A little about me.
With over 20 years of playing and performance experience and nearly 15 years of professional teaching, you could say that music is my life.
I grew up in Gig Harbor Washington and I was 8 years old when I walked into Linda’s Music Lessons for my first piano lesson. I remember a lot of what it was like to be learning music for the first time, and even though I’m a long way from where I started, I will always consider myself a student of music.
When I was 14 my parents gave me my first guitar and I fell in love with it. By the time I was 16 I knew that I wanted to make music into a career. Within a couple years I started playing at open mics and small local shows. I loved performing and learning from watching others on stage. It was then that I started teaching guitar lessons for the first time and began establishing myself within the Gig Harbor/Tacoma music scene.
When I graduated high school, I followed my father’s example and started working in residential construction. But after a few years, the pressure of simultaneously working in two completely opposite industries started to wear me down. So, I took a leap of faith and left the construction industry to build my career as a musician. Seven years, 2 albums, and nearly a million views on YouTube later, I am so happy I made that decision.
My wife Sarah and I were married in March of 2019 and have decided to settle down in Gig Harbor. The year 2020 presented a lot of challenges and setbacks for us and my career, but God is faithful and continues to provide for us. In 2022 we welcomed a baby into our family and opened the Walstead Guitar Studio, a custom built, acoustically designed facility to be the permanent home of my business.
I am very blessed in my life, not least of which is the opportunity to make a living making music and helping others to do the same. And so, in all these things I say: Soli Deo Gloria
To God alone be the glory.