During my early 20’s I continued to play music but also started to expand my world to include college. I started attending classes part-time at Spokane Falls Community College, earning two associates degrees, getting my 3rd class radio operators license, and working for a short time as a radio announcer for a small local all-news station. After getting my associates degrees, I enrolled as a full-time student at Gonzaga University in Spokane. In 1982 I graduated from Gonzaga University, magna cum laude with an interdisciplinary degree in Communications & Business Administration.

During this time, I was also regularly in the top 5 at Weiser, placed 2nd in the Grand Champion Division twice, and had one of the closest finishes ever when I was 2nd by 1 point (out of nearly 5000) to Dick Barrett (a great fiddler and one of my key influences). My mother, who had become a very accomplished tenor guitar player, was on stage with me for almost all of my performances from age 12 through my early 20’s. In addition, she played rhythm on my early albums. In 1975, I recorded my 2nd album and in 1976 my 3rd album was released.

Looking at career options outside of music, and knowing that I might be moving further and further away from active participation in fiddle competitions, I decided that after I graduated from Gonzaga I would spend one last summer traveling around the country to compete in as many fiddle contests as possible. I began practicing in earnest that January, and when I arrived at Weiser in 1982, I was playing better than ever. That year I won the Grand Champion title at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest. In the fall of 1982, I recorded “Still Fiddlin’”, my fourth fiddle album.

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