I was born and raised in Salem, graduated from North Salem HS in 1974 and from Willamette University in 1985 with a bachelors degree in french horn performance. In 1987 I went to work for Weather’s Music in Salem where I started learning my craft. A large part of my job was prepping hundreds of new & used instruments each year for rentals and visiting the schools where students were playing them. I covered a large area in and around the valley such as Silverton, Woodburn, McMinnville, Newberg, Sheridan, Dallas, the Oregon coast from Tillamook to Waldport, Cloverdale, Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Stayton, Sublimity, Mill City and others. Basic repairs and services were performed in the band room. Over the course of time I developed skills that ultimately led me to open my own repair shop in Keizer in early 1994.

I became the band instrument repair tech for Uptown Music along with dealing direct with the Salem/Keizer school district and all of the previously mentioned districts. In 2000 I moved from Keizer to Bend and set up shop in Central Oregon Music at the 3rd & Greenwood location. It was there that I met master luthier and my business partner, Peter Heithoff. In October of 2001 we opened our own shop. Currently, I spend a large part of my time at the bench repairing and servicing the instruments for the band families and the school districts in Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook and Harney counties. The remainder of my time is spent taking care of the instruments of the adult players in the area, both amateur and professional.