A friend that both my wife and I have had for decades passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. It was during a week where there were other tragedies, including a relative whose house burned to the ground in Altadena, California in the Eaton fire. All of this makes you pause and reflect on things that may…

Heartland is another one of my instrumental songs. This one has a lot of pieces to it. There are densely layered guitars, kind of reminiscent of the band Queen, but a different kind of groove than that.

The title, Heartland, evokes the Midwest where I live, but also a certain set of emotions.

Along with playing for, well, a really long time in rock and blues bands, I also played for about 15 years in an acoustic band that did a mix of Irish, bluegrass, and whatever we wanted.  I do love Irish music. I am not a traditionalist, although I appreciate those who are.  As the song explains, I might have a bit of Irish in me, but it’s probably pretty remote. …

I wrote this song right around Thanksgiving time. I am incredibly thankful for many, many things, including the very fortunate life I’ve had. Not everyone is so lucky of course. And in the 17th century, people fled Europe to essentially invade a new land. They were trying to find safety and opportunity. And since that time, all…

Some of my favorite songs are almost short stories, a narrative that gives insight into a life. In this song, I tried something like that. I do write fiction as well, and this was kind of a flash fiction song. It’s about a guy, a hard-working guy, looking for a partner. And his first try…

One summer evening, I was out with the dog when I could hear a live country band off in the distance. All I could really pick up was the bass line and the general feel of the song. I kind of took that general fee and made up my own song, quite different than the one I heard but true to the energy of the…

One side of my family grew up very poor. The other side was middle class. I’ve taken a little creative license, but this song is from the perspective of the poor side of the family, from someone growing up in that neighborhood and never leaving it. I’ve created this as a country song and I got to use my Johnny Cash…

I am happy to announce that there is now an audiobook version of my first novel, The Skeleton Train. It is available on Amazon via Audible. You can listen to a free sample online.

This is unapologetically an old-fashioned country song. When I think of the country music I like best, it’s music that tells a story about somebody’s life, usually their pain. After all, at its best, country music is roots music, the music of the people who work hard and often have hard lives. Well, at least…