I grew up among the rice fields, peach orchards and almond orchards in a smallish town called Yuba City, California (Go Honkers!). If anybody has heard of it, it was probably because it was rated the worst city to live in the United States 3 years running.
I came to Seattle in August of 1993, when I was 19. I was disillusioned with the community college I was attending, and generally unhappy about being in Yuba City. Through some people I had met through Young Life I was offered a job as a graphic illustrator for a small software company. I was at the company for about 2 years before it met its demise.
I knew I had made the right choice to move here when I met a friend (Keith McMahon), who I had known in California, out of the blue on a #13 bus at the corner of Queen Anne and Mercer, the morning after my plane had arrived.

Can you tell us about your family?
Which family do you want? The one you see every Sunday with me, or the one that raised and nurtured me for the first 19 years of life? How about I tell you a little about both.
My father was an interesting man. He was a storyteller. People would be rapt with attention the moment he would start telling stories of his life as a cop, singer, truck driver or Department of Justice agent. He could capture people with his charm.
My mom is a strong woman. She grew up all over the world. My grandfather was a geologist and taught in Universities in Burma (Myanmar), India, Egypt, etc. She has seen more of the world than most people get to see in a lifetime. She was a speech therapist until the day she retired, 37 years I believe. She comes to visit now every 3 months or so to see her grandchildren.
My brother Eric (3 years older) and I used to beat each other up but now we are extremely close, even though he lives in L.A. now. He went down to Pasadena to finish his Masters of Divinity at Fuller and remained. He and I share a lot of the same dreams and hopes though our lives have taken different paths. He is also a musician and an amazing cook, excuse me, I mean chef.
As for the family you see with me at church every Sunday:
Kristin and I met at Caffe Ladro just down the street from Bethany back in June of 1996 and it was all over. She is phenomenal. She's my wife, a mother, an administrator, a teacher (piano & homeschool), musician, my biggest fan and my best friend. I could keep going but I'm trying to keep this brief. These are just some of the hats she wears in her multi-faceted role.
We were married in 1997 and had Amadea in Jan. of 1998.
Oliver was born 4 years later in April of 2002 and Ezra was born in October of 2004. My children are the joys of my life. This family is the reason I am who I am today.

What do you do occupationally?
Like I had said before, the software company job didn't last very long. Since then I have been the communications supervisor at a large Seattle law firm a shipping/boarding agent for international freight vessels and have owned my own painting company.
But what I do now I enjoy most of all. I get to build houses. I work for Johnson and Hunter, LLC. We are a design and build company. I love that I'm not sitting at a desk all day. In fact, I don't sit at a desk at all. I love working with my hands. In a given day I can don any number of different hats needed to get a job done. There's always something new to learn. I love the challenges that are put in front of me every day.

When did you become a believer?
I came to know The Lord back in 1990 at the Young Life camp Woodleaf. I guess you have to be careful when you say "God if you're real, you need to show me; If you're real I will continue to walk in your ways the rest of my life." Who knew? (besides him of course).

When did you join Bethany? What drew you to attend this church?
Kristin and I joined Bethany in 1997 but I started attending Bethany the year I moved here in 1993. Keith & Sara McMahon had been married here that April and were youth leaders at the time I had arrived on the scene. They spoke very highly of this church on top of Queen Anne Hill, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I instantly liked the place, everything from the music to Pastor Bruce Murphy's sermons even to the building itself. From the first time I came Bethany was a place where the Holy Spirit lived. It was and is place where people come to see Jesus and to know him. God is tangible here.

How (and for how long) did you become involved in Alpha?
Alpha was a God thing. I have only been involved for this last fall session. I was initially asked back in May of this year if I would be willing to lead worship for Alpha. My immediate response was "no!" It just seemed to be another thing to take away a night from my already busy schedule. However, in conversations with God and Kristin it seemed to be the right thing to take up another night. God does amazing things through Alpha.

When did you start to recognize that you had a talent for music?
(e.g., voice, guitar, composing)
I have to start by saying that genetics got me off to a great beginning. My father was a professional singer for many years.
He sang a little with the Los Angeles opera company but also used to haunt the jazz clubs in L.A. and Pasadena. My mother used to sing in chorals while growing up.
I started in music by picking up the clarinet when I was 7 or 8.
I played classical and jazz until I was 14 or so. I made the regretful decision at that age to stop playing in the capacity that I was. I discovered I could sing when I started Young Life in high school, it just came naturally to me.
It was also because of Young Life that began to play guitar.
The guitar player that had been the regular for our club for so many years had given his "notice." He saw that I was "toying" with a guitar at that time and asked if I would be interested in taking over for him after he left. I know that he will probably never read this but I have a big place in my heart for Mr. Andre Laboyer.
I didn't even start composing until after I had been married for a few years. I think I wrote my first song (a worship song) in about 2000 or 2001. I think I had done it once for something or other and decided not to ever do it again. And no, you will probably not get to ever hear it so don't ask.

Who has influenced your musical style?
That could take up this entire interview for all the varied styles of music that I listen to. However, I would have to say that my biggest influences would have to be: U2, Jeff Buckley, Grant Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo), Bruce Cockburn, etc., etc.

What process do you have for writing, or composing, songs? How do you become inspired for the words that you write? Are there common themes in your writing?
These are not easy questions for me to answer because there is no formulaic process that I go through. I don't use rhyming dictionaries, thesauruses or computer programs to write my songs.
Some songs come pretty much all at once through a fit of inspiration and some songs are sitting around unfinished, literally for years. Case in point; the title track for the record that I just released "Until The Road Ends," had only the music for 4 or so years. It wasn't until about one month before I went into the studio that I sat down to write the lyrics for this song. For me it is probably the most poignant song on the record and that is why it became the title track.
The songs initially come from a very emotional place for me. "The Sweetest Thing" (not the U2 song) is a love song I wrote for Kristin six years after we were married. "Autumn" is a song I wrote in the fall of the 2004 after my father died and after Ezra was born. And "For You My Child" was a song I wrote after hearing about the suicide of Caleb Jordan.
After I have the "meat" of a song lyrically I
will revise it to make it theologically sound (hopefully) if it is about God, and lyrically engaging.

When did you begin to consider making your own CD? How was that for you? How were Bethany members (and others) encouraging to you in producing the CD?
Simply put, I grew up as a musician at Bethany. If it weren't for the community here this record literally would have been impossible right now.
Starting a few years back I constantly was asked the question "Do you have a CD?" and I had to say no every time. That was the impetus for my wanting to make a record. It was an expensive endeavor though and I couldn't finance it myself. So after wrestling internally for a year or so I sent out the letter asking for support that many at Bethany received. The response was overwhelming and I was able to push forward with the project. I am so grateful for this community and for the encouragement they have given over the years. THANK YOU BETHANY!
There are a few pillars of strength I have in my life, God, my wife Kristin and my community at Bethany. God gave me the gift of music and the desire to share it. Kristin saw my music as something special when I really didn't much of the time. If it wasn't for her support and encouragement this would not have happened. The Bethany community was instrumental (no pun intended) in making this desire become reality even when I thought it was out of reach.

How did you choose which songs you wanted to put onto the CD?
That was easy; they were the only songs that I felt were most complete and kept with the overall theme of the record. There are some songs that I didn't put on the record because my songs have a tendency to be a little longer than your average song, and I wanted to keep the record under an hour. As it stands it is 57 min. and 1 sec.



How did you choose the theme of your CD? What does it mean to you? What do you hope others will gain from listening to your CD?
As I mentioned before, the title of the record is "Until the Road Ends." An over-arching theme in many of my songs have to do with journeying and the idea of being at home or moving towards home.
I see my life as a Christian like a road we travel down. I know that sounds pretty cliché but it's the truth. We are constantly encountering change along the way. We make stops now and again. We sometimes journey as a caravan and sometimes as a lone rider; sometimes the road is nicely paved and you can tell your traveling on the correct side and then sometimes it feels dirty, dusty, dry and full of potholes. At other times you're wondering even if the road is beneath you anymore.
The record starts with the song "In The End" which talks about the hope we have after our journey is all said and done, the hope that Jesus gave us when he rose from the dead. I believe we should live out our lives in the light of the "end of the story."
This record is essentially my testimony. I run through many ruts and potholes along the way but eventually make it home. The last song ends with these words:

Home is where you rest your head.
Leave the world behind the walking dead
Home is where break the bread,
where you drink the wine and make amends.
Where you revel in the afterglow
of a messed up world that's been made whole.
By the grace of God we face the face
of pain that's scarred this human race.
One on one we face our fears,
two by two we climb on board.
Hand in hand we will rebuild,
heart and mind we will restore…

Do you feel that it has been a learning process for you? What was good / hard in putting together the CD?
I now know what not to do for when I go back in to record my next album, if that says anything.
The emotional energy spent in producing this record was the most trying aspect. Long hours recording, longer slower hours mixing and remixing and remixing and remixing then mastering.
Did I mention remixing?

Are you hoping to make a career in music? If so, would this just be making your own CD's or is there another way that you would like to engage in music?
The short is yes but I am not banking on it. It is extremely difficult to make a career in music without sacrificing integrity. That's in God's hands I believe. My family and making sure we have what we need to survive is ultimately more important to me than making music a career. With that said though, I don't believe it's out of the realm of possibility. Like I said, it's in God's hands.
I will make music for the rest of my life regardless of where it takes me.
After being in the studio making this record I really felt the desire to 1) continue writing and recording but 2) to be on the other side of recording. I love the idea of engineering, producing and working with other talented musicians in that capacity.

How do you see your music as a ministry?
I don't really know that yet.

If you would make a 2nd CD, do you have an idea of when you might aim for this?
More records will most definitely be on their way. I do not know when they might be happening however. Ideally it would be great to record every 2 years or so but that I believe is in God's hands.

If someone wanted to consider pursuing a ministry in music, what would you advise them based on your own journey?
Don't do it for fame or money or any other reason that will tear you away from God. It's God that gave them the gift, to speak truth to people through song. The guys from U2 believe that music can change the world and look what God has done through theirs. I believe that whatever world another life touches can be changed through that individual's music. It doesn't matter if you're putting the world on notice about HIV/AIDS or ministering to a few broken hearts in some place that's not even recognized on a map. When God is in it then it is good.