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Biography

I was born and raised in Saskatchewan, for which I am most and mostly grateful. I moved to Ontario to attend university and ended up staying. I now live in Ottawa.

While growing up in Saskatoon, I tried to make a few bucks by delivering a weekly newspaper. Anyone who has tramped outdoors on a Saskatchewan February morning will know that toes and fingers don't take kindly to forty degrees below zero. One of my deliveries was to the Anderson household where the parents of Joni Mitchell lived. The brilliant Ms. Mitchell was by that point already a growing legend. She opened the door one morning, surprising me. I guess she was back for a visit. As it turned out, she had no money to pay me, she had no idea when her parents would be back and she didn't invite me in to get warm. Well she did smile at me - warming and inspirational enough.

It was a high school dance that hooked me, musically speaking. The band was The Mozart Group. Hair down to their waists and looking like they came from any place but where they came from (Moose Jaw I think), they were the Brown brothers (Larry on lead and Gary on rhythm), Gord Stobbe (Hofner bass), Jack Lenz (B3) and I can't recall the drummer. They were playing Chain, Chain, Chain as I walked into the gym with my friend and band mate George Tennent - I can still hear the soaring falsetto harmonies and cavernous Motown groove. I think what struck me most was that there were no limits to what these guys could do - they were Prairie boys playing music that would turn heads in any club any place in the world.

I write music that first and foremost is measured against personal standards - and I hope that it appeals to others. But since I don't control the latter, I focus on the former. I have been blessed to work with musicians that inspire me and lift my writing with the highest levels of musicianship. I am a lucky one.