He holds a PhD in Musicology from UCLA and has published widely on topics in nineteenth- and twentieth-century music from both “classical” and “popular” traditions. His work appears in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, American Music, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Popular Music and Society, and the New Grove Dictionary of American Music, and he has co-edited two essay collections. He is also an accomplished drummer with dozens of recordings and live performances to his credit.