I am a very amateur musician. In college at the University of Maine , Steve Peterson and I created the Stairwell String Duo (shown above). This was the best musical time of my life. Steve and I lost touch for 25 years, but reunited when I moved to Richmond, VA, and is my dearest friend. The band got back together.
The next stage of musical journey was teaching myself to play piano when I was home for X-mas break during graduate school. I knew chords, I knew the notes associated with each piano key, and I started playing chords and improvising in between.
In my newest stage, I decided to write songs for classes I teach. This is truly a blast. The latest version of Evolution is here and the latest version of the Biosphere Blues is here . Older versions are below. "Acclimation with you" (Ecology) is here (my favorite)
I used my musical talent as the graduation speaker for the department of biology at UNCG in May, 2025. My advice to students was to be a tree. I sang two songs. It seemed to be well received. You can see the remarks and hear the songs here.
The next stage of musical journey was teaching myself to play piano when I was home for X-mas break during graduate school. I knew chords, I knew the notes associated with each piano key, and I started playing chords and improvising in between.
In my newest stage, I decided to write songs for classes I teach. This is truly a blast. The latest version of Evolution is here and the latest version of the Biosphere Blues is here . Older versions are below. "Acclimation with you" (Ecology) is here (my favorite)
I used my musical talent as the graduation speaker for the department of biology at UNCG in May, 2025. My advice to students was to be a tree. I sang two songs. It seemed to be well received. You can see the remarks and hear the songs here.
I have recorded a couple of songs that have meaning for me. They aren't that good.
One (on guitar) has been my theme song (written by Todd Snider) for years with its chorus (Too much to think about, Too much to figure out, Stuck between hoe and doubt, there is too much to think about). That is exactly how I felt on most days. https://lnkd.in/drzWzyDY
I suffered from depression and loneliness alot in my life. I wrote a couple of songs about that: Running from the Sky and Shadow
I taught myself to play the piano over a X-mas break when my parents lived on the North Side in Pittsburgh. I knew chords from playing guitar. And, I new the notes that each key was associated with from 4th grade piano lessons. I don't read music. But, I figured out how to play chords and improvise by ear in between the chords. Teaching myself to play the piano is something I am personally really proud of. The song "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby is a timeless song in too many ways. It was also fun to teach myself on the piano. You can hear me play it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ9q01la7KY
A short piano piece that I call "Ode to Lake Jeanette" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9IXkvKZh1Q
I also played a bit of piano on this great holiday video from UNCG in 2020. I say it is great because it captured the what is great about UNCG and also captured the challenges of COVID. My role is very small. The video is titled "We must have hope."
I also played a bit of piano on this great holiday video from UNCG in 2020. I say it is great because it captured the what is great about UNCG and also captured the challenges of COVID. My role is very small. The video is titled "We must have hope."
This is a recording of the Evolution song written for evolution class BIO 330 in Spring 2022. This version has two new verses covering sexual selection and Homo sapiens.
https://youtu.be/KJJXyVP1jVI
Lyrics
Evolution
An amazing contribution
A dynamic solution
A revolution on how species came to be
Natural selection
A scientific exception
In its explanatory directions (I am changing this to perfection in my next recording)
Of why change needs to be
Chorus
Genomes are rearranging
So life can keep on changing
As the earth it keeps on aging
We’ll all stay connected on this phylogenetic tree
Adaptation
Through beneficial mutation
Can include Acclimation
And create amazing diversity
Speciation
Sometimes through allopatric separation
Generates adoration
In biologists like you and me
Chorus
Sexual selection
A reason for your rejection
And for a Peacock’s colorful projection
And for circumspection about why you won’t
mate with me
Homo sapiens
Been around for a short duration
Have little genetic variation
And excel at migration
Chorus
Bio 330
It’s a great class to be nerdy
There is no need to be wordy
Just appreciate life’s amazing complexity
Evolution
An amazing contribution
A dynamic solution
A revolution on how you and I came to be
Genomes are rearranging
So life can keep on changing
As the earth it keeps on aging
We’ll all stay connected on this phylogenetic tree
This is a song. "The Biosphere Blues" written for fun as part of BIO 431 "The Biosphere" at UNCG for Fall semester 2021 and Spring Semester, 2022, and will be slightly rewritten for Fall, 2022. Perhaps the lyrics will evolve and become more profound and maybe more amusing as the next semester progresses. It summed up the class last year.
Listen to it here: youtu.be/GQAx_VYTzmg
Lyrics
H ere are the lyrics for Fall 2022
I got the biosphere blues
The sliver of life on earth is just so thin
And with all the change a coming
I worry it will all cave in
It's a resilient and dynamic system
but the future of so many species seems grim
The CO2 is elevated
And the temperature is getting hot
The seas they are rising
because ice is melting a lot
Hurricanes are more frequent,
It ain’t no time to buy a yacht
The earth’s biomes are so amazing
I mean the Tundra, the Taiga and more
Wetlands, forests and coral reefs
Deserts to the freshwater shore
And, they’re all so connected
So, system models should not be a bore
I took BIO 431
even though classes don’t start until half past noon
I am always trying to catch up with my work
like Wyle E Coyote chasing the road runner in a cartoon
But, the earth biomes are engaging
this course will get my GPA up soon
Yes, I have the Biosphere Blues
We read paper after paper of doom
But, I am still young and idealistic
I'll draw on the energy in the room
And the coolness of the earth's biomes
makes my curiosity bloom
I got the Biosphere blues.