About

I’m a Montana boy who had to leave home to have his career, which ran its musical course back east for 35 years. My heart and head were always here in Montana, however, and now I am, too. I retired -or so I thought- five years ago, hoping to let a modest Social Security life raft carry me down the rest of the river of life. Ha! Turns out I’m about as retired as Social Security is ‘secure.’ I’ve got a recording studio called Fort Apache Sound, here in my cabin and I am producing CDs for myself and for other artists around the state. Oh, and I’ve written some books, too, on those cold Montana winter nights when the wolves are howling around your camp and your wood supply is running low.

I had been grousing for several years about how the Atlanta ad agencies and film houses had mostly stopped using me as their composer of choice, as I kept showing up to their meetings with a bald head and some new crow’s feet. They interpreted my new look as no longer being cutting edge or contemporary. In other words, they figured I couldn’t cut it anymore. Once a producer thinks their supplier can’t keep them out there on the bleeding, cutting edge, the supplier is history. It’s not a pretty world. At least not in the film and music production business.

And so I came home…

Once I recovered from the shock of 35 years of deadlines, gridlock and urban madness, I discovered there was life after a career, and that even the career might not necessarily be over.

You’ll never guess what happened after being home a year or so. My old clients back East began calling me to do music for them, from here in Montana. The internet now makes that not only totally possible, but the easiest way to go. So I began working again – Relax, IRS, I’m not working that hard – only when I want to, only when it’s fun. Seems my old clients forgot how I looked, or perhaps remembered what I’d done for them, or received some sort of epiphany of how cool it would be to have a composer who has a great track record, lots of experience and can handle impossible deadlines while making your project better than you dared to hope.  And wait…I actually know one – one who moved back to Montana recently – now, what was his name again?

Well…

Actually, here’s how all that works.  The producer is in the middle of a power lunch with a new potential client, and when original music comes up, the producer goes, “I got just the guy for you, J.P.  He’s a hot new composer out in the Northwest who has the Midas touch these days. He owes me a chip or two. I’ll get him for you.”

So I do the work, still love and enjoy doing it – especially in my robe and bunny slippers – and have managed to pump a little more air into my sagging life raft. Life is pretty interesting, ain’t it??