1. How long have you been playing music/the banjo?

Been playing banjo for 8 years, since I was a sophomore in college.

2. What got you interested in playing music/the banjo and made you start playing?

I frequented a coffee house in Fairhope after I got out of high school called Southern Lights. They featured singer/songwriters every weekend. Some of the folks I heard there were Shawn Mullins, Bob Cheevers, Gove Schrivnor, Alan Rhody and Mike West and Myshkin. A lightbulb came on when I heard Mike. He gave me one banjo lesson and I played his "Redneck Riviera" CD over and over and over and over. He was the one that made me think "I can do that."

3. What musicians/bands, etc. influenced your decision to start playing/continue to influence your music?

I got into playing music through old folk music like Peter, Paul, and Mary and the Weavers. Eventually that lead me to bluegrass and groups like Flatt & Scruggs and then to singer/songwriters like John Hartford and Danny Barnes (Bad Livers), who write with a bluegrass influence.

4. Are you self taught or did you go to school for music?

Self-taught, except for the one banjo lesson Mike gave me. I can't read music. I survived two piano lessons when I was 7 and quit. I played trombone in marching band in 8th grade (to get out of PE) and I couldn't play and march at the same time, so the director took my mouth piece away. But the first day I got my guitar, I learned how to play Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A' Changin'," from chord diagrams off sheet music. I still can't read music or tablature. I learn mostly by ear.

5. What musical projects have you been involved with?

Had a duo in college called "Too Many Strings." We opened for the Kingston Trio, which was our only claim to fame. In grad school I was in a band called All Folked Up and then in AL I was in Fat Man Squeeze, a four-peice bluegrass/bar band that played everything from Bill Monroe to AC/DC. And we played everything at warp speed.

6. How did your new band come about and who else is involved in the band?

I stumbled upon the songwriter scene in Decatur, GA at Javamonkey, while one of their weekly songwriter circles was going on. After being burned too many times by crappy open-mic stints, I decided to keep the banjo in the car and just see what these guys were all about. I was amazed at what I heard. When I returned with the banjo and my songs, I found an instant family of songwriters. I booked a gig there and bassist, Will Robertson offered to sit-in on upright bass. Dan Casner offered his guitar playing. So we had a rehearsal and one gig. Thus, Banjolicious was born. When I officially moved to Atlanta last fall, Will and I started playing as Banjolicious on a regular basis. Will is a classically trained bassist and was a student at the Berkley School of Music in Boston.

7. What have people been saying about the new band?

"I want the definition of 'banjolicious'"

"Its like being tickled by a banjo."

"Intensely banjorific"

8. What plans does the band have for its future?

We'd like to start playing more clubs in Atlanta and see where that goes. We've got a Banjolicious CD project planned. I'm a big believer in the letting the journey take you where it will, so I don't have too many specific goals in mind...just play gigs, sell some CDs, maybe get some radio play and a small cult-following. See what happens.

9. What CDs have you put out and what kind of reception have they gotten?

• 2001 - Played By the Rules: Well received by listeners with a broad range of musical tastes.
  
• 2002 - Family Album: "The Wal-mat Song" from this was played on BBC World Radio for a segment they did on the chain store.
  
• 2003- Far Cry: Recorded with Jeff Burke, Mike West, Gina Forsyth and Gina Black (former member of Bloodshot label's The Blacks). My favorite to date. No press on it. Mike called it "soulful"

10. If applicable, how does your music/band tie in with your other endeavors in life?

I come from a long line of preachers. I consider what I do to be in the same line, I just sell a different snake oil. Its all linked to storytelling. I'm also a puppeteer (visit the All Hands Productions website). Its all about telling a good story.

11. Give a little info about your life/career in general...

Born in Atlanta. Only child. Dad is a Southern Baptist preacher. Mom stayed at home. Moved to AL when I was five. Became a puppeteer at a young age and still continue to do that as my main work. Went to college at Troy State University for theatre then to grad school in Connecticut for puppetry. Came back to Alabama and built up my solo puppet company. Moved to Atlanta in fall of '04 to be near fellow puppeteers and musicians and to escape a pulse-less existence in AL.