Hey Y'all!

           My story goes back to when I was four years old. When I was growing up in Ireland, I can always remember my grandad singing or playing his accordion. One day my mom told me that I should learn a song to sing to my grandad, and so the traditional Irish song "The Rattlin Bog" became the first song I ever learned to sing. I then performed my first show in London, England at my uncles wedding. I stood there in my little suit singing for everyone and after the crowd went crazy. So, then in fashion, I took my fedora off and walked around expecting to be paid.

           After my family and I had been living in Canada for a couple years, my parents wanted me and my siblings to learn an instrument. I had tried piano lessons for a little bit but didn't care for it much. I then, for whatever reason, decided I wanted to learn Mandolin. I was able to get lessons at the same place my brother got guitar lessons but I never really cared much for it. But there was an ephipany about to happen.

           It was around December 2017 when a good buddy of mine showed me a song during a social class. The song being Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash. Up until this point I had just casually listening to music, whatever was on new country radio, but this song, was a spiritual awakening. I quickly learned everything there was to know about The Man in Black and did a deep discography dive on him as well as diving into other outlaw country musicians like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. 

            March 28th, 2018 is a day I will never forget. I was on spring break from middle school so mandolin lessons weren't currently on. For whatever reason on that day, I sat down and learned Good Hearted Woman by Waylon Jennings on the mandolin and on the harmonica which I had just recently picked up. I thought to myself "what else could I learn this on?" and then I remember my brothers old guitar that was sitting in storage collecting dust. So I went and pulled out and sat down trying to learn the three chorded song. Now it definitely wasn't worth posting on instagram as it was a less then listenable rendition of the song, but it was a start, and I'd kill to still have that video today.

            From there on I went through several phases such as The Beatles, Queen, Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Metallica and then the one that turned my world into so much more, Bruce Springsteen. When I started playing guitar I also started writing songs. I had always enjoyed creative writing, even as a kid I wanted to be an author. But mind me you, when I was writing these songs, I was 12. So you can Imagine what they were like. When I discovered The Boss, I was absolutely captivated way is storytelling in his lyrics. From there, I really started to study Springsteen and his way of writing and started to incorporate that into my writing. I credit Springsteen as my biggest hero and influence in my musical career

            Around October 2020, like many people, I was stuck in quarantine. The lockdown made me feel like I was going insane as im sure it made many, but the one good thing that did come out of it was I had endless time to practice guitar and songwriting. Over the course of a few weeks I wrote some pretty decent songs and decided I wanted to try record them. It was a painful process to figure out by myself and the final mix always came out sounding sloppy but again, it was a start. Over the next 2 years I would record and release my own music on Soundcloud.

             Throughout High School, I participated in the musical theatre program all 3 years. After performing in We Will Rock You as the supporting male lead, Britney Spears, I got an emailed inviting me to join a summer camp called Rock Camp Alberta. I thought it sounded like a beginners camp but eventually my mom convinced me to go. The moment I walked through the doors of the camp on the first day, I fell in love. I was in a room surrounded by musicians who were just as passionate about music as I was. The camp carried out over 7 days and I made so many close friends I still talk to to this day, but there was 4 guys in specific who stood out. This is where I met the guys who would come to be in my band, Velvet Concord. Sloan, Braden, Luke, and Tristan were the first 4 guys I felt I fully musically connected with. When we make music together it just makes sense. Over the past 2 years we've been doing fairly well for ourself in the Edmonton music scene and have put out our debut EP with our debut album on the way later this year. 

             Exactly 5 years after I had started playing guitar is the day I put out my debut EP, Soul Hill. It was a dream came true. I finally had music out that people could listen to forever. Releasing it on the anniversary was really special as it really showed how much progress I made in the past 5 years. I played almost every instrument on the album which I had learned all by myself. I take a lot of pride in that first album as I believe it's the start of my lifelong dream. I can't wait to see all the releases that come after it. Y'know what they say about songwriters, It only takes one.