I have loved music and technology from childhood. However, having to make a living immediately after graduating high school required other means of earning an income. My first job was a payroll clerk. In order to advance, I took college courses in accounting and management. I was promoted to internal accountant and cost accountant. While it provided an income, it didn’t satisfy my more creative passions.
I apprenticed to a friend, while taking a course from Cleveland Institute of Electronics, in order to learn how to build deploy and repair sound systems and stereo equipment. This developed into a business in professional sound and recording equipment sales and service.
I met two musicians, who shared my dream of owning a recording studio. We partnered together and built AirCraft Communications, and for several decades built a career involving all aspects of the music business.
A parallel passion since childhood has been a passionate faith. I was commissioned to preach in my early twenties, and was ordained in my early thirties. I have always been involved in bi-vocational ministry and church-life in parallel with the other activities I was engaged in.
In 1992, I was asked to join a church-planting venture as the associate pastor. This endeavor required leaving the music career to focus all of my energy on building a church. After resigning as the pastor, I spent a decade in secondary education as professor, department chair, and adjunct faculty. I was teaching technology and was presented an opportunity to consult for a 100 year-old company transitioning to a customized computer-based business process.
This year I just turned 70, I’m facing the home stretch of my career. I find the passion for the creativity of artist development, recording, and songwriting has revived.
Since 2012, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the band, now known as Longing for Eden. This endeavor was a spiritual investment and journey as well as a musical one. In 2010 I published a book titled Longing for Eden. We found that the passion of the band was compatible with the passion of the book, and the band adopted the title of the book as the name of the band. Together, this has become a focus for ministry.
So, while my career seems to have meandered, knowing me and the passions that motivate me will help to understand how the pieces and the different “hats” make sense together.