I have always been a creative guy and love to work with my hands to build things. As a boy, I worked with my Grandfather and Uncle Mike doing carpentry work in Mississippi. Grandpa was a general contractor and a great guy. He and his son Mike taught me quite a bit as a teenager, and I caught the woodworking bug way back then. My father is pretty handy also, and I learned a bit from him as well. I fully credit Dad with my do-it-yourself mentality, as the apple does not fall far from the tree. Mom is very artistic and is always sewing, cooking, refinishing antiques, playing piano, or many other pursuits.
During those summers working in Mississippi, I followed Mike around like my big brother. He was kind enough to put up with me and he also put me to work on his various projects. Mike is a really fine and meticulous craftsman and I learned an awful lot from him.
I went to school in Lafayette, LA and eventually graduated in Accounting. I know what you're thinking...that does not seem to fit! But actually, accounting has been very, very good to me. I became a CPA and worked in that field for 23 years. Along the way, I fell in love and got married. Judy and I moved from New Orleans to Atlanta and have had a wonderful life together. She is the main force that helped me become a musician, (well a banjo player at least...). I started building instruments when I saw some of Bob Gernandt's work in Bryson City, NC. The woodworking bug started tugging on my mind and I had to try to bend some wood... it was pointless to resist.
I have been building instruments since 2001 as a hobby and have long had the intention to make a business venture out of it. As I said, accounting has been good to me and in 2010 I retired from the corporate life to pursue a new lifestyle building instruments.
You may notice that many of my instruments have inlays related to hunting or the outdoors. I am a bowhunter and have had the most adrenaline pumping experiences during my hunting adventures. I feel so passionate about bowhunting that I chose the arrow as a consistent theme in my early work and this has evolved into more elaborate hunting themes and banjos inspired by the beauty I see in nature. I have made instruments without these themes, so if they are not your thing, no problem!