I've been on stage in some form or other since grade school when I started playing the saxophone. In high school I became a juggler and won the talent show my senior year. Then while in college at Virginia Tech I started doing stand-up comedy and kept that up for about 10 years until I found out I could sing. I got by on Karaoke for a few years and then decided to pick up a guitar and accompany myself, even working a song parody of "Lyin' Eyes" by The Eagles called "Widenin' Thighs" into my comedy act near the end of my stand-up days. I also got a keyboard as my college graduation present and learned to pick out a few songs on the ivories.
Performing took a back seat for about a decade while I got married and started a family, though I did manage to get cast in a few musicals ("We the People", "Godspell", and "How to Succeed in Business...") during that time. I also finally got the drum kit I'd wanted since high school as my first ever Fathers' Day gift! In mid 2010 while my wife and son were out of the country on vacation, I started frequenting music open-mic nights and decided to make a new comittment to performing. For over 3 years now I've been performing 3 days a week during lunch at Potbelly Sandwich Shops in Houston, plus playing restaurant gigs several nights a month and the occasional private party (those are always a blast!). I regularly learn new songs for my Potbelly shows (for over a year I learned a new one for EVERY show!), plus usually a couple of requests for each private party, and now have a repertoire of over 250 songs.
In 2011 I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association and have been writing my own songs for a while working toward an album of original material. I'm not sure where this will all lead, but I'm having a ball doing what I love and actually getting some extra money for it. And, having a self-sufficient hobby has been a blast since now I can afford lots of awesome gear that I used to just drool over!
I hope you can make it to one of my shows someday soon, and thanks for visiting my ReverbNation site.
Peace and Music,
Todd Corson
