 Banjo Championship at age 15 and in 1982 he won the National Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas, as well as first-place in dozens of state and regional championships.He made the first of several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, The Porter Wagoner Show, and the stages of Opryland at age 19 as part of "Smoky Mountain Sunshine" combining his talents as a banjoist with those of musical arranger.In the 1980s he lived in Dallas and recorded and toured with his band Danger in the Air and later moved to Nashville to do full-time touring and studio work.