My Musical Journey

When I was 4 years old I became obsessed with the music of Jimi Hendrix and I begged my parents for a guitar for Christmas. Behind the Christmas tree in our home in Rockport, Massachusetts was a big box with my name on it and it contained my first guitar - a 1984 Squier #1 Bullet, my prized possession.

Since then I’ve collected quite a few more guitars, but that excitement about learning to make music has stuck with me. I still use that guitar at my studio. I’m grateful to be playing and to have had wonderful people help me along the way to develop my musical skills and inspiration.

When I was young I studied with composer Robert Bradshaw who taught me how the guitar works and how to play a bunch of my favorite songs. I was too young to stay focused for very long, but anything Mr. Bradshaw showed me I would play over and over again until I had it completely absorbed.

Those early days started me on the path that I’ve stayed on for the last 27 years. When my students ask me how long it will take to be able to play well I usually laugh and say “Well, I’m sure it’ll take you less time than it took me.” I learned very slowly, but I’m grateful to have been able to stick with it for so long because in the meantime I’ve developed a deep sense of feeling with my instrument. 

Through my teenage years I played in rock bands, studied jazz with Anthony Weller, attended New England Conservatory on the weekends, and performed with the Ipswich High School jazz ensemble under the direction of Gerry Dolan. I went on to Berklee College of Music where I studied with extraordinary teachers and I earned my bachelor’s degree in Music Business Management.

Through my 20’s I performed with my own band, as a member of Mamadou Diop’s African music ensemble, as the music director of legendary Jamaican reggae group Cultural Roots featuring Wade Dyce and started Pier Ave with my friends from home. I’ve had a chance to work with several of my heroes like Flabba Holt from the Roots Radics and Glen DaCosta, saxophonist from Bob Marley & The Wailers.

I began performing in Naples, Florida in 2022 and have performed with the Naples Philharmonic featuring Tony award-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell and in the spring of 2023 performed with the Mean Girls on Broadway First National Tour in Naples.

In 2015 I opened the Morrison Sound Studio in Gloucester, MA where I taught private lessons and began recording bands. I then acquired a new space in 2017 and opened the Maritime Music Studio where I’ve continued to produce albums with a wonderful list of clients and offer private instruction for a diverse studio of musicians and recorded voice-over for many clients including Josh Gates for his Discovery Channel show Expedition: Unknown.

I’m as excited about music as I have ever been and I’m enjoying getting better at my craft every day. Working with my teachers and my students has given me the opportunity to further my deep love of musical expression and I’m delighted to work in this field.