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Music: Pert Near Sand Stone,Bag O dirt Band,John Denver, Bob Dylan,various 90's bands

Hobbies: Playing music

I am always in the wood shop! My mind never stops thinking instrument design. The ukulele is my new best friend. I never do thing the "easy" way. I like the hard way I learn more. Building instruments has been a life long dream for me. At a young age I remember seeing a tv program about a guy that built acoustic guitars, and I knew that was what I wanted to do but always thought it to be out of reach. As I grew older I learned to play the guitar on a casual level, never becoming great but always smiling as I held the instrument in my hands. Shear enjoyment is what keeps me hooked on playing music. After years of working as a mechanic and having nothing to show for it but sore hands, I felt I needed a change; I returned to Rochester, MN my home town and began to reconnect with my father, a 2nd generation Archer wood worker. The Christmas after moving home I recieved a gift that sparked a love afair, it was a ukulele. While it was a descent ukulele I wanted a better one and went on a few trips to the twin cities in search for the perfect one. I thought I found it one day and while contemplating the purchase I thought to myself, for three hundred plus dollars this should be alot nicer. On the drive home, feeling defeated in my hopes of playing a new uke I had a revelation; I'll make myself a new ukulele! I have worked with my hands my entire adult life, both my father and my grandfather are wood workers; surely I can build an instrument; and so it started. My dad opened his shop doors wide to me and gave me some pointers, like you go into the shop with 10 fingers and two eyes and thats the way you need to come out. With my dad being an acomplished furniture maker and my grandpa having worked with just about every type of exotic wood species imaginable, how could I fail. I have made over 20 instruments, and am driven everyday by new ideas and finding ways to improve. I have found my passion and can only hope it comes through in my work. I love what I do, and I make instruments I would enjoy playing. I do not use plans or patterns while making my instruments; I simply jot down my own ideas and work from there. The create as I go proccess keeps my work fresh and exciting for me and people who purchase my one of a kind intsruments.