Starting at the age of 14, I went on the road every summer, performing across all 50 states as a drummer. I eventually earned a music degree from the University of Illinois, but after an injury, I took to teaching jazz music, becoming the youngest teacher to perform at the International Band and Orchestra Clinic in its 50+ year history. After spending over 10 years in education as a teacher and Director of Fine Arts, I saw many friends and students get signed to record deals, only to find the financial and business interests of the musician often take a back seat to label balance sheets. Moreover, the artists' vision and uniqueness were often stripped in an effort to further mitigate risk. Overall, the experiences of these performers were somewhat grim. After significant research, I found this experience to be indicative of the types of record deals new artists sign. For those artists who pursued the independent route, they found both their lack of business acumen (or money), and the noisy abyss of YouTube, Spotify, and other online venues to be nearly impossible to overcome. I joined with two partners to solve this problem; one with significant tech startup experience and the other with over a decade of experience working for a major label.

We founded Bandvest, a platform offering artists a viable alternative to access the cash and skill needed to scale themselves and cut through the noise without a punitive record deal!

My partners and I were proud to found Bandvest in 2017, and look forward to continue working with emerging talent to accelerate their career.