vocalist and song stylist.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I just finished a CD of twelve songs of my own music in the style of hard,heavy rock. Something I had been wanting to do for awhile. This was the first time i mixed and mastered it all by myself.Quite a learning curve over eight months but I am really pleased how it came out.Always wanting to improve my skill set and usefulness to others.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am continuing to compose songs and tracks for sync licensing for film/tv and also am ready to pitch several songs to major artists in country,rock pop and R&B.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: You will be happy with the results of hiring me

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being able to help other's music come to life just as countless people have been ther for me to help me take my songs to the next level.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: Am I going to get something as great as I hear it in my head? I will try to ressure the client that I will do everything possible to exceed their expectations.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Their expectations mostly.For some it is their first time and are not really sure of the whole process which I totally understand.Others have done this for a long time so it comes off pretty quick.People sometimes are hesitant to spend the money but if your music has vocals, the vocal is far and above the most important part of the song, no matter what the genre

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Like anyone you would hire to do any other job, do your research. Look around. Check out a bunch of different performers. This is your baby so take the time to get it right. Also try to communicate with whoever you want to hire BEFORE the project starts to get on the same page so it will be more like a collaboration than just a hired gun.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Again , I'm not so much a tech and gear guy but I think the quality of even stock plugins and synths in your modern DAW recording software is so amazing you can literally make an album with a laptop and a pair of decent headphones.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: Between playing live in cover/original bands/solo gigs/releasing 5 self titled CDs of my own music and helping others out on the internet with vocals, I would say about 25 years altogether.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I hear myself now and think I have a hybrid of soulful rock and rocking soul if that makes any sense.I have a pretty big range with different styles so that helps.I also think I have a very clear styrong voice that cuts through the mix in all those styles as well. And I don't use auto-tune.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always back up the session.lol

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Everything from Heavy metal to piano jazz. I love it all and am thankful i have had the opportunity to help many clients in diverse genres with their music as well.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I believe I have become very good at sound a-likes in doing vocals. At least to give the customer a starting point for reference.What I mean is that I can closely mimic a lot of different famous singers in various styles so I think that makes it easier for them to see where the song could go.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Empathy as a songwriter myself I think.I know what it's like to turn over your most precious music to a stranger for their take on it. It's hard to give up control like that, even when you know they will do a way better job than you could've. For years before I started to record myself and others I had to rely on others to do so much of the song process so I remember always to treat the customer's song almost as if it was one of their children, because in a very real sense it is.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I will get the song demo from a client and listen for a bit to feel it out.I like to get as much input up front from the customer as to what they are thinking they need in a vocal. Sometimes they want it EXACTLY as they sang itand that;s fine. Or sometimes they want me to put my own spin on it.Again, whatever makes the client happy. Then I will sing through a few times on my DAW/record a few takes/ comp the bast take/render a preview for the customer to listen to and go from there as far as any changes that need to be made. Pretty standard practice I believe.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: very modest setup in a small room in my house. Years ago I always dreamed of having a full blown studio like the majors but I find for what I do it's just needed anymore. Everything you want to do with music can be done on a laptop. And I mean EVERYTHING.I do have a real nice room for recording vocals though. Pretty dead and natural sounding so I can tailor the vocal"sound" to whatever the client needs through plugins etc.I record with Presonus studio one at the moment running a preety up to date dell tower with a bunch of ram and all the bells and whistles a computer needs.I'm not really a tech guy though. It seems all I do with music comes down to feel mostly.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: there are so many unknown but amazingly talented people doing music right now all over the world it's just fantastic. I get to be a part of that global community where I can draw from other's expertise in any given area of recording or business or whatever, and hopefully I can add something to the mix also.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: usually customers come to me with a fully developed song that just needs vocals but sometimes , especially if the client is not really a vocalist,it's best to go over the feel the flow of the lyrics and change them a bit to be more in line with how a vocalist would present the lyric. all so that it flows in the groove of the music.whatever makes the customer happy