Growing up in our house, my mother was always playing piano and singing. As I grew I began to sing songs with her, playing old classics like Moon River and Heart and Soul. And so it was that my mother planted the seed of music in me. And she helped it grow.

She also taught piano lessons to local children, and encouraged me to learn as well. I took lessons from her, but sadly I didn't enjoy practicing very much, and so I never really progressed. Eventually, I quit the lessons which was certainly a disappointment to my mom. And I can't count the times I wished I had stayed with piano, it is such a great instrument.

However, I knew I wanted to play an something. It was then I heard the drums calling me.

I began by learning snare drum. I joined the concert band. Then in high school our music teacher decided to create a jazz band. He needed a drummer, and I was the one he picked. This was the real beginning of my musical career as I learned to play the set, which became my primary instrument for the next twenty years. I played drums in bands all over southern Maine, continuing to love the music.

While in college I also began to learn guitar. It was so different than drums! My fingers resisted the fine motor control needed and the tips ached from the steel strings. But I had all this music in me and wanted to have a way to write songs, so I kept at it and have now played for over forty years. Along with drumming, which I never gave up, and guitar, I also learned to play some bass, some keyboards, and a bunch of percussion.

Going back in time, as rock and roll became more dominant on the radio, my attention to it became nearly obsessive. One of my cherished childhood memories was sitting in the family living room, either with my brothers or alone, listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40. The music then seemed more simple, altthough that began to change as the US got more entrenched in the Vietnam War and musicains began to write protest songs. I remember appreciating the power of music to change hearts and minds. I was enthralled.

It was way back then that I fell in love with popular music. I loved the exposure to all kinds of music, through radio, my mother, and by constantly seeking our new forms to explore. I loved the messages, the simple instrumentation, the stories about love and loss. My love of the form continues to this day.

One of my strokes of luck in my life was to also become a bit obsessed with computer technology, specifically Apple and Macs. I began using computers back in the eighties to record with, replacing old cassette recorders and old four tracks. We never could have dreamed that one day a single person with a fairly simple setup could record an entire band with lead and backing vocals in a home studio. And then to be able to mix them on the fly! How lucky we are to have these amazing digital tools now.

So here I am years later, having written hundreds of songs, recorded a bunch of them, and also able to share them with the world. Incredible! Some of these songs can be found here, on my Songs page. I hope you enjoy them.

• Jim