I was filling sketchbooks and figuring out how lines and color could tell stories long before I had words for it. By the time I was eight, I was painting houses alongside my grandfather in the family business, learning early lessons about patience, craftsmanship, and how color behaves in the real world. Music showed up just as early. I picked up any instrument I could get my hands on, learned how to carry my voice, always curious about how sound worked and where it could take me. The only time my parents could keep my still was if I was creating, and I’m lucky that they encouraged every creative outlet I could find.

A huge influence during those formative years was my mentor, Calvin Jones, who guided me from high school, into college, and until his passing. His mentorship shaped not only how I approach art and music but how I think about discipline, community, and carrying forward what’s been given to you. I studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I received the Smith Scholarship. While I didn’t follow a traditional academic path, my time there helped shape a visual language grounded in tradition but open to improvisation, something that naturally carried into my music.

During that time, music took center stage and I transitioned into performing full time, exploring blues, Irish traditions, gypsy jazz, and American roots music. A turning point came through my connection with gypsy jazz artist Alfonso Ponticelli at Chicago’s historic Green Mill, and today I travel throughout the country performing and teaching alongside him, appearing at gypsy jazz festivals and venues throughout Chicago, St. Louis, and beyond.