Get to Know Theo
“Funny how a melody sounds like a memory” - Eric Church
Why I Started Playing Music
This did not start with a single moment. It started long before I ever picked up a guitar, when I first felt what a great song could do.
I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, riding in the backseat of my parents’ car listening to country radio and whatever CD was playing up front. I did not know it then, but I was studying.
I was listening to how a great lyric could tell a whole life story in three minutes. I was paying attention to how certain songs could make time feel like it slowed down.
As I got older, that connection only deepened. When my family moved out to the country when I was thirteen, the stories in 90s and early 2000s country music felt even more personal. Those songs were there for everything — my first girlfriend, my first heartbreak, the best days of my life, and the days I did not think I was going to make it.
Music grounded me.
My Biggest Struggles
One of my biggest struggles has always been my relationship with time. Time keeps moving whether we are ready for it or not. It speeds up. It does not wait.
That idea has always created anxiety for me. But when I am listening to or playing a great song, something shifts. For a few minutes, you are fully present. Nothing else matters.
Time slows down. As I started playing shows and writing seriously, I realized something else: not every performer approaches a show with that level of intention.
I did not want to just play gigs. I wanted to build shows that felt meaningful, energetic, and worth people’s time.
What Drove Me To Boston
That drive pushed me to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I am pursuing a double major in Voice Performance and Songwriting, and to surround myself with writers and musicians who take the craft as seriously as I do. It also led me to spend time writing and learning in Nashville, studying the rooms, the writers, and the culture of a city built around great songs .
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that talent is not accidental. It takes paying attention. It takes thousands of hours. It takes discipline and relentless hard work. I have approached this path with that mindset from the beginning.
More than anything, I have always been, and will always be, a music student. That started long before Berklee, long before I ever called myself an artist. It started in the backseat of that car in Des Moines, listening closely and trying to understand why certain songs made my chest tighten and time slow down.
I approach every stage, every song, and every show the same way: still learning, still listening to music and to other writers and musicians, and still chasing growth.
What I Believe About Country Music
I started this because I believe country music, at its best, makes people feel present. It tells the truth. It connects strangers in a room. It turns an ordinary night into something you remember.
My goal is to give people that same magical feeling I felt as a kid in the backseat of that car — and later as a young adult hearing a new favorite song for the first time — that moment where time slows down and you are completely present in the music and the lyrics.
Where You Can Find Me
I'm currently based between Boston, Massachusetts (during the academic year at Berklee College of Music), Des Moines, Iowa (my hometown and Midwest base), and Nashville, Tennessee (seasonal writing and performance hub).
I'm available for regional bookings across the Midwest and Northeast, and I'm open to select national opportunities for the right event.
Des Moines, IA
Hometown & Midwest Market
Family roots
Iowa & surrounding states
Nashville, TN
Songwriting & Performance Hub
Active writing community
Seasonal performances
Boston, MA
Academic Year Base
Berklee College of Music
Regular venue performances