CURRENT MISSION

To discover balance

ABOUT ME

I'm a percussionist, often an accordionist, sometimes an ukulele playing countertenor, rarely a licensed orthodontist. I've performed professionally with Scottish bagpipe bands for the past decade, which has been a lot of fun and my main outlet for travel.

I germinated within the long-withstanding South Austin folk scene, and must credit it for who/what/how I am today. I've a patrilineally inherited cornball sense of humor, a knack for bad puns as well as my own well honed, anti-climactic style of story telling.

All in all, I consider myself a fairly amiable, well-meaning, light-hearted, languorous fellow, predisposed to the wearing of sarongs and the consumption of large quantities of chorizo.

PHILOSOPHY

Music is the source of my inspiration in life. It infiltrates nearly every moment of my every day.

Learning is a lifelong activity, though I have grown ever disenchanted with academia. For myself, constant exposure to different ideas, places, and ways of life are the surest ways of keeping life fresh and instigating personal growth.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm all about orienting people in new, potentially overwhelming environments (cuz I've been there before!). I've lived in Austin my entire life, save for a 4.5 year stint in Denton, but we'll overlook that bit. Don't know how much longer I'll be sticking around here, so I suppose, soon enough, I'll be more active on the surfing end of this community.

Interests

the fusion of musical genres, accordions, ethnomusicology, day hikes, black coffee, birkenstocks, conversational topic hopping via association, sleeping in the sun, feminism, massage therapy, hats, wild flowers, classic fiction, period dramas, New York Times, folk music

• womens rights
• coffee
• massage therapy
• flowers
• traveling
• music
• folk music
• hiking
• surfing
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

movies- Anne of Green Gables, Time Bandits, Never Cry Wolf, Muppet Treasure Island, So I Married An Axe Murderer, The Apartment, Night of the Hunter, Edith Piaf, The Wicker Man

music- I'm a lover of all musics, but among my passions are Afro-centric musics in the Americas (Rumba, Landó, Afro-Peruvian, Brazilian samba and forró, Salsa, etc.), Latin Fusion, Celtic, Folkloric, Avant-garde, Nu-Jazz and Funk. Artists: Harry Nilsson, Richard Galliano, Eliza Carthy, Miguel Angá Diaz, Bill Frisell, Martin Sexton, Kate Rusby, Captain Beefheart, Alasdair Roberts, Esperanza Spalding, Uncle Walt's Band, John Williams (the accordionist), Andy Cutting, Yerba Buena, Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Soulive, Fairport Convention, Noisetet Obscure, Grateful Dead, Susana Baca, Victoria Police Pipe Band, Orlando Cachaito Lopez, Vashti Bunyan, The Books

books- the lone ranger and tonto fist fight in heaven, moonheart, oscar wilde short fiction, the celtic consciousness, the workds of charles dickens and joseph campbell

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got to compete in the World Bagpipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. What a trip that was, and we placed 7th!

Teach, Learn, Share

i can share my knowledge of this stuff - latin percussion, scottish drumming, concertina, accordion, music history

Countries I’ve Visited

Mexico, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States