I struggled after high school, to find my own way. I couldn't decide on a major in college or what direction my career should go. It wasn't that I had no interests - I had too many! I loved all the arts, but I was also interested in more stable and secure financial options, and I considered law enforcement and several other choices. From an early age, my Christian faith was very strong and I even considered pursuing a pastoral calling. Years later, I believe I found the calling to write and perform Praise music and that has been very fulfilling for me. But at age 19, I was floundering with career decisions and I began college anyway, just taking assorted necessary courses while I continued to work on my "hobby" of writing tunes. Into my 2nd year of college I couldn't afford to continue so I joined the army instead.

I tried out for an army band (I was fairly proficient on a Baritone horn) but I couldn't sight-read music well enough - ultimately, a recruiter steered me into the Military Intelligence branch since I had good scores. It was to be the beginning of an incredible adventure that would change my life, and over the next 12 years I wrote and performed songs of fantasy and flight, romance and analytical satire, deep insightful lyrics inspired by sights and wonders I couldn't have imagined before.

My first tour was to Berlin (long before the wall came down) and I loved living in Germany. The people, the culture, are just amazing. The tour that I served in Berlin, working in the now non-existant "Teufelsberg listening post", inspired many songs, and I even referred to it as the "Rainbow Castle" in a song by that name. Check out the Gallery for more photos, but here's a glimpse of what my work place looked like at that time. . . . .