Hi, and thanks for checking out my music site!  I hope you will take a little time to explore some of my original songs you haven’t heard before and that a couple add to your day.  That’s why I write!

 

Music, songwriting and performing have been an incredibly important part of my life and I don’t see that ever changing.  I fell in love with music in grade school listening to radio hits of the time, late at night in bed, and when the Beatles hit the charts that was it!  Of course it wasn’t just the Beatles and in fact my first album was a Rolling Stones disc called “High Tide and Green Grass”, but they are the band that pulled me in and I still love their stuff today.  Other major influencers are CSNY, Jackson Browne,  all of the great British invasion bands like the Kinks and the Who. 

 

During my earliest years learning guitar I found my older sister’s Kingston Trio album and loved it…still do today.  Then there’s Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jack Johnson, Sting, Bowie, John Mayer and so many others including my old bandmates Bob Clayton and Doug McLean who are both fantastic singer/songwriters.  You get the idea.  If you think about that era of music, which we still hear all the time today, what made it different for me from what I hear in most popular music today is clear melody and lyrics that stand alone.  If I had to point to something I would say that is what I try to get to in my music.  It doesn’t always happen but that is the goal!

 

I was recently doing an inventory to copywrite some new songs and it looks like I have written about 125 songs, at least those I took the time to record and can find.  I love them all, they’re my babies, but some much more than others and some are definitely more “commercial” than others.  Something I learned a long time ago in writing is not to become my own critic during the songwriting process or songs either don’t get finished or you start to look for what others would like rather than what you like.  It becomes mechanical vs. organic.  Of course that can change if you need to write something for a specific purpose or occasion but, as a rule, I write where the spirit takes me.  I hope you find a couple that you enjoy!

 

As I have aged, I find my art changes as well, which is perfect.  I’m not 20 anymore and I don’t see the world the same as I did then.  I’m better on guitar but definitely can’t do some of the vocals I did in my twenties and that’s OK.  Art always needs to come from where you are in the moment, from your life experience, so naturally everything will change with the passing years.   We change, the world changes and how we see things changes and hopefully my music reflects that and it still sounds good!  All artists face this.  It’s probably hardest for successful ones where people fall in love with a song or period and then never want them to change, while for singer/songwriters like me, there aren’t the same demands.  What did Dylan say, “If you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to loss!”

 

Other than getting paid for gigs over the years I have not made a living with my music but it has been my vocation and art.  I have been very successful in business, compared to most and have enjoyed everything I have done professionally but those positions came and went.   Music has been the one constant throughout and, honestly, my personal therapy.  I still would love to get some songs picked up for movies or other uses and, of course, I love when people download my songs or just stop to listen, but money isn’t the driver.  I need to write and play as part of my life and love when that allows me to connect with others.

 

So thanks for visiting my new site, created by my wonderful son Jack!  I will be updating this on a regular basis and sharing different songs and stories so please bookmark the site and come back often.  Buy some songs and share the site with others   I love getting feedback from listeners so feel free to message me anytime, I promise I will respond.  I am also always open to collaboration so if my songs hit a nerve for other songwriters let’s connect.  It’s easy these days to collaborate virtually so let’s have some fun!

 

Have a fantastic day and stay awake!