I’ve been back in the Denver Metro area for 5 years now, after a 3 year intermission in Bellingham, WA, but now it is time to pack up the gear and move again. After a short layover in Santa Fe, I’ll be permanently located in Los Alamos, New Mexico for the foreseeable future. As of now, I am still a member of Bloodstrike and will likely be drumming on the next studio release as well as going on the next tour, TBD. All my students have been migrated to another teacher at this point and I will be starting fresh in NM.

The decision to move was based on housing and financial stresses in Denver and a fortuitous job offer my wife received. If you live in or near Denver you know that housing is becoming impossible to find — unless you’re moving in from out of state with cash, or you have a local job significantly more lucrative than teaching music. I know a talented bass player who was homeless for a while despite both gigging regularly and working 40+ hours a week at a day job. In a two income family, it had not yet come to that point for me, but I can’t sit and wait for that day to come.  As a drummer, finding housing where I can practice or housing where I cannot plus a practice space is difficult and very expensive. Incomes, even for very skilled employees like scientists (i.e. my wife), are not even close to keeping pace with the cost of living. The area is pushing people out in all walks of life.

In contrast, though the music scene in northern New Mexico is inferior to Denver in every way, the cost of living and the wages paid for most work are much more in sync. Life is still possible there for a normal person. I’ll still be in striking distance of Denver, but not immersed in the scene.  It is a drawback for sure, but sometimes you have to follow the money instead of the dream. Especially when you have a child to look out for. In NM I will be able to own a home and pay less in mortgage than I am paying in rent now. Significantly less. The schools in Los Alamos are also excellent, meaning that my progeny can have the best possible opportunity to become irritatingly smart and successful.

If you’re in the Santa Fe/Los Alamos/Taos area, you’re in luck as I am bringing my drumming and teaching skills your way! Hopefully, I’ll be able to resume private teaching, writing books (there is already another one in the works, look for announcements about it in a few months), making videos, and playing in bands.