About Me (A Voice Talent)

I like to think of myself as Your Friendly Neighborhood Voice Over Guy. You can call me a Voice Over Talent, Voice Over Artist…or my superhero moniker Voice Over Man! I’ll answer to any of them, and…bill you afterwards. 😉 

I grew up listening to the radio, and was fascinated…both with the music and the voices of the guys who filled the spaces between the songs with entertaining and informative banter (sadly, a lost art these days). I dabbled in radio beginning at age 16, and was working part-time on the air at age 17 and full-time the following year. I enjoyed the work, and was well-received by the listening audience. I voiced many hundreds of commercials, and produced a live weekly children’s show with a loyal and active listener base. However, after a few years, I realized that the life of an air personality wasn’t necessarily conducive to stability of income or family relationships, so I moved into other fields.

However, I had discovered one important thing during my radio days: I had a real gift for communication and timing. While people often mentioned the quality of my voice, I kept hearing more comments along these lines: “you really get the point across when you read something”, “what you say really sticks with me” or “you really sound like you know what you’re talking about when you read”. I think of that quality as accessibility or comprehensibility (is that even a word??).  After helping a few friends with their commercials, I found that I was starting to get more work as a male voice over talent. I’ve never taken classes or had coaching (although there’s no doubt in my mind that they’d be of benefit to me). And, while I’ve occasionally had talent agencies working on my behalf, I’ve never had an exclusive relationship with an agency beyond a locale here or there.

My voice is deep enough to sound authoritative, but common enough to be accessible, and as a professional voice over…I’ve got enough general knowledge and experience to sound like I’ve got a clue about the subject matter. I sound like I’m interested because I am… I’ve been working as a voice talent part-time since 1982, and full-time since 2001.

Just as movie and TV actors are hired to pretend to be someone else, voice actors are hired to pretend to help create a character or atmosphere with which they may not be personally invested or involved. We can communicate excitement, a somber mood, reverence, over-the-top energy or professionalism. In addition to any of these moods, voice acting itself can involve role playing of various sorts…bringing to life a character in a game, commercial, or audio drama.  While I participated in theatrical and musical presentations as early as 4th grade in school and church and a few indie films over the years, I have had much more opportunity to portray characters in an audio format during my adult years as works-for-hire.

When I’m not standing in front of a microphone, you are likely to find me designing web sites or possibly writing music. I began my web exploits in about 1997 with my very first personal site, and haven’t looked back since. I began writing music in 1970 with an instrumental piece I composed for a Music merit badge in Boy Scouts.

I released my first album of solo piano music in 1997. As this writing, I have 9 albums available of (almost exclusively) my original songs…in genres stretching from solo piano music, to love songs, to Christian pop/rock, to children’s music. Tens of thousands from all around the world have downloaded songs for their personal listening, or to share with loved ones who are grieving or convalescing. My next couple recording projects will probably be another album of my originals for kids, and possibly some sort of praise & worship music album.

In addition to the numerous places on the web where you’ll find work that I’ve been PAID to say something, there are quite a few places where I do such things simply as a labor of love. Among those are Light Up Your Brain, where I read several classic stories for kids (and one I wrote myself).

I live in the Central Ohio area with my wife and with both of our kids living nearby. I’m a member of a great church in my community. I have time in my life for a few close friends, and I very much enjoy what I do for a living. For the time being, I am relatively healthy as well…so I’m a very grateful guy. Thanks for visiting my site, and for your interest in my work and my life. I hope you enjoy your stay!

Here’s some additional info you may find helpful: