My first memory of being interested in music was at summer camp at Camp Tippecanoe when I was nine years old.  There was an old piano in the dining hall and I remember trying to pick out the tune of  “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” on the keyboard.  At first it didn’t sound right so I would just move it up or down a few keys until it did come out right.  When I returned home to Canton, Ohio I told my parents I was interested in the piano and began taking lessons with Jack Vogelgesang.  He was an excellent instructor and I learned a lot of classical songs from Mr. Vogelgesang in the 4 years I studied with him including pieces by Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, and Bartok.  I feel that this classical training as well as Mr. Vogelgesang’s insistence that I do weekly theory assignments really gave me a good foundation of understanding music.  I still play around on the piano sometimes but when I was 13 I decided it was time to play a different instrument:  the guitar.  This was of course to “be cool”.