Music is a big part of my life. And it always has been.

I took piano lessons for seven years, starting at age five. In high school and college, I added cornet and tuba. When I was about 14, I started playing piano regularly in church, and by 17 I was delving into rock and roll bands.

Over the course of time I've played just about every style of music, from classical to jazz to country to blues to rock. Since I was classically trained, I do read music. But these days I mostly play by ear and "feel".

Of course, one thing you'll notice is that I haven't quit my day job. I did seriously consider a career in music right after high school, but I also had a really good aptitude for engineering - and even enjoyed it - so I started down that path and kept the music thing going as an active hobby.

In fact, you can check out how I'm doing on mp3.com as well as the current band I'm working with ...