I am not just another pretty face behind a drum set. I started taking drum lessons the summer before sixth grade. In the seventh grade I started lessons on piano and the trombone, which I played through my senior year in high school. My jr. and sr. year in high school I was drum major.

On the drums, I was 1st chair first band Jr. Clinic twice. Starting my 9th grade year,  I was 1st chair twice, 2nd chair once, and 3rd chair once first band Senior Clinic.  I was 1st chair three years and 2nd chair (my Jr. yr.) First Band All State. In the course of things, I received 12 first place ribbons for drum solos and more than 20 for ensembles, trombone and piano. In the ninth grade I started playing the tympani with the University of Arkansas orchestra. I played with them for the next five years. In the 9th grade, I passed the NARD auditions.

In 1971 I enlisted in the Navy.  I wanted to be a helmsman or sonar operator on a submarine but someone told someone who told someone that I was good on drums.  The next thing I knew I was a set player for the U.S. Navy.  In 1972 I became the LPO (Leading Petty Officer) for the unit band stationed at Guantanamo, Cuba.  Some of my duties included military protocol, selecting music for the gigs and the rehearsal director.  Two years later I was in a unit band that later became the Show Band 12th Naval District (I was one of the show band drummers for 11 months). While in San Francisco I got to jam with members of Tower of Power and Sonny Rollins. 

After the Navy I played many pick-up gigs and continued to play with the ACO summer musicals (something I had started doing in seventh grade).  In the 80’s I laid my sticks down for a few years.  In 2004 I started playing trumpet in the First Baptist Church orchestra in Springdale.  In 2006 I had a heart attack and a 5 by-pass surgery.  In 2007 Keith Wood invited me to play with Naturally Brass. The fun has just begun.