LIFE STORY, ABRIDGED

I’m a singer, guitar slinger and purveyor of quirky indie folk rock who recently emigrated to Denver from Minneapolis. At age 12, I picked up my older sister’s beat up Stella Harmony six-string and was immediately hooked. I went on to play in lots of indie rock bands, including U Joint whose biggest claim to fame was doing an annual Replacements tribute around Thanksgiving called "The Buttaball." We broke up after putting out a handful of records, so I traded in my big, loud amp for a big Guild acoustic and started playing volunteer gigs at old folks’ homes. I dove headlong into the great American songbook, doing everything from the Gershwins, Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. I learned a lot in those five years. For starters, seniors are awesome. They’re great listeners and surprisingly good hecklers. More importantly, I got a whole new bag of musical tricks to mix in with my punk/indie roots. I’m lucky to be backed by my nephew Jens Larsen on drums and backing vocals and Phil Chappell on bass.