My Musical Journey
I started playing piano as a child but didn't put enough time into practicing or focusing on learning the right things and so after a few years got bored with it.
Like most things in life, "you get out, what you put in" - I should have put more into it.
In high school I picked up the guitar and learned the basic chords that power most pop and rock songs. Through college, I played whenever I could, but when work and family life took over, music faded quietly into the background for a while.
Exposure to Jazz
That changed one day when I took my five-year-old to his violin lesson. I came home inspired to learn violin alongside him, but my wife convinced me to focus on expanding my guitar skills instead.
The local music school had instruction in folk/rock guitar (which I felt I already had a good handle on), classical guitar (which didn't interest me) and Jazz guitar which I was curious about. So I signed up for lessons.
Whether you like jazz music or not, the music theory behind it is mind-expanding. All of a sudden there was a multiplicity of chords and variations and extensions and scales to master. The fretboard opened up to new sounds and voicings. I was hooked.
Songwriting
My first song arrived unexpectedly on a rainy California weekend. A group bike ride I'd organized got canceled, and the email I wrote to call it off turned into a poem. I picked up my guitar, set it to a jazz progression, and something clicked.
It was such an energizing experience! I wrote a few more poems and set them to music and started going to weekly songwriting workshops and song circles.
Live Performances
Since then, I've performed on locally televised competitions at West Coast Songwriters (Palo Alto), on Song School's opening night at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, and at occasional live venues. These days, I prefer studio and online performances for the creative control they offer and the ability to connect with listeners anywhere in the world.
Stolen Moments - Debut Album
My songwriting has evolved through two distinct eras.
The first produced Stolen Moments — a collection of songs centered on social issues, longing, desire, memory, and the infinite "what ifs" that define our lives and relationships. Those songs reflect my fascination with both personal emotion and the larger questions that shape our time — themes influenced by my personal experiences and aspirations in relationships, as well as social issues inspired by my introspections as an entrepreneur and technologist.
Evolution
My more recent work comes from a different place — literally and creatively. It's inspired by travels to places of natural beauty and deep history: ancient ruins, windswept coastlines, and quiet coves that invite reflection. Some songs have grown out of my adventures (and misadventures) wingfoiling — a sport that constantly reminds me how small we are compared to the forces of nature, and how important it is to be persistent, flexible and opportunistic all within the same session!
I've also begun experimenting with Suno AI for the musical arrangements, while continuing to write all the lyrics myself. This collaboration lets me focus on emotion and lyrical essence — the heart of each song — and has created a kind of virtuous circle of inspiration. It started with having to come up with interesting music to put on my wingfoiling videos. Now, when I travel, I photograph and film scenes that might one day become part of a music video; those images and places spark new lyrics, and the songs in turn shape how I see and capture the world around me.
Ultimately, my music is a way of exploring what it means to be alive and aware — to move through beauty, uncertainty, and time with open eyes. Whether I'm writing about human connection or the pull of the wind on water, the goal is the same: to turn observation into emotion, and experience into something that might outlast it - a stolen moment.
If any of these songs or stories speak to you, I'd love for you to be part of the journey.
You can explore more of my music, stories, and reflections — or join the creative and like-minded community through Songs for Thought, where I share new releases and the moments that inspire them as well as host occasional online meetups.