I live in Vermont now, after having lived in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Philly.

I started singing in high school musicals, and ended up singing a capella in the Brown Derbies during my time in school. We toured Russia, Japan, and all over the USA, and it was a great experience.

After graduation, I moved to Philly, picked up a guitar, and began busking in Suburban Station passage ways. Mostly Dave Matthews stuff, like every song on Remember Two Things and Under the Table and Dreaming.

After three years of the hard Philly life, I moved to San Francisco and started a band called Simple Charlie with two of my friends from Brown. The band was a mix of folk and funk, and the harmonies were what made the sound unique. We played all the clubs that had bands there, had way too much fun, and wrote a lot of music.

After three years of the San Francisco life, I moved to New York. I started recording and playing solo again, but instead of busking I found small cafe's and bars to play at. I landed a weekly gig at a place called 12:31, in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, where I played every Tuesday for 2 years, met a lot of cool people traveling through and living in the City. Eventually, a couple of those people convinced me to take a different gig a few blocks away, at a restaurant call Il Sogno.

My time playing weekly at Il Sogno was the most fun I had playing music. I got to play original stuff when I wanted to, and then late night play covers of stuff I liked, or just wanted to try out. I started doing smash-ups of songs, popular songs and Broadway hits, rock songs and folk songs, and generally had a blast. My last show there was in December of 2006, when I moved to Vermont with my family.

Upon moving to Vermont, I took a hiatus from playing live, and even writing songs. Having a new baby can do that to you. When I started playing again, I stopped using a plectrum, and my newer stuff reflects this style. I haven't put anything new up here yet, but will when I can.

I think this is a really cool site, and it's well put together, and I encourage anyone who enjoys it to contribute to the authors. As a web developer by profession myself, I really appreciate the care and work that's clearly gone into this website. And like a couple of guys busking in the subway, they will definitely feel the love if you drop a few bucks into the guitar case.

Enjoy the tunes, make it a good life.

Rick
January 2007