 |
|
A Little Bit About Me... I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I reside to this day. I grew up in a household full of musicians, so it was my destiny to become a musician, too. I started playing the piano when I was just tall enough to see over the keyboard, received my first drum set when I was ten years old, started taking tuba lessons in the 4th grade, picked up the bass guitar in the 7th grade, and somewhere in the midst of all that I began playing the accordion. I officially started my musical career at age 11 occasionally playing drums with Don Nedobeck's Water Street Tavern Band. I'll never forget my first "big gig" back in 1982 in Lake Geneva, WI, from where I returned to Milwaukee with a crisp $100 bill. No one in my 6th grade class at that time believed I made a hundred dollars. In 1986 at the age of 16, I joined my first polka band and performed with them for twenty years. During that time, I also became involved with several other bands in the Milwaukee area. I occasionally help out other bands as a sideman, whether it's playing drums, accordion, keyboard, or bass guitar. I run a business called Polkasound Productions out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It started in 1990 as a four-track recording studio and has since grown into a 24-track digital studio with its name a respected label in the polka recording industry. Through Polkasound Productions, I administrate several websites, including Wisconsin Polka Music. WPM is one of the top-ranked polka websites in the world, receiving approximately 1.5 million hits a year. A "closet songwriter", I occasionally compose new music both inside and outside the polka genre. I've written/composed over thirty songs to date, many of which have been recorded on my CDs over the years. In 2008, I was appointed to a four-year term as a Notary Public of the State of Wisconsin. This is an office reserved for exemplary citizens to provide such services as certifying copies of legal documents, administering oaths and affirmations, and witnessing the signing of affidavits. I
am currently a member of these fine polka organizations:
Hobbies and
Interests, Past and Present
ARTWORK - From 1984 to 1992 (age 14 to 22) I was an avid artist specializing in oil landscapes. I created well over 150 works in oil, acrylic, charcoal, graphite, and ink during this period.                                  BICYCLING
- I recently got back into bicycling, and ride a few hundred miles
every year.
CATS - I don't consider myself a "cat person", but I was blessed to have the most wonderful cat in my life for almost seventeen years. I found Kittling in 1993, in the middle of the winter, wandering as a stray in the parking lot of a rural Wisconsin dance hall. She passed away peacefully on November 4th, 2009. Roughly six weeks later, another cat, Snickers, wandered into my life exactly the same way as Kittling. Not only did I meet Snickers just like I met Kittling -- in the middle of the winter, wandering as a stray in the parking lot of a rural Wisconsin dance hall -- but it happened on December 20th, which was Kittling's birthday. COINS - It's not too often you receive a Sacagawea dollar or a Kennedy half-dollar in your day-to-day transactions, but then you're probably not doing business with me! I regularly circulate these and other seldom-seen coins to foster an interest in others about coin collecting. DIECAST POLICE CARS - In 2001, I combined my hobby of collecting diecast police cars with my capabilities as a graphic designer and spent a little over a year making customized, limited editions of various Milwaukee-area police agencies. I either donated my cars or sold them at auction on eBay. Some of my cars sold for over a hundred dollars. Click on the small images to see full size pictures.        MUSIC & STUDIO RECORDING - Polkasound Productions Recording Studio operated non-stop for ten years, from 1990 to 2000, churning out many polka recordings, countless demos and other projects. Having come back into service on a limited basis in 2005, Polkasound is where I record the music for my own CDs. The studio has a 24-track digital studio recorder which can be synchronized with 256 tracks of computer-based MIDI sequencing. PHOTOGRAPHY - As a photographer, I'm as amateur as they come, but I'm not too shabby at digital editing. Click to view a selection of photos that I've made available as complimentary desktop wallpaper for your computer. TENNIS - After nearly a twenty-year absence from the courts, I got back into playing tennis. I now belong to a league that plays twice a week from May to September. A few of us continue to meet after the end of the season and keep playing until the snow flies. WEBSITE DESIGN - I estimate that I have created roughly 1,200 web pages since 1996. This link will take you to a page that chronicles the evolution of this website's design. Some of my other website creations are: Kathy From Canada, Neighborhood Handyman, Polkasound Productions, Ron VanDenboom, and Wisconsin Polka Music. Although I am frequently asked, I do not provide website design as a service. XBOX GAMING - I'm an occasional gamer, and in my spare time (which is all too rare) I'll play many types of games on my XBox 360, from first-person shooters to sports. FAVORITES Foods: Seafoods and pastas Beverage: Chocolate milk Milwaukee Pizza: Filippos, 68th & Lincoln Color: Orange OBSCURE FACTS I can throw a baseball 70 MPH I aced the Navy's preliminary entrance exam (but didn't join) I won a computer solitaire game in 76 seconds with a score of 9,441, and 78 seconds with a score of 9,616 (draw-one, standard scoring) |