This page serves as a list of projects (both past and present) related to my interests and ambitions. Or, I could just say it’s what I’m into. There are also a few organizations that I strongly believe in and have an ongoing relationship with- I assume that since you clicked on this page you won’t be terribly bored with finding out what interests me… until you know what interests me.
International Dialects of English Archive
I’m currently in the process of revamping the International Dialects of English Archive- the world’s largest free, online archive of primary source dialect and accent recordings. I travelled to Trinidad and Tobago in the Spring of 2011 to record, archive, and transcribe speech patterns of the twin islands- which resulted in an associate editor appointment with IDEA. The online revamp is a labor of love, and it is a huge honor to work with one of my mentors, Paul Meier on the project. Look for the launch of the fully indexed and searchable archive in the fall of 2012. I also have around 30 hours of colloquial trini talk if anyone is into that kind of thing. The archive as it currently exists can be found here.
University of Houston- Theatre & Dance
I’m presently an instructor of speech and phonetics to graduate students at the University of Houston. I’m also pursuing my MFA concurrently in Acting, and almost all of my time, energy, and effort is given to this program. If you click on the image it will take you to the Theatre & Dance program website. The training is fantastic, and the program is young, so I do what I can to get the name out when possible.
Show and Tell. Here’s a song I wrote:
We’re OK by Fiasco Songwriting
Sit and Wait- a pop music project
In addition to voice work in dialects, accents, phonetics, and extended vocal technique, I really like pop music. And yes, if you look at my resume you’ll see I do a fair amount of musical theatre- this isn’t that. For musical theatre or “legit” demos, please see the media panel. When time allows, I sing, play piano, trombone, and a very medicore acoustic guitar with a group of much better musicians. We’ve had the opportunity to sit down and record two EPs, the most recent of which is called “Sit and Wait”. It’s available for preview and purchase on iTUNES by clicking here. One day I’ll write that musical I’ve been trying to get around to, there’s just a lot to do, right?
Inexpensive Web Design for Creative Types.
I also build web pages for artists and other creative kids. I’ve worked with several theatres, a big LA arts foundation, print artists, opera kids, etc. If you’re interested, or know someone who needs a website, drop me a line or visit the lemonade stand design page here.
Fiasco songwriting is an effort to put my interest in collaboration as an artistic habit into practice outside of the professional and academic theatre. The group is comprised mostly of members from bands I formerly played with, and spread throughout the country, drawing on multiple studios and musicians from Texas to NYC. We’re just starting to pull this together in a formal sense, so I’m not certain where it’s headed- but I’m very excited about the creative possibilities.
