I started playing the harmonica in the early 90’s as a boredom cure for down times working on commercial fishing boats. There were, and probably still are, a lot of commercial fisherman in Alaska that are musicians; a lot of which were adherents to Old-Time and Bluegrass traditions, but not all by any means. Melody driven fiddle tunes were my gateway to locking down melodies on the harmonica and eventually led to the formation of the first working band I got to be a part of. Good ol’ PCRB, the Panhandle Crabgrass Revival Band. We made two records and and toured extensively all over Alaska and down the West Coast, playing many dive bars and festivals including Wintergrass, the Portland Old-Time Gathering and the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival. In 2007, I won an Individual Artists award from the Rasmussen Foundation which allowed me to record my first solo project “TROUBLE”, available for streaming and for sale on the MUSIC page of this site. Since then, I’ve had the sheer luck to perform and record with more bands than I can list. Some of these bands are still working, some defunct, some literally dead. When I moved to Texas in ’09, I had the great honor to work with some of my heroes including the late James “Slim” Hand, and Wayne “the Train” Hancock. In ’09, the Austin Steamers were formed and had a lot of success and fun, playing at SXSW, a Mountain Song at Sea Bluegrass Cruise, Stubb’s Barbeque, as well as long (2 year +) weekly residencies at the legendary Hole in the Wall and White Horse in Austin. We played many festivals in central Texas and were featured in Richard Linklater’s Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated movie “Boyhood” (playing my song the Old Black Crow) as well as more venues in Austin than I can hope to remember. I also recorded the “Steamroller Sessions Vol. I” around this time and which is available to stream and for sale in digital and (Double 7”) vinyl formats. I’ve been most recently working with Hillfolk Noir out of Boise Idaho and will link recordings I’ve made with them as they are released. I got lucky to get adopted by them and have toured all over the west with them, sometimes opening solo. Check out their label, “Junkerdash Records” for which I’ve written an article in their ‘zine and is on the blog page for your reading.