I was born on December 14, 1972, and was raised in the Lindenhurst & Lake Villa Townships in Illinois. I grew up listening to music constantly and was always fascinated with the piano. I used to lay gloves on the floor and pretend I was playing piano to records and TV show theme songs. That's when I began begging my parents to let me take piano lessons.

When I was 9 my parents rented a piano for a year to see if I would stick with the lessons before buying the piano. I still have the same piano today. I took 3 years of classical training from an accomplished pianist/violinist named Georgia Cobb, who performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. During my 3rd year of lessons with her, I brought a new music book to class (Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol. I & II) and my teacher refused to teach me that “garbage” and told me "if you want to learn that kind of music, then go somewhere else!" So I did.

I started creating my own original music at age 11. I was making up music and writing lyrics, but never sang them to anyone. I wasn't a singer, I was a piano player. I took lessons for 5 more years with another teacher, Eric Sutz, who taught me popular music and how to improvise with music and play with a “free-style”. While I was in high school, I found out I could take music instead of a foreign language for the same credit. I figured I could play piano for the choir class and get by, but I was forced to sing with the group in order to pass the course. That year I got the lead in the school musical. I was suprised that I could be a singer. I was nicknamed "Stu" by my friends in school as a shortcut to saying my last name. There are so many "Michael"s in the world, so I adopted it.

After high school, I sang and danced with several other college students at The Heidel House Resort & Conference Center in Greenlake, WI. During this time I continued writing original songs and sharing them with close friends and family. Aside from my "once a year gigs" at my old high school (Carmel Highschool in Mundlelein, IL), I wasn't doing much solo performing.
I began solo playing and singing publicly in February, 2004. I walked into a local bar that didn't have entertainment for the night. I had some of my own equipment in the car and asked the owner if I could play in his bar for tips and beer. He agreed. The rest is .... well ... go check out the Calendar section!

I recorded my first CD, Looking for Change, and released it back in January, 2007. I called the CD Looking for Change not only because of the song, but because of how well it described that stage in my life. After quitting my day job and doing music for a living, I realized how many people are looking for change. Just thought everyone could identify. I also worked on my first radio and television commercial in that time. I worked with Mike Riley of “The Ike Riley Assassination” on that project . That was a good time and experience. I hope to do more work like that in the future.

So now I'm back at it and getting ready to release my 2nd CD. This next CD has helped me find "a sound" and I'm proud to have my name attached to and that sound is "Rock". This collection of Rock music's release date is still TBD, but highly anticipated.
Aside from all of this, I have now played at numerous bars and such, countless private parties and weddings, and plan to continue to do so. I’m loving my career and look forward to many more years of it, God willing the continued support..