My Story
You might say I’ve led an interesting and varied life. From being an outsider in elementary school to playing lead guitar in my high school rock band. From being kicked out of two prep schools to being celebrated by my peers for bringing the counterculture to our small Pennsylvania town. From soaking in the Woodstock mud to hitchhiking and riding freight trains across the USA, eventually settling in a New Mexico new age spiritual community. From the depths of despair to a life of spiritual connection and recovery.
My professional life has taken a few twists and turns as well. From being a construction laborer and electrician to becoming a marketing executive in my family’s fourth generation wholesale floral business. From playing music in bars to building custom guitars for the stars. From co-creating the syndicated public radio program Art of the Song to sharing my learnings in a book, The 20-20 Creativity Solution. From being music director and accompanist for Si Kahn’s musical Mother Jones in Heaven to writing collaborative songs with people in early recovery from substance use disorder.
I’ve been in recovery since 1992 and have been playing music and writing songs since high school. However, it has only been in the last 3 years that these two passions of mine — music and recovery — have come together.
A few songs I’ve written and produced
Co-written with my son Jackson: Millertown Road
Fireflies light up the dusk, after the rain
So much that I used to trust to mask the pain
Times went by and I ran away
And in my mind I would have stayed
A song for 2020: Hold on Tight
(Maybe even more appropriate in 2025!)
Hold on tight we're on a carnival ride
Spinning out of control
The world keeps turning faster
And I fear we’re gonna to roll
Hurricanes are taking a toll
And they’re battering our southern coast
The news is coming at me like a firehose
And my overloaded brain is toast
Gotta hold on tight... hold on tight