Born December 29 ^th 1986 in Springfield, Missouri

I was raised in a family of ministers and hippies, whom I love unconditionally. My parents took me across the United States in a camper trailer while planting loblolly pines for five cents a tree and at age three we settled down in Hendersonville, NC. My childhood was the antithesis of normal as I lived on a farm with my mother and stepfather-- milking goats, riding horses, and stacking wood. Country living was the means.

On the flip side of things, I also lived with my father and stepmother in a one bedroom, rustic, hippie-cabin with an outdoor shower. My father provided me an upbringing full of character, as he would challenge my creativity and courage at all costs. I credit him to my every snippet of mettle and nerve.

My mother played Rock n Roll back when ol’ Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas. She was the only female in a five-piece band called, ironically, “Two easy pieces”. She taught me to sing harmony and endured the panging melodies when I picked up the violin at age 12. I played in the middle and high school symphonies but the classical style couldn’t hold my attention. I rebelled from sheet music and began to play folk-rock blues with my mother and thus launched my first band called “Crayz Madre”. I am fortunate to have had a musical relationship with my mother and plan to extend that to my future youngin’s as well.

I continued my education at Appalachian State University and frequently jammed/improvised with various instruments and artists until that fateful day when “Julia” came into the picture. She was a vision from the east that descended upon the Boone Mountains with elegance and a winsome smile—truth of the matter is…she was Ryan and Alex standing in the Mellow Mushroom parking lot.  We commenced making sweet transcendent tunes and with the addition of Stephen and Matt , DITJ was in full form.

I graduated from App State in May of 2009 and am now pursuing the musician’s dream and subsequently, the most challenging and eventful part of my life, minus puberty.

I would consider my artistic influences to be a combination of:

Gillian Welch

Van Morrison

Dave Matthews

Extreme weather conditions

The Decemberists

Dirty Blues

Conflict and Love