Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
I’m a native Californian, but I’ve lived here on the East Coast since 1980. As a kid, my dad was a department store manager for May Company. They thought Dad was great at opening stores, so every time a new mall was built that had a May Company Department Store, we moved to a different town. As a result, I attended four elementary schools, a junior high and three high schools before I graduated.
My music career started in the 6th grade with piano lessons. The bagpipe instruction happened in my sophomore year of high school. Again, we had moved to a new town and I was going to Helix High School in La Mesa, California. Their football team was called the “Highlanders” so they had a bagpipe band to match the theme. I had never heard a bagpipe before until the first day of school there when I passed them while walking home. I inquired as to what it was and what it would take to play and started lessons shortly thereafter.
I believe that everything happens for a reason. At my final high school, Corona Del Mar in Newport Beach, I met the choir teacher while wandering through the halls, and he drafted me for the choir. I loved it, so after high school I attended Orange Coast College, where I majored in music. At Orange Coast I was in two classically oriented choruses, the College Chorale and the Chamber Singers. The director was a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
After I got my Associates at Orange Coast, I transferred to Westminster Choir College to follow in my teacher’s footsteps. On the first day of orientation, I met my wife, Pat. I was an awkward kind of guy and said something to embarrass her but we eventually became friends. I went home to California and decided I didn’t want to go back to Westminster. A year later she sent me a note which said that she and her sister were coming to California on vacation, so I met them at Disneyland. It was very clear to us that there was something there. It wasn’t love at first sight, but there was chemistry. We wanted to see what could happen. She went home to Philadelphia, and we wrote letters that became late night telephone calls and then visits.
Eventually we both decided long distance was ridiculous. So, in June of 1980, I packed my Mazda 808 station wagon and moved to PA. I flew Pat out to California and we drove across the country together. It took 10 days. I decided that if we could survive that drive we would be okay. About halfway through the trip, I asked her to marry me. We were married in July of 1981 and just celebrated our 43rd anniversary.
Today we have 2 children: a son who lives in Franklin, Tennessee and works in the investment business, and a daughter who is finding her way as a dancer and exercise coach in New York City. Our son and his wife have 3 little boys, ages 5, 3, and 6 mos.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career.
My first job after college was selling pianos. However, as a musician who practiced alone all of the time, I didn’t have a lot of people skills. I learned quickly that reading self-help books improved my skills and sales career. From ages 22 to 40, I sold a lot of different products and services. At 40, I had a midlife crisis and decided to do my own thing.
You don’t start a business because you think it’s a good idea, you start it because you have no other choice! I was fed up with corporate America. So, my wife and I started Symphony Studios in 1997. We began by teaching piano, voice, and bagpipes. Today, I am a full time bagpiper. I play weddings, funerals and parties, I teach bagpipes and sell bagpipes and related equipment. (The other half of Symphony Studios is the Bucks County Women’s Chorus, run by Pat.) My students are from all over the world and I teach many on Skype. I also have a contingent of local students.
I love my business. It probably won’t make me a millionaire but we have a great life and plenty of freedom! I am 67 years old and don’t plan to retire any time soon.
Q: What are some of your favorite restaurants in the local area?
My favorite restaurants are The Suburban Diner, Jake’s in Newtown or Richboro, Meglio’s in Newtown, Aldo’s in Holland, and Brother’s Pizza in Langhorne.
Q: What are some of your favorite movies and TV shows?
My favorite tv show of all times is the original Wonder Years. The show is about growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. That was my era. Kevin Arnold, the main character, would be a year older than me in real life. I also like medical shows. When I’m finished watching them, I breathe a deep sigh of relief and am grateful that there are people willing to be doctors and nurses.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
The first bit of advice I often give to everyone is that they should read daily. My life changed dramatically when I started reading. I credit this habit to a former boss who didn’t like my twenty-something attitude and told me to read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. I had to do that or he would fire me. I read that book and then many more. Non-fiction, self-help books improved my attitude and changed my life. Today, I read every night before I turn out the light, mostly fiction these days. Reading improves your brain and vocabulary and allows you to escape into another world.
I would tell any young person that you’ll never have money if you hate your job. You need to find something that you love to do on a daily basis. It might turn into a career.
Q: What are a couple of your favorite smells?
Chocolate and the ocean.
Q: What are a couple words or phrases that come to your mind when you think of the word home?
“There’s no place like home!” We like to travel but always enjoy returning to beautiful Bucks County.
Q: Where can people find you or your business?
www.bagpipelessons.net. I’ve got more than 100 articles and videos about playing the bagpipe on that website. I am also located at www.buckscountybagpiper.com .