At the age of ten a new kind of music appeared on the scene, and suddenly Beatles music was everywhere, and just about every kid in the neighborhood was singing their songs, including myself who's early favorite to sing along with was 'Twist and Shout'.

Then it was into the teenage years, and music was taking on a new dimension. The airwaves were full of music that I loved to sing along with. Gary Puckett, Creedence, The Doors, Stones, Neil Young, James Tayor, and my all time favorite group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young who I had the chance to see in concert in Chicago for their reunion tour of 1974. I could go on and on, but the point is that I had literally hundreds of songs I loved to play and sing along with-and did I ever sing-but I made sure that nobody could hear me!!

In 1973 I bought my beloved Fender Telecaster and Fender amp, and another dimension came about. Soon I was playing along with blues records by the hours, with my favorite group being the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Needless to say, this helped my guitar playing a lot.

Through these early years I was a very shy person. Many times I would hardly say a word to people, but my thoughts were always running deep. In my late teens I started putting these thoughts and deep emotions into poetry, followed shortly after that by my first songs. I thank my mother for me being able to put my inner feelings into words. In the 40's while laid up with T.B. She wrote many poems, and I have enjoyed reading them over the years.

In 1977 I had two of my songs recorded by local recording artist Claudette Dykstra, and I had the thrill of going to Nashville to watch the recording. I figured I was on my way musically. But time flew by, and it seemed life was just too busy to pursue my music seriously.

Soon it was already 1986, and with a friend we decided to form a country/country-gospel group. We are still singing together today and are called the 'Good News Quartet'. We have had the good fortune of singing all over the northwest over the years and have made three recordings together at the 'Blue Wave Studio' in Vancouver B.C.

For me as an individual, something was still missing. I was still writing songs and my dream had always been to either try and market them or make a recording myself. In the fall of 1997 my dream came true when I released my c.d. that you see here on my website 'There's Still A Light'. I have literally poured my heart and soul into these songs, and it is my prayer that I can touch others through them. Whether it be stories about my children, grandfather, wife, childhood, or maybe my song about the Vietnam wall in Washington, if I can touch just one person through this, it will have been worth it all!