Never knew what a mandolin was until about 15 years ago when a co-worker brought one to work.  He played it for me then said take it home for a while (my life would never be the same).  Decided I needed my own instrument so I went to Buffalo Brothers and bought a Kentucky mandolin and started  learning Irish and classical music.  Discovered bluegrass a few years later when another co-worker, fellow bicyclist and banjo player invited me to play bluegrass with a group of other people.  I didn't know anything about bluegrass or who Bill Monroe was, but he encouraged me and said you only need to know 3 chords.

I started to explore other mandolin music and discovered Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Don Stiernberg and John Reischman.  This music blended more with the style I was interested in, so I started listening and playing along with their music.  These musicians made me become obsessed with the mandolin and shifted my interest in music more to acoustic style of music.  Acoustic music also fits more into my lifestyle.  As a biologist, nature lover, and outdoorsman the music just seems like an extension to my life long interest in the earth and the natural world.

A few years ago I started taking lessons to fix all of my bad habits and to learn better technique, so I did Artist Works with Mike Marshall for 2 years and he set me on a path to improve my playing (also discovered Choro which I like to play now).  I still take lessons, and Christopher Henry is probably the biggest influence on me for building technique, speed and accuracy.

I was encouraged to start going to some of the Jams around SoCal, where I met a lot of wonderful people and realized how many people are interested in roots music.  When the Cobblestone Ramblers started to form I was excited to be a part of a group that would eventually perform together.