In 1979 at the age of 7, I was visiting my Grandfather's farm in Louisiana, Missouri and was the victim of an accident involving a fork lift. As a result of the accident I was in a coma for seven weeks and lost my sense of sight, taste, and smell. I was left with paralysis on my right side, and suffer from severe headaches. By 1981, I started taking piano and guitar lessons at the Missouri Baptist College (now a University). The instructors taught me using the recording of songs and soon music was the major focus in my life. The motto “practice makes perfect” became my mantra and thus I did just that; practiced and practiced until the song sounded just right. In 1987, I learned to read music in Braille. I was a mainstreamed student in the Parkway School District and eventually joined the marching band at Parkway South High School as a keyboard player my senior year. After finishing high school, I went on to the Missouri Baptist University. In December 1994 I graduated with a Behavioral Science degree and then pursued a Masters degree in counseling. I remembered, in the middle of all my notes I was always writing a song and music kept on coming back to me. I finally ended up at Maryville University, where I majored in music therapy and graduated in 2001. Subsequently, I did an internship at Mary Culver home for the visually impaired, and have been there doing music therapy ever since.
I hope you enjoy my music and thank you for visiting the site. - Dave
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