WHO?
I am the singer-songwriter-bassist for the Philadelphia-based rock group Smart Barker. I worked for many years as a scholar of British Romanticism, a writer, an editor, and an English professor. Today, I am focused on music—making my own and studying various kinds of popular and alternative music from 1975 to 1990.

I was born in Fayetteville, NC on 21 September 1969. I grew up in Roanoke, VA, “the Star City of the South,” also the hometown of my musical collaborator, Mark Graybill; and I had a great college experience at James Madison University in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. I did my graduate work (MA and PhD) at the University of South Carolina under the expert direction of Paula R. Feldman. I started a tenure-track job at Widener University in 1997. In 2010, I was promoted to the rank of Professor of English; in 2014, I became the first Homer C. Nearing Jr. Distinguished Professor of English. I retired from academia in 2018. Today, I am studying music production with Berklee Online and working on a new Smart Barker album.
I also am selling hundreds of scholarly books on eBay and on Amazon to help fund my musical endeavors.
Employment History
Professor of English, Widener University, 2010–2018
Homer C. Nearing Jr. Distinguished Professor of English, Widener University, 2014–2018
Associate Professor of English, Widener University, 2003–2010
Assistant Professor of English, Widener University, 1997–2003
Education
Professional Certificate in Music Production, Berklee Online, currently in progress.
Ph.D. in English Literature, University of South Carolina, August 1997
M.A. in English, University of South Carolina, August 1994
B.A. in English, James Madison University, May 1992