So, you want to know about me, hunh? Well, let's see what we can come up with:

I was born on Aug 4^th, 1979 to a family of three: mum, dad, and brother Jason. We spent almost all of our formative years in Calgary, AB. (We stayed in Winnipeg, MA for three years.) At the tender age of four, my parents thought it wise to get me busy with something, and oddly enough, they chose the fiddle. So really, when you look at it, I was doomed to be a nerd from the get-go. Years came and went and I almost gave up on the fiddle when I was around nine years old. Nevertheless, my parents attempted to save the day and put me in a fiddling group. (As if playing by myself wasn't bad enough!) Lo and behold, it was a blast. I got to travel all over the place - Europe, USA, Canada and Mexico - and I got to be on stage. I think it was written right into my DNA somewhere, "This version needs spotlight to breathe properly. Warning: Do not place in front of large crowd with a microphone unless entertainment is desired." So, I traveled and performed with fiddle in tow; somehow managing to survive through junior high and high school - six very painful years of my life - to find myself quite different on the other side.

Halfway through my grade twelve year, my brother passed away unexpectedly. It threw a wrench into everything. I shortly thereafter quit playing my fiddle for a time. I yelled for an entire year at this far away God I had hardly known, and I retreated into myself. Once I graduated, I decided I liked Calgary enough to pursue higher education here. Therefore, when my parents moved back to Ontario, I stayed. I started playing fiddle again (after a six month hiatus) and was invited to play with a fledgling country artist (back then anyway) named George Canyon. We jammed it up for a good six years - played country everywhere from here to Manitoba and we even started a Celtic band. Some major things happened during this time of my life - I grew to appreciate the art of writing music and sculpting intricately woven melody lines, I learned a few new instruments, and I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior. That'll change your life when nothing else does!

So I'm playing, I'm schooling, I'm traveling, I start leading mission trips and then something happens, I picked up a guitar while I was in Ireland, and the guitar liked me. After four months of playing, I had written and recorded five songs, played all over Calgary at open mike shows, and started leading a band at my church. Whoa - God is good! Since then I've continued to hone my skills as a player - still working on that bar chord - recorded 4 more songs and 'released' a nine-track cd entitled 'snapshots'. (Of which I've already sold close to 400 copies all over North America.) It looks like I've accepted a call from the Lord to pursue this madness of singing for Him - in front of people!

In 2006 I wen on what turned into an 8-month journey across the USA. I got into my car on Dec 28th, 2005, and drove from Colorado, to Georgia, to Mexico and everywhere in between. God blessed me with opportunitites to lead worship, sing at coffee shops, speak at youth groups and love people - hundreds of people. After four months, I headed back to Calgary feeling unsettled. One week hadn't passed before He said, "Go back to the South. Sell everything you own, get back in your car, and go back to the South." It was an adventure of the most faithful kind. I left with next to nothing and entrusted my life to the Father of the universe. He provided along every step of the journey - more than I could have ever dreamed. I always had somewhere to sleep, food on my plate and people surrounding me. I grew a lot in that year, and my music did too.

Since then, I headed to Queen's University and accomplished my Bachelor of Education for Primary, Junior and Intermediate. I have no intention of teaching in a conventional setting, but I teach everywhere I go, through words and music - therefore I felt this a valuable bit of certification to have. It allowed me the opportunity to gig with some friends and play all different kids of music from top-40, to a weekly Celtic jam at an Irish Pub in Kingston, ON. I recently landed in Hamilton, Ontario where I worked at a Christian non-profit serving street-involved youth behind the scenes as a proposal writer, and on the frontlines as an outreach worker. I was stretched inexplicably. God has blessed me the opportunity to serve in the Jane and Finch community in Toronto on the weekends as support for a youth group and Lead Worshiper, as well as a little church in Etobicoke as the Worship Leader every other week.

Musically I'm a combination of many styles, but the most prominent is folk. You can hear a lot of Celtic in my fiddle playing, and my guitar picking is starting to rock it out a bit. My vocal style has been labeled a blend of Alanis Morissette, Jann Arden, Jennifer Knapp and Sarah McLachlan. Take a listen to my cd and tell me what you think. One day, my dream is to have a band that has a driving drummer, a groovy bass player, a melodic lead guitar, a whacked out mando/banjo player and a back-up vocalist who keeps me on my toes!

I'm still growing as an artist, but I believe there's a place for me in this world of music. I have a sincere heart and drive for performance, and creating a space where people are encouraged to look inside themselves and see what's really going on. Attempting to end the trend of narcissism, I think we also need to look outside ourselves and discover how we can contribute to making this world a better place!

Let's look together, shall we?