I’ve always loved the portability of an instrument that you can take with you and the way that it connects with the sound in a space.   I cannot help but connect whistling to a large space like a vast cave, long tunnel, or train station. 

There was a church job that I worked on for most of my twenties at Lakewood United Methodist back in Dallas. I was the paid soloist baritone, and there was an older gentleman by the name of Jim Davis (no affiliation with Garfield : ) and he was a fantastic whistler. He was whistling all the time, and he was also really into harmonica too. I always admired his whistling. We would talk about whistling and harmonica, and he shared artists and albums he knew.

I was inspired by the songs of Peter Gabriel, whose whistling is evocative of simpler times, the whimsy of childhood and spooky textures on his Melt album. The epic scores of Ennio Morricone and his whistler, Alessandro Alessandroni, are iconic and are a massive influence in my work. Alexandre Desplat’s score of Fantastic Mr. Fox also inspires me because of its distinctive French Cinema feel.  I've following Molly Lewisfor some time and so pleased to hear her on Mark Ronson's Score for Barbie.  There's a lot of on whistling in the news. 

I’ve whistled on my scores, albums, as well as live. (Aspiring whistlers beware, if your whistling causes a smile in your audience, it may prove infectious to yourself and thereby throwing a wrench in your performance!) I’ve also whistled on other scores and albums below.

Think Ink Won the Spirit of Slamdance Award in 2015. 

NYAP Intern and award winning filmmaker Davis Henderson made a short doc in Spring 2024.