Growing up, my parents were the biggest supporters of music in my life. My dad earned a Master’s Degree in music with a focus on piano, currently teaches piano lessons, and has directed choirs for the past 50 years, while my mom taught piano and violin, led chorus ensembles, and currently directs the high school orchestra at North Cobb Christian School. They cultivated in me a love for music that was already put inside me by God. My mom began teaching me piano at the age of 6, helping me really grow as a player.
 

In 7th grade I began playing the trombone as well as the bass guitar. I really enjoyed the trombone and loved being able to play with some of the bands and orchestras at school. Excelling quickly, I became 1st chair in our high school band in 9th grade and continued until graduation. The bass guitar really got my attention as a result of my student pastor at church, who played bass. He had played in a pretty successful band, and was a really good player. He began giving me lessons and really began teaching me more of the practical side of music. That same year I began to get involved in our school praise team, playing both piano and bass guitar for the band, and continued to do that until I graduated as well.

I believe my background in both classical styles of music as well as contemporary styles of music gives me a well-rounded base from which to teach. I appreciate the classical styles of music very much, and value their importance, but also value incorporating contemporary songs that students know.

When I began college, I taught acoustic guitar, and bass lessons for 2 years at North Cobb Christian School. Recently, I played bass guitar in the Christian band, The Museum, for four years, full time, from 2008-2012. Playing with them and being in front of crowds whether 10 people or 1000 people has really given me some musical wisdom beyond the notes. Beginning in 2013, I began teaching piano and guitar lessons at Legacy Community Academy, starting a lessons program there, which led my wife and I to begin our music school. During 2013, I also began playing with the Passion Band. These past 2 years playing with them has been an amazing experience, getting to play for the Passion Conference here in Atlanta and Houston, going on a World Tour where we played in 6 different countries, and getting to be a part of some of their tours in the Spring and Fall. I’ve learned so much from those incredible experiences and am excited to impart some of that knowledge to the students!

I love seeing students “get” music. It’s like any other subject or new language, in that it takes study and hard work. But it is truly amazing to see students begin to understand how the world of music fits together, and even more to begin to love it.