Receiving his early musical training singing in a choir in his hometown of Williamsville, New York, he continued his education singing in choirs and playing in Williamsville school bands until he attended Hamilton College where he attained his degree in music, studying composition, piano and organ.

[2] His first professional music job came at the Record Plant Studios in New York City, where he assisted on productions for bands such as The Who, Badlands and uncredited work with Aerosmith.

[3] He teamed up with producer Paul O'Neill and vocalist-pianist Jon Oliva on Hall of the Mountain King, a 1987 album from Savatage.

[5] He also an engineer on Handful of Rain, which featured Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, and the live album Ghost in the Ruins – A Tribute to Criss Oliva.

But about a dozen years or so ago, Paul O'Neill, Bob Kinkel, Jon Oliva and myself just sat down and said, 'We want to make a record that's representative of all four of our musical backgrounds.'