Who are your major influences?
As a young person, I was very into Jimmy Page and Jimmy Hendrix. But then also bluesy jazz players like Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery. The California Fingerstyle guitar style of Alex De Grassi was also a big one for me for a while there too. And then later more traditional flatpicking guitarists like Norman Blake, David Grier, and Russ Barenberg. Though truthfully, when it comes to jazz, I'm way more into piano players like McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal…than jazz guitarists. And when it comes to flatpicking traditional music, I listen to more, and like to think I'm more influenced by, fiddle players rather than guitar players.

What guides your playing style?
When I'm playing with somebody else, it's about listening and reacting and being conversational with the other player. In my solo arrangements, I am trying to keep it interesting and progressing to new places, textures, degrees of business, and different registers, from start to finish. I'm trying to keep the ball moving down the field.

How would you describe that style?
I would describe my style as being pretty traditional. I'm not into a lot of contemporary techniques or sounds. I try to be dynamic and expressive. I think it's often bluesy, but not always. I'm just trying to stay in the moment. It's a mental game for sure. One of my main

What do you love about playing music?
Music is the secret sauce. Try turning it off during a movie to underscore how it affects our emotions. You can't see it or touch it, but it's this magic thing that can instantly take you back thirty years, or make you want to dance, or cry, or get it on. So I love being on the inside of that whole thing. I also love the people I get to have in my life because of music–other musicians, builders, fans of acoustic music–and they're just the greatest people you can know.

What do you love about the type of music you play?
All the types of music that I play have a strong element of improvisation. That suits me. I like being able to express myself in the moment. That also means I don't have to memorize hours of music. I would be a terrible classical musician. Also, in the folk and traditional music world, in particular, I love the strong sense of community and encouragement.

What's your rig?
My rig is very, very simple. I only use my 00-size signature model guitar from the Santa Cruz Guitar Company. I use something called a "Neck-Up," which is just a leather device to prop up the guitar on my lap. I have an Elliott capo, and I'm either using Alaska fingerpicks with Fred Kelly thumbpick, or an old tortoiseshell 2mm flatpick. Usually, I just use whatever PA system is available at the gig. I almost never use a pickup. I just use a microphone on a stand in front of my guitar. I will sometimes travel with an AKG 451 microphone, but most of the time I just use whatever mic is around, because the microphone always has the TSA tearing apart my carry-on bag.