About me....I'm a married "forty-something" songwriter/musician/producer/recording artist (BMI) currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. I decided to move to "Music City USA" from Niagara Falls, New York almost ten years ago. I spent many years in the Buffalo music scene honing my skills at performing, recording, live audio reinforcement, studio engineering, writing, arranging and producing. My primary instruments are keyboards, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass guitar. I also do a lot of rhythm programming. I don't consider myself to be a great vocalist, but I manage to put down some decent vocal tracks once in a while.

  Since I've been in Nashville I've met many talented people from everywhere who've made their home here to be part of the exciting Nashville Music Scene. I started networking at songwriter events and tech seminars to get to know the Nashville way of doing things, and to establish good professional relationships with writers, artists, and industry people. I've taken the opportunity to co-write with both published and unpublished writers, and I believe these collaborations have really helped to make me more competitive in this crowded marketplace. Although I'm based here in Nashville, I work with people outside of Nashville when a good opportunity presents itself. There are so many writers pitching songs in this town that I feel there's a need to step out of the "Nashville Box" and open alternative doors.

   I continuously work very hard to step up the quality of my work to meet industry standards, and have recently been producing, recording, and engineering productions for commercial release. I am taking on both song and instrumental projects to diversify my catalog which I will try to showcase on this site from time to time. Most of my music on this site right now is either work demos or songs that have copyright protection. I've learned the hard way that it's too easy for unscrupulous people to get high quality recordings directly from here to use without permission, so if you're interested in hearing my latest recordings (masters) please contact me via email and I'll get you some recent samples of my work. I wish I could just throw everything out there for the world to hear, but I also have to try to make a living at this. LOL

Here's a little history about me...

   I started studying music on my own around the age of ten. My first instrument was an old acoustic guitar with only four strings on it. I would have preferred six, but we really couldn't afford them at the time! I learned music from as many books as I could carry from the library. Our church was a community music school, and there was a piano in almost every room. I couldn't wait to go to church to play the concert grand piano in the choir room. I'd stop by the church whenever I could during the week to play it when no one was around. 

   At an early age I remember listening to songs and picking out the different parts in the arrangement. I was always amazed at how they could make everything sound so good. I didn't realize back then that many of the most popular artists had a lot of "help" in the studio to get that perfect recording! My first recordings were made on a Radio Shack tape recorder,  with that top-of-line microphone you plugged into the side. I figured that wasn't gonna win me any Grammy's, so I moved up to a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder. From there I used an 8-track reel-to-reel and actually started recording some decent demos. It didn't take long for me to get hooked on recording studios, and I began to sit in on as many sessions as I could in the bigger studios around town. I've always tried to learn as much as I could from anyone who was willing to teach me. I don't have a music degree from Julliard or Eastman, but I've had plenty of on-the-job training with folks who make their living in this business. 

   I've replaced all of my analog recording with digital recording with no regrets. The technology of today's recording industry has allowed me to put together arrangements and productions which I could only dream about when I was a kid! I'm having the time of my life doing music right now, but I wish I would've had this technology years ago. Well, I guess it's better late than never!

   
   I'll add to this mini-autobiography as I get the time. I hope you enjoy my music, art, photos, poetry and anything else I can think of to put on this site!  :o)

  Take care,

   John