A little about me:

I started playing multiple instruments at 5 years of age. With guitar being my "main" instrument I did jam with my step dad and friends growing up. My mother purchased my first drum kit at the same time or around the same time and I started playing both instruments. Like I stated though, guitar was my primary instrument. UNTIL....high school. I was offered a spot to be the cymbal holder/player in the 9th grade and I enjoyed it so much I never looked back. I started playing all of the percussion instruments in "concert band" the fall of my 9th grade year. I marched snare during football season 10th, 11th and 12th grades. During the off season in concert band my 10th grade year I had a director that unleashed my potential as they say. He helped me discover that I play multiple instruments. That year alone, I played Trumpet, French horn and Percussion in our concert band set list. I played jazz guitar at the beauty pageants, baritone during an quintet ensemble we performed and also was in a drum circle playing the hand drum Djembe as well as the winter snare line. During my 11th grade year everything was the same, different season, different music, but I done the same stuff, as I was building my college resume. In my 12th grade year I did the same set up, Marched Snare, even played multiple instruments after football season, but I did add going to the Governor School for the Arts as well as The Fine Arts Center. At both schools I took two classes, one was advanced percussion and two was music theory. The summer of my 12th (1996) grade year I marched DCI (Drum Corp International) . The same year marching corps I started doing clinics and I joined The Percussive Arts Society (PASIC). I started college the fall of 1996, where I majored in Music Performance. I played all of the instruments that I discovered I could play in high school while attending college, even marching snare during the football games. I graduated college in 2000 with a degree in Music Performance and a Minor in Music Education. I was teaching, doing clinics, doing product development and even was in a few bands either on guitar or drums after college. Which brings me to where I am now.

Meliora:

My band Meliora (Latin meaning "for the better" reference "Ad Meliora") is a modern rock (radio rock) from Greenville SC. We formed in 2013 and was able to record one single called "Full Circle." Once we played a small home town show it quickly escalated to us playing bigger shows and benefits with huge national acts. We've shared the stage with The Chimpz, A Course Of Action, Adage, Bonz (formerly primer 55 and stuck mojo), Super Bob, Alight Divided, Temple Of Thieves, Beyond The Fade and Shadow of My Self just to name a few. Much less we have the attention of promoters such as Gary Carota of concerts like Rocklahoma, The Carolina Rebellion, and The Carnival Of Madness whom endorses us regularly. We just recently ran a successful crowd funding indiegogo campaign and are going into the studio March 25th for pre production. We have already let a few influential people hear a demo song and every one has let us know that we are headed in the right direction. Once the CD is complete we have a label (I cannot mention names yet) that we are going to sign with for distribution. Also we are going work with HF and Carota promotions for plenty of future shows. I am still attending NAMM ,other clinics for PASIC, SoulTone and Xcel Drumsticks.