Born 1956 in Pasco, Washington. BA, The Evergreen State College; MMus, The University of Idaho. After a post-college stint in the U.S. Air Force as a member of a nuclear missile launch crew, coming to Seattle in 1983 he began a string of concert appearances at On the Boards, Soundwork, 911, New Music America, Bumbershoot and Nippon Kan, often collaborating with dancers and videographers. Layton essentially stopped live performances in 1990, spending the time from then to now exploring both electronic and "virtual orchestral" composition, as well as new ways the internet can facilitate distribution, networking, and concertizing of new music for the independent musician. In 2007 he moved to Houston, Texas, where he continues to do all of the above. Since the beginning of 2009 Layton is also managing editor of Sequenza21.com, one of the most widely-read classical and new-music websites.
What some would see as "eclecticism", Layton sees as the eternal "now"; that each person is a kind of vortex moving through all that ever was, reaching through time, place and culture to shape their own particular moment. Classical, ethnic, popular, "live", "virtual", "real", "unreal"... All of these and more are really perceptions of the same complex substance, that makes both life and art TRUE...