“Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.”
education
education
While in one of my lowest points while living in NYC, barely able to cover rent and far from able to live the life I wanted, I asked myself a very important question: What’s the greatest value I could bring this city and this earth? I knew that I knew how to teach even if I didn’t know where or how I would teach, and so with no plans, advertised opportunities, or research I created a syllabus for a would-be course on songwriting—from the comfort of my tiny Harlem bedroom where I slept on a leaky air mattress.
When a friend of a friend told me about a teaching artist fellowship at Columbia University’s Center for Justice, I pulled out my already-completed syllabus, made some edits to fit the program application requirements, and submitted with no expectations. After a 6 month selection process that included over 200 applicants, I along with two other artists were selected as the inaugural cohort of the competitive June Jordan Teaching Artist Fellowship, and in Spring 2018 I taught a course on Pop Songwriting with a Social Justice Focus. It was a rare and incredible opportunity, one that I’ve been building on since. Click the logo to learn more about it.
“i’ve been called scatter-brained. it all makes sense in my head.”
enterprise
enterprise
Pop College is the world’s best digital songwriting school. Our goal is to create the greatest online community of the greatest songwriters on earth.
“always clever. never cliché.”
Everyone needs a mantra. This is mine. Whatever it is that I’m doing, I try to acknowledge that there’s nothing new under the sun, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be original. Creativity isn’t about creating anything new—it’s giving new purpose and context to things that already exist. Creators are more chefs than gardeners, more collectors than manufacturers.
experience
experience
A place to write and read. A place to record and retreat. A place to wander and discover. Beacon House is a modern Muscle Shoals—a lakeside cottage where world class creators are hosted for a creative refuge in the heart of North Carolina.
