ABOUT BB

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Live, love & learn. Write, sing & record. Drive, perform, drive home.

That's been my routine since 2005 and I'm grateful. Little known fact - I used to be a stockbroker! The 2 careers overlapped until this year, when I left the rat race to chase my passion full-time.

And yet, music is simply a vehicle. What I have most to offer in my songs is my story. Maybe you can relate...

I grew up around horses & Hoosiers (Indiana, that is), the youngest of 3 brothers. Life was simple and I was happy. Then the cruelest thing happened: Junior High. My world was growing up faster than me, and I couldn’t seem to keep up. A late case of puberty sure didn’t help. I remember hiding out by my locker and eating lunch by myself, avoiding the bullies. All of a sudden, I just didn’t fit.

My family moved the summer after 9th grade. A clean slate proved just what I needed. I got involved in sports and music, and made good friends. I finally felt like “one of the guys”. Life was looking up.

All this time, I had a unique, intimate relationship with God. I grew up in church and always believed in the Bible and the Creator of the universe and all that. Yet I also got to know the smallness of God. We knew each other, talked to each other even. He sat with me at that lonely lunchroom table. He was my constant companion.

High school came and went. College too - yet was cut short. I was a full-ride scholar and diving recruit. College became my first place to cut loose, as I was the “good kid” until then. I was aching to find and define who I was, and where I fit. Sports and studies collided with good times and late nights, and something had to give. I did not return my junior year, much to the surprise of my coaches, professors and friends.

Things went south for a few years. I had numerous jobs and living situations. On the surface, life was fun and living for the moment. Deeper, I was desperate for identity, belonging and love. A party lifestyle became my escape from the disappointment of it all, and I dove in.

Somewhere in the middle of all that “fun” I started missing my friend, God. We’d not talked in a while. And taking stock, I had to admit that my path was going downhill fast. So I began to cry out to God again. And at just the right time, my hero showed up.

I was 22, sitting in a bar one Sunday night, loaded as usual. In recent months I’d been reaching out for help. A handful of new friends reached in with kindness and concern, reminding me of my old friend. And on that Sunday night, my lunchroom companion was there on the next bar stool. He’d probably been there for years, but this time I noticed, and heard him whisper something like this: “I have heard your cries. I am the way out. Follow me. But you can’t bring anything with you”.

With another clean slate, my life did a swift 180. I left that wild scene behind and burned all my bridges. I was the prodigal son coming home with my tail between my legs, yet the Father was waiting with a huge party and a new life. In the coming months and years, everything would change. I was reconciled to God and my family. I sought understanding and healing from my past. There came new friends and community. I became successful in the corporate world. And my lifelong passion for music was coming alive again.

I began pursuing music as a career in 2005. Yet as you probably don’t know, I was also a stockbroker! An odd combo, I admit. And though I’m grateful for that successful career, I recently left the rat race to chase my passion full-time. Some think I’m nuts, but hey, you only live once. I’m betting on life-long hunches about my purpose.

I hope that looks a lot like my hero. For though Jesus was and is widely misunderstood (me too), I believe he was a perfect reflection of God. If true, then his life should clear up a lot of confusion about God’s heart and priorities. Love keeps shaking up my world and paradigms about who I am created and called to be, and what it truly means to love and live as Jesus did. And that is the business I am about.  Stay tuned. --BB