Playing instruments was something that I took an instant liking to. There was a lot of music around my house. Both my Grandmothers played piano and my Grandma Simpson in particular was a constant tickler of the family piano.

At age 11 I asked for piano lessons and my parents and grandparents teamed up to pay for lessons. I began standard lessons in a group format and instantly fell in love with the act of making music on the piano. From that point on playing music has been a huge part of my life. I'm not sure when I got it in my head to try to make a living from playing music, but I think it was pretty early on.

Early on I heard a lot of music that really grabbed me. Canadian Folk Music was one of my first loves and it's still very much with me and a part of my everyday life. Somewhere along the way I heard Fats Waller and it immediately took ahold of me and has never loosened it's grib. I loved everything about the music - the fun - the songs - the energy. This was the way I entered the jazz world.

Growing up in the small lumber town of Nanaimo, B.C. wasn't exactly the "hub of jazz", but there were some fine teachers and there were quite a few other people who had dug into jazz and were doing it very successfully around Vancouver Island and the Mainland.

I did the regular routine and tried to "break into" the jazz world, something I never did accomplish. This is largely due to the fact that I love stride piano and it was considered then (even 30 years ago) an archaic style.

But the "steadfast" Simpson blood prevailed and here I am all these years later, known somewhat as a stride pianist. I released a CD in 2004 which was largely focused on the stride and swing so if you're interest in knowing more about that, have a look at my CD page.

If you'd like more information on this aspect of my life, please read the bios on the promotional pages. There are both long and short versions on the promo page.