The Xennial

I like to call a Xennial show a "full band sound without the price tag" (It's just me!). I sing and play both electric and acoustic guitar live over pre-arranged backing tracks that include bass and drums that I record myself in my home studio. I sing all my songs in their original key and I really try to achieve that authentic sound reproduction that you know well from the original recordings! I also have a good mixture of grungy distorted guitar tunes and lots of clean/acoustic guitar songs that can fit any kind of mood, whether its a head-bangin' rock show you want or something akin to an MTV unplugged-type of experience.

I was born in 1982 and am the oldest of four boys. I grew up in a musical household in Northern Virginia, listening to tapes, CDs and records, recording off DC101 and sharing mixtapes with my friends and cousins. I sung choir in school and also played bass briefly in my brother's band. I DJ-ed parties in college where I met my wife and then pursued a career in web software development. I moved to Portland in 2012 and got bit by the musical performance bug when a co-worker of mine who sings and plays guitar inspired me to do the same. I also started my first band COVERCRAFT in 2021, playing drums when there was no live music happening because I wanted that to change! Since then I've been splitting my time between work, playing my favorite rock tunes I grew up with, and doing many other musical things like karaoke parties at my house and open mics all around the Portland area. I love to call this place home!

I can play with or without AC power and require a dry stage surface with overhead cover to block sun and rain for outdoor shows. I need at least a 6' x 5' surface area for a minimal setup with 1 PA speaker, but for the best experience I recommend a full setup with 1 floor monitor and 2 main speakers pointed at the audience, which would need at least a 9' wide area. AC power is a nice-to-have for plugging in my iPad, but I have the ability to plug it into any of my PA speakers as well to keep it charged up.

My PA speakers also can do full stereo bluetooth streaming for playing background music during breaks and they also support remote mixing over bluetooth using the Electro-Voice QuickSmart App, so it would enable real-time sound level control and mixing from the audience area.

The main speakers can be elevated on stands to point them at the audience's ear-level without having to tilt them or can also be setup in the "kickback" position, which is a 30° angle designed to point to the listener while the speaker sits on the ground. The kickback position can be useful when space is at a premium and can't easily accommodate the speaker stands.

I use the following equipment:
- Up to 3 Electro-Voice EVERSE 8 Battery-Powered PA Speakers, with or without speaker stands
- Fender Sonoran Acoustic-Electric Guitar
- Silvertone Electric Guitar
- Double Guitar Stand
- iPad running Tonebridge Guitar Effects, Stage Traxx 3 Backing Tracks, iRig BlueBoard Floor Pedal
- 1-2 OnStage Microphone Stands
- 1-2 Stagg Dynamic Microphones with on/off switch
- Playing Surface Rug
- Display Sign with Tip Jar

I can also accommodate a 2nd microphone with stand if you might want to come up and sing along with me, kinda like live band karaoke!