Ten years ago, I was just eighteen.
I had managed to book around eight gigs a month, and was balancing high school between the late night shows.
Two A.M., on the other side of the state, surrounded by bar room strangers on a Thursday night was no place for a teenager; but that’s how it started.
I’d have my dirt cheap Takamine acoustic and a pawn shop Fender PA, loaded into the back of a 1998 Ford Ranger at all times.
Work was becoming more and more frequent as I drew closer to graduation in 2013; and there would be days where I would leave school, drive three hours to the Atlantic coast, and play until midnight.
I’d return home with over a $100 in tips, and my name on a (laughable) check, only to get up a few short hours later and return to my life as a high school student.
The months slowly crawled forward, and by the time that graduation day was upon us, I had doubled up on my gig schedule, and was really starting to feel the weight of the money and opportunities I had acquired.
This would continue to grow and become increasingly busy until I could eventually survive on just my musical endeavors.
Nine years ago, I was just nineteen.
I had corralled a collection of five songs that I thought had potential. These songs would be produced by Lu Rubino, and would be tracked at Fish Tank Recording Studios in St. Augustine, FL.
The five song EP (The Runaways) was the beginning foundation of what would become my discography. The songs favored well among friends & fans, eventually finding limelight on 103.7 FM The Gator (a local Gainesville radio station).
This was the first introduction that I would have into the recording, releasing, and marketing world as a musician.
Fast forward another six months, and I was living in the heart of Gainesville, FL; successfully scraping by with nothing but shows and the money I had made through music.
My calendar would be stretched from one Florida coast to the other; driving as far South as Orlando, and North as Macon.
I was starting to pick up work in various clubs as an opener for artists’ like: American Aquarium, Jamie Davis, Big Shoals, Natalie Nicole Green, ect.
This, in-between a constant gig schedule around the Sunshine State would prove to be the key in growing my fanbase.
With every show, I’d have a fresh batch of (free) homemade CDs that acted as an introductory “mixtape”.
This free CD would be the connector between the real people I was meeting, and the virtual accumulation of listeners online.
Since I’ve started this endeavor, I’ve amounted over 20,000 followers (subscribers) between my various social networks; and well over a 150,000 streams on my discography.
Seven years ago, I was just twenty-one.
After years of pounding the concrete in the North Florida scene, I realized that the industry wasn’t anywhere close to the swamp.
Despite having a growing popularity and schedule in Florida, I was seeking more opportunity in bigger places. This decision would lead me a thousand miles west, to the Live Music Capital of the World: Austin, TX.
The next two years would be a long story of endless Texas highways, honkey-tonk bar fights, and lone star music legends in cramped venues around the evergreen city of Austin.
This new scene provided me with a perspective and work flow that is an essential part of who I am today.
My time is Austin was short lived, but once I returned to Florida, I had become a whole other animal among peers in the circuit.
This time would also be marked by the release of my first debut album, Jenny.
Coupled with the energy of moving home and releasing more music, I once again assumed my role as a major hitter in the scene.
By 2020, the world had plunged into an uncertain future, and all business was at a strong stand still.
This time period would not only force me back into my original job as a concrete mason, but would also provide me with a lot of (non-musical) downtime.
I would start to realize all of the things I had missed, while I was out West. This nostalgia, mixed with the raw emotions of moving home and going back to my day job, would inspire me to pen the lyrics to my next project, Warmer Era.
This project would be produced by Logan Fischer, and tracked at Blackbear Recording Studios (Gainesville, FL).
Launching from the success of my previous work (Jenny), Warmer Era was received well among the ever-growing fanbase, and is currently residing as my second most streamed project to date.
Continuing in that same velocity, I would go back that year to begin tracking my third project, an accompanying EP, I See Horror.
Both EP’s stand together as a collection of songs that draw from the verbal well of nostalgia, loss, anger, fear, excitement, and sheer adolescent rock & roll.
Two years ago, I was just twenty-six.
It was the summer of 2021, and I had just finished writing the final song for my sophomore album, Southern Oranges.
The recording process for this second full-length LP would start on September 2021, and would carry on until January 2023.
The tracking would include all-star players and studio musicians from all over the North Florida scene.
Working, waiting, mixing, gathering more financial backing, going back to record, drawing through marketing logistics, and so on.
This second album has truly become the brain-child of years in the musical ether, trying to gather experience and moments for a sonic landscape like this.
Set to release in 2023, the project will stand on the bones of all my previous work, and is currently on the path to supersede my previous numbers.
Today, I’m twenty-eight.
The future is bright, and I’m busier than most professionals in my scene.
I tour four times a year between Texas and Tennessee, and make a living out of my music in Florida.
The shows are getting increasingly better and more populated with familiar faces.
My band is booked every month of 2023, and we have some BIG opening spots for some even BIGGER bands (just go check out the schedule).
I hope you’re well, and I hope that I can catch you around.
Stay safe, and I’ll see you on the road in 2023!