Family History Born in Augusta Georgia in 1955, I moved to Kennesaw Georgia at the age of three where my father began a long career as a practicing family physician. Both my parents played the piano fluently throughout my childhood, and at the age of eight I began taking lessons. My mother's parents from Boston Mass. had deep ties into classical music. My grandmother was a violinist and made her living playing for the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler's controll. Her name was Mildred Shaw. I remember as a child her coming to visit and bringing her violin. She was wonderful. I currently am happily married and have two great sons ages eight and nine. They are wonderful too.

Music History

Piano lessions from the age of eight to thirteen began as a forced subject and ended as a desire to learn music. At the age of thirteen I changed instruments to the cornet in the school band and continued playing until I was sixteen and too cool to carry a cornet case around school any longer. When I turned seventeen I picked up my first guitar and fell in love with it. At the age of eighteen I got my first multi track recorder and began writing and recording all origional compositions. They were bad but a great learning experience. I knew at that point in time I wanted to make my living in the music industry in some capacity.

Little did I know how difficult that would be and how hard it is to make a living at it even if you are a great musician, which I am not. After many years of multi track recording experience, along came computer midi and hard disk recording. What a change in the music industry! I became very interested in the new technology but my time and financial resources limited my exposure. As computer and midi equipment became cheaper and cheaper it finally became possible to start gathering together some equipment again. I'm still, to this day, trying to put together a complete digital studio for my personal use.

Education and occupation

As I mentioned earlier, throughout my school years music was embedded in my soul. I loved to listen, play, and even dream about music. I played in a few bands in high school as well as the school band, and I also worked as a landscaper to earn extra money. Landscaping at that point of my life became a tool not only to earn extra money but to help buy music equipment, and it helped me get through college. My music was left to late night and weekend jamming due to my working and my studies.

After completing my core curriculum at Kennesaw College, I found a program at Georgia State University called " Commercial Music and Recording " which was the perfect answer to my dreams of becoming successful in the business of music. I loved the program and met many influential people in the business as a result of it. Throughout my time at GSU, I had a multi-track recording studio in my basement and was able to work on my own compositions.

After graduating from college, I did an internship at a major recording studio in Atlanta called " Mastersound ". When my internship was over I started a business of my own called " Professional Recording Services ". This business lasted until I realized I was not making enough money to support myself much less a family that I knew was in the cards for my future.

In the spring of 1986 I and several old friends opened up a landscape nursery and garden center. With my music on hold again, I saw this as an opportunity to make a decent living and still have the income to add to my equipment collection. Once again my music was limited to late night and weekend jamming. It took me a year to figure out that a three way partnership among friends was never going to work and I sold out and started what is now Plant-Pro, Inc. We have been in business for about 10 years and counting. We are a landscape contracting firm dealing with commercial and residential accounts.

My music still burns in my soul and I still have the dream and desire to make music my life's work but for now I must settle for what pays the bills.

The Frustrated Musician