Last updated 10 April 2024
I’ve played guitar for much of my life – classical, jazz, and other styles. Long ago, I performed and taught on the east coast and in Chicago. I moved to the Olympic Peninsula in 2004, and in 2010 I began performing at area venues. I was extremely busy until Covid; I had resumed a heavy schedule in 2021 but was interrupted by a family health crisis in early 2022. I began resuming solo performances in late 2023, and by spring 2024 I’m playing regular solo events each week, plus lots of area appearances in solo, duo, and trio configurations.
I play many styles of music, with frequent local solo and ensemble performances before Covid (see my Facebook page for current activity). I primarily play 7-string guitars, both nylon and steel string, and I warmly endorse the luthiers Shelley Park (ParkGuitars.com), Kirk Sand (RIP, alas), Denny Kopp (KoppArchtops.com), Paul Lestock (Arrow Guitars), and Tom Ribbecke. (You can learn more about them on my gear page, if I ever put it back up.)
Formal training includes study with classical guitarist Myroslav Radawiec, jazz icons Chuck Wayne and Sal Salvador, and composer/musicologist Easley Blackwood at the University of Chicago. I have also studied piano, trumpet, flute, violin, and percussion; but guitar is my focus.
[My non-musical life was in the software business. In 1980 I co-founded Hanson-Smith, Ltd., a small consulting company. Through the years, I built software products, helped large and small clients, wrote patents, and pursued a variety of technical nerdism. I’ve struggled with back problems all my life, and this led to an unhappy ten-year hiatus from music when I thought I’d never play again. But in 2010 I sorted things out, and have been playing full-time since then.]
