Aloha! I’m very happy to be able to get together with you and look forward to getting you started, or help you continue, your ukulele journey.

A little about me: I have lived in the Lansing Area all my life and am a proud resident of our Capital City. My father’s family is from Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula, and my mother’s family from the Detroit area.

I play guitar and ukulele and perform in a trio called The Ukulele Kings as well as by myself as a singer/songwriter. I host the Lansing Area Ukulele Group (LAUGH), the Mighty Uke Day festival in East Lansing, Interlochen’s Uketoberfest, Midwest Uke & Harmonica Camp in Toledo OH, the Askokan Ukulele Weekend in the Catskill Mountains of New York, as well as perform and teach at other ukulele festivals across North America.

I graduated from the Michigan State Department of Education. I’ve taught English as a Second Language for Okemos Public Schools, worked as music facilitator with the Clinton County Special Education program, and taught ukulele to students and teachers in classrooms and libraries around the state. I have also taught music, American culture, and English in China, Vietnam, and South Korea.

In my “spare” time, I help my partner Rhea Van Atta with her Old Town General Store. I have a forty-something son who is a cook and a musician, a Blue Heeler named Toby, and three rescue cats named Silo, Maddie, and Tuxi.

My favorite sport is Detroit Tigers baseball. Two songs I have written about the Tigers have been admitted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

To say the ukulele has changed my life would be a tremendous understatement. From happening upon my first festival in 2009 to becoming “Michigan’s Ukulele Ambassador”, the ukulele has brought me many new friends, furthered my understanding and appreciation of music, and gave me a renewed sense of purpose.

I feel the ukulele is the most folk of folk instruments, because it brings folks together. As Jake Shimabukuro once said, “If everyone played the ‘ukulele, the world would be a better place.” I sincerely believe this is true.