My first playing job was in an officrs club at Ladd AFB in Fairbanks, Alaska at age 11. I have had 9 weeks off from playing at least 4 nights a week since I started, and I'll be 59 soon. Music has been good to me...I put three kids through graduate school with no student loans and bought lots of nice toys, including over 300 stringed instruments.

I spent 30 years as a director of communications for an international electrical equipment manufacturer, and my contract let me do outside work. In 1995, my position was moved to Chicago, and I chose to stay in Lexington and develop my outside work into a full-time thing. Currently, I teach comunication research at a local college and run my communications consulting/production firm. We do video production, strategic planning, high-end graphic design, package design and channel management Our client include two bank holding companies,two credit unions, a manufacturer of medical and dental lighting, an Itallian manufacturer of staircases and some smaller manufacturers of retail hardware products.

I do marketing for the restaurant I play, but that's the only retail client we have.


Music helps the day work. We do lots of film scores for our clients and for independent producters.

I decided years ago to only do for a living what I would do for fun. After graduatung as an accountant, I worked two weeks and decided I hated it. I went back to playing and graduate school and have been having fun every since.


Russ