Biography

I started playing guitar in college, tutored by my roommate. We made our first “recording” in our freshman dorm room, singing to a microphone placed at the bottom of an empty #2 tin can. We subsequently performed in 1968 and 1969 as “headliners” at the Seventh Seal Coffee Shop in Berkeley. I have been writing a mix of political, satirical, “men’s liberation,” and children’s songs since the 1960s, while taking a few decades off for an academic career in France and the U.S. before writing again after retirement. In recent years, I have performed at East Bay open mics and song circles, migrating to Zoom during the pandemic. I wrote and performed political songs for the 2020 elections. I am working on song cycles about racism in California (five songs on The Lupines and the Poppies album), the history of my family, and the coal mining towns of Contra Costa County during the late 19th Century (two songs on The Lupines and the Poppies album). I am a member of West Coast Songwriters, the People’s Music Network, and the San Francisco Folk Music Club. I am deeply indebted to the members of the SFFMC for welcoming me into the Bay Area folk music scene and encouraging my songwriting and recording. Two of my songs were published in the club’s Folknik newsletter. An album of original songs, The Lupines and the Poppies: Songs of Love, Loss, Injustice, and Resistance came out in 2023.