Although it has only been in the last few years that I've really established
myself (in small circles) as a performing musician, music and playing have
always been a part of my life. Somewhere in the second grade my parents had
started me with piano lessons, which lasted until the end of grade 8, when
the location of the high school meant it was no longer convenient to get to
my teacher's house. By mid-high school, though, I had discovered keyboards,
and purchased my first one in grade 11 (an Ensoniq Mirage 8-bit sampler).
More gear followed through university, but although I had done some performing, it wasn't until the move down to the US that I got back into it. The church we joined had a worship team, and initially I did sound for them. Within the year, I was playing occasional keys, and after a few years became the main pianist/keyboardist.
In late 2005, I joined a project that would eventually become a coffeehouse-gigging duo called reverential, culminating in a demo recording session at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville before ending in early 2010. In September 2006 through late 2011, I had picked up piano lessons again, and saw significant improvement and development in my playing.
In September 2012, I joined the worship team at a church-plant called Exalt in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, and was blessed to be with them for their first year.
Soon after, I started with the worship team at North Way Christian Community, playing at their Wexford and Oakland campuses. With the opening of a new campus in Dormont, I became a mostly-permanant fixture on keys there. I have now started to play at their East End campus.
My influences have varied over the years, but the main ones were (and continue to be) Vince Clarke, Howard Jones, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and, more recently, BT (who has become a major influence!), Thomas Dolby and Jordan Rudess.