Ripper's gritty roots can be traced back to his first band: Stark Naked and Fleshtones. A fun loving group of surf punk prankers who tore up the club and concert scene in the earlier 80's. Ripper went solo in 1985 with a vision to pursue his passion for the acoustic guitar and a roots based sound.

So it began.

A series of crafy singles and videos and a self gained a score of CFNY (102.1 The Edge) Casby Award nominations as best indie artist (1987, 1988) and Q 107 Toronto Music Award nominations as best folk musician (1987, 1988). During this time, he brought his newly minted full band (The North) and explosive live show to the main stage of the 2nd annual EdgeFest at Molson Park in Barrie Ontario (1988) and his lyrical and edgy songwriting skills to the Mariposa Folk Festival that same year.

In the early 90's, Ripper relocated to Vancouver BC. He was active in the club and concert scene as a solo artist (releasing his first full length album Fast Folk Underground) and with his a new band project - a roots/reggae/ska act called Deadhead Cool. The act released a self titled EP in 1992. Around this time, he also created a small footnote on the international scene with the release of his first solo album (Fast Folk Underground) in Germany in 1993. Later that year, Ripper returned to stages of The Mariposa Festival and once again his ability to deliver an exciting live experience was tapped to join "The Great Canadian Party" at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver where he shared the main stage with the likes of The Tragically Hip, Bare Naked Ladies and The Violent Femmes.

Then came a move to New York City (1994-96). It was here that Ripper wrote and recorded his second album (Faster Than You Think) with musical friends including drummer Billy Ficca (Television). While living in NYC he was an active member of the East Village Anti Folk Scene. One highlight of this era was his third engagement at the Mariposa Folk Festival (1995) in Toronto. It was quite an event. One that saw Ripper lead the way on a stage that featured the cream of The New York City Anti Folk Scene.

In 1996, the Ripper returned to Vancouver where he continued to develop his songwriting portfolio and put the final touches on the "Faster Than You Think" project which was released in 1997.

Early in 1998, Ripper moved to Halifax Nova Scotia. In Halifax, Ripper produced some the some of the most varied material of his career.

In 1998 he released mp3 version (with accompanying video) of the Stark Naked classic almost hit " I was a Teenage Stockbroker"

Later that year he released a mp3 version (with accompanying video and his own signature cut hard rockin' "Comes and Goes"

1999 - Ripper formed a group called Kid Twist, a rough and ready garageland trio along with Haligonian's Tim Stewart and Marty Coles. The group recorded and released "El Musico."

In 1999 he recorded and released another mp3 single Folk Song 2000/Apollo Meltdown. This project was produced with Charles Austin (Superfrienz,Neuisland,Buck 65).

In 2000, Kid Twist released "El Musico". The accompanying promo video "I Feel All right" included clips from the Film "In Between" - a winner of the 1999 Local Heroes International Flim Fest Award. Two tracks from El Musico were also featuring on the film.

In At the turn of century it was back to Vancouver. Ripper hunkered down for two weeks in the summer 2001 to record and EP called Hi Lonesome with Vincent Jones producing and get the ball rolling towards the next album project

In 2002, Ripper began to write/collect material for his 5th major project "The Ballad of Black." Released in 2004, Ripper supported with a coast to coast national tour. He moved back to Toronto in 2005 and got busy writing songs and producing material. "Crackle" followed in 2006 and with the release of Fast Folk Underground 2.0 in 2007 this bio blurb is up to date.