The beginning of my musical history began very early in my childhood. My mother, who was involved in choreography at the time, exposed me to a wide variety of classical music – one of my favorites is still ‘The Planets’ by Gustav Holst. We also listened to a lot of folk and rock music out of the 60’s and 70’s. In my baby book (at age 2), my mom wrote that my two favorite pieces of music were Beethoven’s ‘5th Symphony’ and ‘Calypso’ by John Denver. These two styles of music are still my favorite to listen to and perform. During middle school I was given the opportunity to learn the trumpet and eventually the tuba, which I went on to study at college. I also started playing guitar and bass at age 13 and played in a number of rock and blues bands throughout high school. While I was at college, pursuing a degree in classical music performance, God encountered me through the Bible and friends who had become Christians. In February of 1995 I gave my life to follow Jesus. All of my dreams of a career in music changed in light of my new life as a believer. Instead of aiming for the orchestra I felt God leading my to receive theological and leadership training in England with Newfrontiers (a family of churches that Leigh-Anne and I are a part of). In order to afford the travel and tuition I sold my tuba and all my other musical equipment. The only thing I kept was my first acoustic guitar. I was even going to leave that behind but three days before I left for the UK I felt God tell me to buy a case for it and bring it along. Thinking that I was leaving music behind me, I was pretty surprised that within a few weeks I was leading worship for the youth group and playing bass on the worship team. That was the beginning of my journey in leading worship and writing songs that hopefully help people connect with God.