I could always hear my dad’s car stereo long before he pulled in the driveway.  Both my parents loved music; it was always on in the house.  By the time I was in eighth grade, I wanted an electric guitar like I saw Jimi Hendrix playing in posters up on our walls.  When we asked around about guitar lessons, I was lucky the music store down the road recommended a local guitar player named Scott Pemberton.

It didn’t matter what band I was into at the time, he was always able to play their songs and teach them in a way that got me playing the music and having fun.  He used songs I was enthusiastic about to teach guitar technique and music theory.

I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and it was an exciting place to be a young musician.  You can go out and hear great music any day of the week and its easy to meet musicians coming from different backgrounds and perspectives. 

In my own bands, I played rock and jazz around town, and I got to play many of the clubs that I loved as a spectator.  Playing music with friends helped me understand how important a supportive music community was to me.  I worked part-time at a local business called Eurotubes, which supplied electron tubes for guitar amplifiers and helped customers with their guitar tone quests.

As I worked toward my degree in Music Education at Portland State, I taught my own guitar students privately and for after-school programs.  I try to teach the same way I was taught; with songs students are excited to play, then building towards the next challenge. I’ve taught guitar lessons for close to ten years now, some all the way through their high school years. 

After earning my bachelor’s degree, I moved to Victoria, British Columbia.  I’m starting fresh in a new city and am looking forward to meeting to people and musicians here on Vancouver Island.