I've been writing music for over twenty years and this was my most intimate and personal set of songs I've ever written. When I set out creating a batch of songs, over a span of three years, I wanted all the songs to flow into one another like a theatrical performance. Some of my favorite albums I listen to are ones I can start at track one and listen all the through until the final track's ending. Throughout this process you are taken to different memories that a song provokes, get lost in reality, and complete a roller coaster ride of highs and lows.  A few that come to mind are Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Dave Matthews Band's "Before These Crowded Streets", The Beach Boy's "Pet Shop Sounds", Andrew Peterson's "The Burning Edge of Dawn", and The Gray Haven's "Ghost of a King". This is what I was trying to achieve with this album. The over all theme of the album is going through dark times in your life, but allowing glimmers of hope and seeing a light at the end of the tunnel to overcome it all.

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Oh My Worries: I know of a few people that deal with depression. I always hear a common theme while talking with them, they don't know why it happens and it's something they "battle" with. This song is a battle cry of an individual dealing with it wondering why is this happening and wondering where did their happiness go.

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Alone: This tune has been in my collection for awhile. The only problem was writer's block. I could never come up with lyrics. While working on this album I would always go back to this tune, try working on lyrics, and one word kept coming to me, alone. I came across this poem by Edgar Allen Poe called ALONE and it just fit perfectly with the tune and also the theme of the album. 

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Remembering: Part of this album is about growing out of being depressed. When I think of "growing" I always believe we have a starting point. The starting point I wanted was beginning in childhood. This song is a reflection of my childhood and growing up. Even though there are no lyrics, all the music and sounds are a reflection of my growing up such as the ringing bell (there was a bell in the field behind my house that the neighborhood friends and I would try to ring) and. the whooping whip-poor-will birds that were all around a lake my mother lived on.

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AS: This song is just about enjoying the time with someone. Sometimes it doesn't have to be filled up with going places or with words. Just the fleeting time with a person and enjoying their presence is sometimes the greatest gift. That's a better medicine than any doctor can prescribe!

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Sad Clown: Little fact: the baby cooing at the beginning was when my daughter was a baby! I had recorded her and put the little piano riff over it. I pulled it out of my collection and tried to form lyrics to it. The lyrics that came about was looking forward to a time when you can be happy again. Sometimes when we're going through depression or a hard time, we put on a happy face like a clown in front of others while hiding the hurt inside. 

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Heartbeats: This is one of my favorites of the album! Imagine sitting somewhere in public and you look across the room and lock eyes with someone else. This song is all about the butterfly feelings you get and not knowing how they'd react by your first words to them (preferably to give them a compliment or ask them for a date.) 

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Never Let You Down: I wrote this song for my daughter. The main message I was trying to get across was the lyric that says "I may not be perfect, but I'm perfect for you!" 

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Drowning: I feel like the water and drowning metaphors are overdone in songwriting sometimes. Well folks, I couldn't help it and was bitten by that bug also. Sometimes life feels like it can be overwhelming at times (one of the causes of depression.) This was written during a time when I felt overwhelmed at work with too much to do in a little time and financially things started to get strained. All of these things started to weigh on me and it got my brain telling me "well if you would have done better........ then this wouldn't be happening." It's like there was battle going on inside of my head and I started to feel like the imaginary ocean started to surround me and I started to go under. 

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Never Give Up On You: This was my love song for the album. I believe one of the strongest statements you can tell someone is "I'm never going to give up on you." I think back to when I was a child (and even now!) my mom would say "there's nothing you can do today to make me stop loving you." That's a powerful statement that has stayed with me as I've grown into a parent knowing you will never give up on your kids. 

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The Day: The album finishes with a story between two childhood friends that loved one another. I tried to end the album on a positive note! The two would play all the time and enjoy each other. Something happens when one of them had to go away (why you ask? I'll let you fill that in!) The one left behind starts reflecting back on this individual and yearning for the day when they can be together again. 

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