I was born in April, 1964, in The Bronx, NY. My early childhood was spent in Hempstead, NY, Bridgeport, CT, Boston, MA, and by 1970, Buffalo, NY where I spent most of my childhood. There I would meet Claude McKnight and his many brothers, and begin taking care of my baby brother, Joey, along with my older sister Michelle.

 

It can be said that most of my early musical influence happened in Buffalo, where my father pastored a very musical church. But by 1976, it was on to Nashville, TN. Soon after I went away to highschool at Oakwood Academy. There I met Mervyn Warren and began working with him and others on many musical projects. This would lead right up to the famous bathroom rehearsal at Oakwood College during the fall of 1980, where I would once again meet up with Claude. And thus the beginning of the 10 time Grammy-award winning Gospel Hall Fame vocal group, Take 6. 

 

I have always been very athletic, playing football, softball, and basketball in Buffalo and adding Ping-Pong and track by the time I reached Oakwood Academy. I still to this day love to play sports and will at any opportunity. I have also from a very young age been into bodybuilding, and now it is my mainstay if I can do nothing else.

 

I have always been one to work with my hands fixing, building, and tinkering with mechanics. For my 8th grade project I made a cardboard model of the "new" (and at that time unbuilt) elementary school that I was attending. It won first place. This lead to working with family and friends who were contractors. Thus, I learned the skills of hard labor in construction. While in college, I concentrated on the electrical trade with my great-uncle Alfred who was the electrician for the school. I still love to take on projects that require this skill.The electrical trade coupled with my musical skill lead me to build a recording studio that I now own with my brother Joey. Vertical Sound Studio is where Take 6 does some of its projects and where Joey and/or I produce other projects. So now running a studio and engineering are 2 more hats that I wear.

 

Back in the world of music, I have produced and performed on many other projects. They include the gospel group Virtue, Donnie McClurkin, Angie Winans, CeCe Winans, Addae, and many, many others. Often Joey and I will team up and do projects for artists like Allen & Allen and Ben Tankard. I also team up with David Thomas and work as arrangers and vocal coaches for The Backstreet Boys. From time to time I do vocal coaching on an individual basis as well.

 

So I am a man of many hats. Even raising dogs is one of my loves. I have 2 Alaskan Malamutes that look like wolves, but are as gentle as teddy bears (most of the time). But one of the most important hats is that of being father and husband. This happens to be one of my favorite jobs.

 

I am truly thankful for all of my jobs, hats, and loves. But without a strong love for my Savior, Jesus Christ, none of this would be possible. This love is NUMBER ONE!!!

 

www.take6.com