A singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, plus he is the president and CEO of Boulder Creek Musical Instruments. The company does guitars, basses, and ukuleles and has a very impressive artist roster. He performs regularly and this year earned Best Band honors in the Gilroy Dispatch’s 2018 Best Of. They also had the distinction of being called by Ingrid Croce to play a Jim Croce Celebration of Life for a dear friend of hers and Jim’s that had passed away. He has years of experience performing as a solo act, in a duo or band as well as as a headliner and an opener, in the case of the latter having done so for the likes of Pablo Cruise, among others.
"Sometimes people who are performing tend to overlook their sound. They have incredible talent. They have incredible songwriting skills. They have incredible stage presence. But they overlook their instrument."
"You have to be careful as a musician to not get what I call, I jokingly call it Jordache Syndrome, but it could be any name brand syndrome."
(on trying to get an endorsement) "As an artist you need to have a great grasp on what it is you're trying to create musically... And when you approach a company... usually what either continues the conversation or kills a conversation is if the artist expects something for free. And that, to me, boils down to respect. And, if you want to get respect from the guitar company, so that they will sponsor you, you have to have respect for the guitar company."
"We're all in business, and you go all the way down to each of us as musicians. We're out there gigging and playing. If a potential location wants to hire you to play and they say, 'Hey, we'll pay you 50 bucks for three hours,' is that respectful? No, it's not respectful. I don't care what you call it, but it's not respectful. If a guy says, 'Ya' know what, you'll get a lot of exposure,' no, that's not respectful either. And as musicians I encourage you all to stand up and say No."
"(having a sponsorship/endorsement is) like family. It's like wanting to show off a niece or a nephew or a grandkid or baby or something like that. That's your baby and you need to promote it and you need to be willing to do it."
"Know your product. Be able to discuss your product. And think before you call and make that email or whatever it is asking for endorsements and say, 'You know what, it's important to me to sound the best that I can do in everything that I play and all the shows that I do. But it's also important that I have a partnership that is almost like a family where I can promote and do things and I would love to learn more about your company and what you would like me to do in order to promote it the right way.' And if you do that it's a two-way street; you scratch my back, I scratch your back."
"The NAMM Show is just a massive, crazy, nonstop week. And so when you come up, as an artist, be very cognizant of the company if they have to do business or if they're in a business meeting because sometimes artists can come up and if we're talking to artists all the time, we may miss something that could be huge for our business, so be sensitive to that."
"We're working, playing musicians. We're not suits, we're not engineers, we're not rocket scientists."
"I found my peace and solace in music."