Tell Us a Little About Yourself

I’m a writer of words and songs but I can’t read or write music.

Songwriting/musicmaking is my hobby/passion/obsession/side hustle. Maybe someday it’ll be my only hustle.

I’ve been writing since as long as I can remember. It really took off in high school when I began writing short stories, plays, and poetry, and I was encouraged by my English teachers to pursue it, so I did (big thanks to Mrs. Dafoe). Before smart phones were a thing, my pockets, backpack, and bedroom floor were littered with receipts, napkins, envelopes, and other scraps of paper that contained verses or ideas I’d jotted down. I soon realized I was writing lyrics. I needed a vessel to carry my words, so I turned to music.

I was always drawn to music and had taken the obligatory chorus classes, but never played an instrument until I took a few piano lessons toward the end of high school. It didn’t take long before I transitioned to another instrument and taught myself how to play guitar. When I got to college, I enrolled in a handful of guitar lessons to hone the basic skills, but often got bored or zoned out when practicing so I messed around with my own creations, slowly bringing the words and the music together. By the time I earned my BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at Le Moyne College, I had written a few songs. They probably weren’t very good, but they were my own.

After college, I hit the Syracuse Open Mic scene pretty hard, but I never played my own gigs. I think I got a little discouraged by that and eventually put my guitar back in its case for a few years. Life happened and then I relit the fire around 2018 when I jumped full force back into open mics and eventually booked myself a gig or two…and then the world shut down (thanks, Covid). I was determined to keep playing, and I’ve been going strong ever since.

I’ve self-released 3 albums and a single since 2021. The first two albums were smash and grab endeavors – I tried to get as much accomplished as quickly as possible (studio time is expensive). I wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed the third album and the single in my home office/studio aka “The Stoffice”. I didn’t really know what I was doing on the technical side, but I figured it out with what I had and am proud of how they came out, especially for having done it all solo for the first time.

Still, I view as glorified demos everything I’ve released up to this point. I’m currently gearing up to do another album, and with this one, I plan to use what I’ve learned so far to achieve a more balanced and well-produced soundscape. I also play around town as much as I can (help a guy out if you know any venues booking musicians!).

I’m always working on something, and these days it’s nice to not be walking around with pockets full of chicken-scratched paper. As I write this, I have 484 notes in my phone. One of those is my grocery list, but virtually all the rest are song ideas or drafts in various forms. I also have 103 voice memos saved, which are all song demos in various stages of completion. Some are different versions or takes of the same song. Some are one-offs. Some are full drafts, and others are merely seeds that might never grow into full trees. Who knows?

Writing helps me process consciousness and the world in which we find ourselves. I try not to expect anything from my art but if I think about it, I guess there’s a hope that people who hear my songs or read the lyrics will relate somehow, and maybe even be open to new perspectives or worldviews. It helps me get new perspectives, too.

The pursuit of writing can be kind of alienating at times, and it’s sometimes difficult to balance the songwriting with trying to book gigs, do marketing/promos, practice my craft, and everything else that goes along with it.

But hey, that’s showbiz, baby.

The tattoo on my arm reads:

word.

But the “d.” is meant to look like a dotted half note. When I get distracted or caught up in something trivial, I see the note and am reminded to focus on the words and the music.

thanks for reading.

thanks for listening.

take care and be nice to people including those you don’t know.