Proud husband to an extremely gifted educator. Proud father to an amazing daughter immersed in academia, truly, one of my mentors . Founder of Eau Claire Media web design and marketing company, Former IT project manager. Avid cycler, volleyball player and former Scottish Highland games, heavy events, competitor. (yes, I can toss a caber). Community Leader, long time President of Parkland Community Association and Musical director of the best and biggest community music festivals in Canada. Proud friend to many great people in my community.
I started my musical immersion at a very young age when I would spend hours every day listening to my sisters 45’s while she was at school. In grade 2 I taught myself piano. My mom was a self taught piano player and thought this was the normal path, so, no lessons. In my early teens I picked up my other sisters guitar and started to play a bit. After showing great interest, my mom did get me some lessons at a local music studio. After one year of taking lessons the owners of the studio hired me on as a teacher.
As my playing advanced I started to get more interested in more difficult ways of playing and was lucky enough to have a teacher that could teach classical guitar. After a few years of lessons with him I started to study with Ralph Mair at Mount Royal Conservatory.
After completing my last RCM exam I quickly immersed myself back into the rock, blues, jazz, folk, etc. I’ve played in a few different bands around town, gone to many a jam session, and played in numerous duets over the years.
Festival Organizer
I am passionately involved in the best community music festival in the country. I have been the President and Musical Director of Parkland Summerfest for over 10 years. During this time I have had the privilege to work with some of Canada’s greatest artists including: Colin James, Jim Cuddy, Tom Cochrane, Loverboy, Trooper, Chiliwack, Mariana’s Trench, etc. I feel very lucky to have been involved in this festival for as long as I have been. With crowds of up to 2500 it takes a lot of great people to make something like this work. Also, there are some great stories that come out of an event like this, I will be adding them to my blog.