th Anniversary Tour’ and film some of her live performances. I’ve created videos for artists like Angel Snow, Beth Nielsen Chapman and more. Perhaps, it’s those that get the full result of my upbringing: music and film.