Cook County Jail Recording Studio

Hi friends, here is a peek into this project, which I'm very excited about. I'm creating a music studio in Cook County’s Division 11, right in the heart of the biggest jail in the nation.  Why? The jail system is dehumanizing / music is humanizing. Music is uplifting, challenging, and collaborative. Its a therapy, and its a gift.


My goal is to share all that I do in teaching, recording, and creating, with good people in bad times. Some may think of this as harm reduction. It is. More than that, though, I want this program to help change the narrative we implicitly have of the folks in this system: "they probably deserve to be there because they're bad people". We know better when we really put our hearts and minds to it, and understand the inequalities built into our societal structures. My hope is that by creating and sharing something beautiful--the music we make in the studio--it will help enlighten our greater community to a more loving narrative. And that narrative can help pave the way for the more radical changes we know we need.

I hope you'll be involved by donating much needed funding to build this studio.    All raised money will go directly to the studio, to buy recording gear, instruments, and materials to make this an amazing oasis to learn, express, and record.  You can really be an important part of this project. I'm amazed, already, at how much volunteered support I've received getting this started. Once it gets going, you can be directly involved in helping the students, so stay tuned in beyond your donation!