I fell in love with shamisen when I saw a performance by Kevin Kmetz with God of Shamisen in 2007. After the set, I inquired where I could find one for myself, and Kevin mentioned that (at the time) there were only online dealers. But the price was way beyond my nonexistent budget, so I put it on back-burner.

2 years later I began studying the Japanese language and eventually found myself at a language school in Kyushu. While studying abroad, I made a close friend who allowed me to borrow her mother’s nagauta shamisen so long as we duet with her on koto.

My skill as a player never took off especially; I was self-teaching, and hadn’t really sunk time in. Par for the course of most everything in my life at the time. But I had a knack for learning tunes and steadily picked up a few techniques. We played almost everyday in her little udon shop, which I look back on fondly.

Toward the end of my stay in Japan, one of my language teachers asked me to stop by and play a few songs for her. After my performance, she told me it was a test; that I had passed, and she wanted to gift me a (practically) brand new nagauta shamisen. I was ecstatic!

When I moved back to California, my time became busy with studying and looking for a job. Several months passed, and I had not picked up the shamisen save for a few times.

Eventually, I met Kyle and Grant in person at a concert in SF. We became friends and I ended up joining them in the 2013 Team Bachido Taikai Tour. While in Japan for the taikai, I realized yet another of my dreams: to play along-side Kevin Kmetz in one of his many videos. He even suggested recording a little duet featuring a tune I was tinkering with.

In 2014, I upgraded to a full blown Tsugaru Shamisen - it was amazing! My chops still weren’t anything to write home about, but I acquired a good deal more skill in performing. Things were moving along nicely, and I was stoked for the future of shamisen, both personally and globally.

A couple years passed and I fell out of the group; life happened - and I was not exactly taking on my side of things. Almost seven years went by, of which I had only picked up the shamisen a handful of times. But who knows - maybe now things will blossom once more. I do miss playing, and I especially miss the shamisen community.