I am a performing singer-songwriter and guitarist with forty years of live gig and session work, mostly playing alongside top-tier musicians in the New York City area. I’ve had the fortune to punch above my weight class in music, as my vocational life focused on church work and counseling.

Early in my career, I developed a teaching approach which drew on my time at Berklee and studying with lifelong friend and mentor Rob Mathes. After my time at Berklee, I transferred to the University of New Haven to be closer to New York City for gigging and youth work, and built a roster of more than twenty students weekly. While gigging in the NYC area (including storied Greenwich Village venues like the Bitter End and Kenny’s Castaways), I earned a degree in Music and Sound Recording from the University of New Haven, a Masters in Theological Studies from Drew University, and a Certificate in Youth and Theology from Princeton Seminary.

My passion is teaching. While I focus on guitar (acoustic and electric), I’ve also helped singer-songwriters with their initial creative process, their arrangements, music theory, ear training, and fundamental performance skills. I’ve taught guitar classes in Boston Public Schools for kids as young as five years old, but generally starting from age ten onward. Now, many of my students are closer to peers, seeking to develop a lifelong love for guitar and music. Former students include professional singer-songwriters, dancers, Broadway stage performers and busy executives.

I maintain a small roster of coaching clients, and work at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion and the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. I am completing an MS in Mental Health Counseling at UMass Boston, and periodically pinch-hit in a pulpit as an ordained minister. According to my students, my background in mindfulness creeps into lessons in ways which surprise and delight me.

In the fall of 2022, I began booking regular lessons again, in sets of four 50-minute sessions at $99/hour or four 30-minute sessions for younger students at $55/half-hour. I strongly recommend starting with eight consecutive weeks in order to experience the encouraging feeling of progress over time. All lessons start with a complimentary 15-30 min in-person appointment to meet, examine the instrument(s), and develop aspirations and goals. I will consider a discount rate (if warranted) for an eight-week session.

I have limited slots available on Saturdays at the Baker Barn in Concord and during the week at my home or via web conference.
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Acoustic, electric, bass, uke, performance skills, songwriting/arranging…it’s all on the table in service of enjoying the priceless gift of creating and performing music.
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