I started playing when I was knee-high to a grasshopper and gigging in bands when I was 12 years old.

I started teaching other kids (and some adults!) around this time, which helped me afford lessons, records, and books.

I loved The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, and AC/DC. By 17, I played most nights of the week in pub rock and funk bands and even some shows with the local brass band! I gigged all through my teenage years, teaching at the local music school a couple of days a week as well.

My old man wanted me to go to university. After college, I started on a Classical Guitar degree. I was studying hard by day and playing at night. I was also teaching guitar at the college I had just left. It was a solid teaching practice, and I used to love it!

Yet I only lasted 2 years before the big city lights of London got too bright. I then got a scholarship to study at The Guitar Institute. So I moved to London in '96. After a year of learning a lot and making great friends (and getting the student of the year award!), I finished my diploma and took a gig in a holiday camp band, playing and sight-reading six nights a week.

Thankfully, after 8 months, I got a call to join The Counterfeit Stones tribute band with my friend Pete Whittard. I moved back to London and started working at The Guitar Institute at that time!

I taught there between tours for over 6 years. It was during this time that the first embers of the website started to burn. I taught myself how to code and wrote much of the site in a van after gigs and in dressing rooms all around the world.

I got the call to join Katie Melua's touring band - having taught her the guitar from scratch. I then left the tribute band and teaching work behind. I went off around the world, playing arenas, TV shows, and recording with her.

It was a wonderful old time. I started to dig the website during tour breaks and kept working hard on developing new lessons.

My old friend Jedi filmed and edited the early videos that helped me get going on YouTube. Once I got hip to filming and editing, I started doing a lot of it while on tour. I filmed the "Jazz Up Your Blues" series at my hotel in Nice. It was the afternoon before we played the Nice Jazz festival – and Jeff Beck played before us!

Just as I was starting to tire of the touring life, the website took off, and I managed to jump into it full time! That was over 10 years ago now, and I've learned a lot about teaching online. I'm always studying education, teaching techniques, and ways to improve your user experience.

Though the site is my main gig now, I try to keep my hand in the real music world. I play in a trip-hop band (mix of organic and electronic music) called We Came As Strangers. We've put out 3 albums so far, and we should start the next one very soon. I'm currently working on an instrumental guitar album too.

Since mid-2016, I've been adjusting to a new life as a father to a wonderful little girl, Vivienne. And yes, she started playing the ukulele already! :)

If you made it this far, you might want to check out my About page too.