Growth, Peace

& Gratitude

Every moment of every day is an opportunity for GROWTH. When you realize this and stop judging everything as “good” or “bad” you find PEACE. Once you find this peace you feel an overwhelming sense of GRATITUDE. To me, this is the meaning of life. I go to bed feeling grateful and I wake up feeling grateful. Thank you, God. With you I am always at home. I sincerely wish, for every human being on this planet, Growth, Peace & Gratitude.

Music

Music is such a gift to us all and I appreciate it more with each passing day. I am super grateful to be able to write, record and perform music for a living. Sometimes writing comes easily for me, other times not so much. It kind of feels like fishing…my line is always in the water but some days the fish are biting and other days they just aren’t. When I get stuck or feel uninspired, I listen to other artists that I admire and I come up with my version of one of their songs. So much fun…I always find it helpful in getting my mind cleared and more often than not, I return to my writing with a reinvigorated mindset. I work from the inside out. I do not seek out validation from external sources. I am not afraid of the truth. How ‘bout you?

Growing Up

Music grabbed my attention in a very profound way from a very early age - certain styles of music more than others, but music has always elicited very powerful emotions within me. I started playing drums when I was in 5th grade and picked up other instruments along the way. I have always had a sense that music would play a huge role in my life. My mom and dad were both always so supportive. They allowed my brother and I to have our drum sets in the living room...thats right, 2 drum sets in the LIVING ROOM, and they never once asked us NOT to play. My mom was especially supportive since she was the one home all day and had to put up with all the noise. My mom passed in 2004 and my dad passed in 2014. May God rest their beautiful souls. I thank God every day for allowing me to have them as my parents. My mom was fun loving and kind hearted. Always dancing around the house. Loved music. Fiercely loyal. My dad is my hero. The best person I will ever know. Period.

Now

It is February 2022 and I feel like I am just beginning. I have written a whole mess of songs over the past 30 years and I’ve started recording them. I’m gonna share my music with anyone who is willing to listen. My plan is to continue to record and release/post original music as regularly as possible. My intention is to be 100% authentic. I write everything. I play everything. I release everything on my own terms. 100% Independent. “Good” or “bad”, it is all on me.

Live Show

Currently, my live performances consist of my original music as well as my renditions of cover songs that I like. I usually play the first portion of my show with just acoustic guitar and vocals and then ramp up to include my backing tracks. Every note of my show, pre-recorded and otherwise, is 100% my doing. I don't sequence or download anything. You probably don’t care about this, but I do. The thought of downloading or sequencing backing tracks makes my skin crawl. If I weren’t able to play the other instruments and record my tracks myself, I would definitely NOT use some awful, pre-packaged or sequenced tracks. Those are literally the opposite of what mine are.

Things I Love: God, my family, America, my friends, the truth, our Stanley Cup Champion St. Louie Blues, polite and respectful people, seeing my wife and kids smile and laugh, real instruments played by real musicians, Adriana's on The Hill, pretty much any restaurant on The Hill, dark chocolate covered almonds, crab rangoon, ice cream, a good nap, iced tea, tator chips, Popeye’s Chicken, hockey, golf, tennis...

Things I Do Not Like: PC culture, cancel culture, drunk idiots, cheaters, rude and disrespectful people, when the Blues lose, when I am out of chocolate covered almonds, when Popeye’s Chicken is closed, taking breaks at my shows, writer's block, virtue signaling, faux outrage...

FAQ:

Why don’t I take breaks at my shows? - Why would I take a break? Breaks are for pansies. LOL - The truth is that I’d rather be playing than NOT playing. The only times I have taken a break since I started playing solo 12 years ago is due to illness or equipment malfunctions. Thankfully, neither of these things happen very often and God has blessed me with an abundance of energy.
Where did I “get” my backing tracks? - I didn’t “get” them anywhere. I created them myself, one track at a time. Every note of my live show is my doing. If I had five sets of hands I could do it all at once but since I don’t, I have to record the other parts and play over them.
Do I play private events? - Absolutely. I play everything from corporate events to backyard parties.
Who are my biggest musical influences? - While I like a wide variety of music, if I had to pick one or two it would be Prince and Stevie Wonder. They inspired me to write, record and produce everything myself. After I listen to or watch either of those two guys, it takes me a while to calm down. It has an amazingly instant and profound effect on me, in the best possible way.

That’s enough about me for now. Now read about my friend...

My Friend, Tom Ballman

A lot of people have asked what the “282” on my guitar strap is all about, so here it is…

282 is the badge number for the late law enforcement officer Tom “Fritz” Ballman. Tom was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 7th, 2008 in the tragic and senseless Kirkwood City Hall shootings.

I am proud to say that Tom Ballman was my friend. We had gone to school together since 6th grade. The very first time I ever performed music in front of anyone was in Tom’s basement during a party he hosted in 8th grade. I remember Tom being so supportive and enthusiastic about us performing at his party despite the fact that we were just starting to learn our instruments and were not very proficient, to say the least. We were brutal, yet Tom was always complimenting us. I will never forget that. I wear my “282″ strap as a way of making sure that Tom is never forgotten. Folks always come up to me at shows and ask what the 282 means and I get the pleasure of telling them all about a guy who was worth talking about. Tom “Fritz” Ballman will never be forgotten.

Thank You

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my website. I sincerely appreciate it and I hope you enjoyed your time here. If you make it out to one of my shows, please come up and say hi. I’d love to meet you. God bless you and your family.

Growth, Peace & Gratitude,