Meet Mr. Mo

Greetings. My name is Damon K. Mollenkopf, but everyone calls me Mr. Mo. (except for my wife . . . and my kids . . . oh, and my parents . . . you get the idea)

I was born in Lancaster, PA but quickly moved to the NYC metro area where my mother is from. We moved to Bucyrus, OH when I was fairly young when my father joined the Bucyrus police force. However, once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker. I still consider myself one, and if you listen carefully, you can still hear the accent slip through.

I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor's in Communication. I started out as a manager of a sign company for a short while before joining the Columbus City Prosecutor's office as an investigator, then supervisor and trainer. I was recruited away to become the director of risk management for a trucking company, before eventually resigning to go back to school to get my teaching license. I did my student teaching at Westerville North, and am now in my 8th year teaching in Westerville. Oh yeah, and in the spring, you'll find me roaming Bernowski Field as the Varsity Baseball's team's Assistant Coach.

I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and have two kids: a ten-year old son and a six-year old daughter.

I'd have a photo here, but my dearest friend who also happens to be a public defender told me a horror story. So in the interest of security . . .

This is my dog. His name is Murphy. (named after former Atlanta Braves slugger and should be Hall of Famer Dale Murphy - I'm a big Braves fan, and not just because they always won in the 90's and early 2000's. I suffered through the abysmal 80's after their division win in '82. In fact, I can tell you the starting lineup of that team.)

I'm also involved in a few musical endeavors:

First, I'm the lead singer in a rhythm and blues band called ÜberGroove.

Here's a few things I've done recently:

Reelin' In The Years (mp3) - Steely Dan, of course.
Crossfire - live version (mp3) - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Funky Broadway (mp3) - Our take on a Wilson Pickett favorite
Alice (mp3) - written by Pete Chimbidis
Couldn't Stand The Weather (mp3) - Another Stevie Ray classic
Do It Again (mp3) - Once again, Steely Dan, with more vocal parts than you can shake a stick at.

You can listen to more samples of our work at petechimbidis.com, or if you ask nicely, maybe I'll play you some before class.

Secondly, I, along with several other fantastic musicians, comprise an 80's cover band. We are Chess King. (The name's a tongue-in-cheek homage to the 80's men's "fashion" store.) Here are a few things off of our demo:

Don't Stop Believing (mp3) - Journey's quintessential 80's rock anthem. We loved this song long before "Glee" made it cool again.

Jessie's Girl (mp3) - Rick Springfield - big crowd pleaser

Rio (mp3) - Can't have an 80's band without Duran Duran!

Thirdly, I was the vocalist on a project of original music written by Pete Chimbidis. The album is called In My Hands, and you can hear a few preview tracks and order the disc here. (Of course it would be quicker and cheaper if you just got one from me.)

My Favorite Links

Atlanta Braves

T he Daily Show

The Opinions Expressed Here (my blog)

ESPN

NOAA (local weather)

The O-Zone (OSU sports)

Steely Dan (my favorite band)

ÜberGroove (my band)

Chess King (my other band)

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