I am a soulful singer/songwriter born and raised in San Diego, California.
My songs invoke intimate evenings of wine and vinyl records, or dark city streets with the allure of neon lights and romantic possibility. My sound is smooth, easy and beautiful, but beneath the polished voice are songs of depth and prose.
Like many of my peers in the suburbs of the 90’s, I learned guitar by playing Metallica licks. Yet it was my parents' record collection – particularly the soul, jazz and R&B records – that I fell in love with.
Friday nights were spent in shadows on the San Diego State campus, in the entrances of buildings that provided great echo for singing.
It was in this scene that I discovered Jason Mraz, a resident songwriter who had attracted local attention. The experience of seeing Mraz was a revelation to me:
"I went to see Mraz perform solo in Ocean Beach at Java Joe's. I was totally mesmerized by his performance. I had never seen anyone combine jazz vocals and guitar in the way that he did. I started to realize that singing and songwriting was my path."
I joined my best friend in the Bay Area in 2005, where I began playing in the songwriter scene of San Francisco and Berkeley. I worked an office job to make ends meet, and continued to hone my craft. It was here that I met a variety of fine musicians, allowing me to form the band Melodic Jones for a brief stint. The band gave me an edgy and bottom-heavy sound, but I longed to return to my solo efforts.
Born out of this impulse, and the strength of my live show, I recorded Live at the Red Vic in San Francisco, featuring 11 solo performances of my best songs to date.
