The Fire Circle

At the very center of the Grove, stands a ring of great oak trees. The oldest, and most sacred of trees guard the Fire Circle. Here all of the inhabitants of the Grove gather for ceremonies and music. Once inside the ring of trees, the soft bed of moss and fallen leaves, becomes a lush area of softer grass. In the very center of the clearing is the Fire Circle. Gathered around it are the Keeper of the Grove and the many bards. Here they nourish their spirit in the old traditions and in the way that they know best. The music they play stirs every soul as they play to the Earth Mother and the Spirit Father.

Hello, once again. It is my intention to dedicate this page to my great muse - Music. Here I will put up some information on me as a musician, my band, and my close friends, most of who are musicians also. Eventually I hope to post some of my own poems and songs.

At WVWC I am a music theory and composing major, with an applied emphasis in Piano. I'm not the best at classical piano, but my true love is Jazz and Blues. I study classical piano under Dr. Linda Sabak and jazz piano under James Atha, at times. Other times, I watch my theory professor, Dr. Melody Meadows, play jazz. And of course, I study under the infamous CD/Vinyl player, gathering what licks I can from some of the greats. I compose a little bit of classical style music, but not much, and I do try to write rock, pop, and jazz songs when I get the chance. I'm not the greatest lyricist, but I don't do too bad with the music end of it. I also enjoy working with sound equipment and studio recording. I don't have a lot of experience, but I'm learning and that's what counts. Or, at least I hope so. On a different side of music, I am the current president of the Kappa Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. PMA is a national men's music fraternity that exists to better music in America.

Desafinado is a small four-piece jazz combo I play in. It's not my band, as all the members "own" a piece of the band, but I do play keyboards and vibes occasionally and do a lot towards the set list. My fellow partners in this gig are Autumn Burgess on Alto Saxophone, Ian Helmick on the Drums and Vibes, and Travis Stimeling on upright Bass. We plan on recording a demo album this school year, so if you are interested in hearing us, I'll keep you posted on its progress. As for the band, we are a pretty tight group that plays traditional jazz - anything from latin, swing, ballad, and a little bop.

And as for my friends, well, I hope to have a friends page sometime soon, but that may take a little longer. I'm going to mention them because they mean so much to me and I may get some pictures posted sometime soon. Autumn and Ian are two of my closest friends and working compatriots. Without them, I wouldn't survive the music department at Wesleyan. Emily Stresky is my true 'partner in rhyme.' She and I do most of our songs in collaboration. She can't write music that easily and I can't write lyrics, so we combine our efforts. She was also the first 'student' that I had this past school year. I was the theory tutor and she was my first guinea pig on teaching styles J. So, I have to thank her a lot. Brianna Schroeder was my closest female friend when I got settled into my crazy life at Wesleyan, and without her I would never have made it through. I owe her more than I could ever hope to repay. Of course there's Bill, who is helping me to create this webpage so I have to mention him somewhere . . . no, just kidding Bill. He's a cool cat and a good friend. We work together during the summer to create our LASER shows at Oglebay. A venture we call Opus and Bill Productions. He is also the magician in charge of all my scanned images, and he would like me to extend an invitation to you to visit his castle just outside the Druid's Grove. Bug, a.k.a. Justin, has donated much time to keeping me sane and has donated some artwork to this page, so I have to thank him. He's been my best friend since junior high or something like that. He's another pretty cool cat, and you can visit him at his own website. And Lisa Hall, Bug's fiance, and Gena Travis, our close friend, have helped me through my crazy years. We've all known each other for a long time. And finally . . . my girlfriend and absolute best friend . . . Heather Noland. Without Heather, there would be no NyteWyyrm. I'd have snapped, gone postal, or some other odd fate long before this. May our years together be many. Well, this seems to be more like a dedication and thank you page, but I'll get around to building a full friends page sometime soon. I just wanted everyone to feel special for a little bit. Enjoy the rest of the webpage.

Peace

NyteWyyrm

Keeper of the Grove