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If you are curious, this page is a glimpse into my world as a songwriter. Every songwriter is different and my influences are heroes to me: Ani DiFranco, Mark Knopfler, Courtney Barnett, Ian MacKaye, Colin Meloy, Susan Levine, and Robert Thomas. This is about the new songs I've written since my album of dirt and moon came out in mid-January 2025. We are near the end of the journey for the new album 'kind lady clear road' with eight songs captured with the band in Nashville and only the mixing and mastering left to do. These little baby songs are ready. Some want to be all angsty and folky and some are full of rage and want to be emo and punk. A few just want to be pretty. The album is taking shape!
For me, songs come words first. I open myself up very early in the morning and if I am lucky the muse is there and the lyrics tumble out. I've learned that I can't take much credit for the writing. Sometimes I am just channeling and try to stay open until the song is all down. When its too much work, I walk away. When the emotion is clear, the words always follow. When the world is in turmoil the muse will not leave me alone until she is heard. I recently reread my lyrics and realized that there is more there that I missed earlier. The universe is a very mysterious place and we don't know much at all. I take comfort from that.
Every song this winter and spring has come with new chords. I don't know why - they are demanding little songs and I've twisted my fingers in knots to figure out what they need. These are still not quite right but they are getting better and 999 more times through and I may be able to get the fingers to do what is asked.
I don't think of myself as a great singer. But I do practice every day and I've been working to get better for several years. It is one of the joys of my life and I am continuously humbled as I figure out something new about vocals that I didn't even realize was a thing. Danielle Pinals is my trusted vocal coach and she has patiently helped me discover and rediscover my voice and what it means to sing, to connect, and to relay emotions from heart to air to heart. It is a journey and that's ok. Just sing.
I wish I had a band - but I am a solo singer these days balancing fatherhood, family, work, and music. I am fortunate to have the most talented studio band imaginable to co-create with down in Nashville. My contribution is the songwriting, the structures, the weird 7-9-11 chords and time signatures, the words, the emotional arc, and the heartstrings that want to be plucked. In studio we all work together and the band members each bring their own magic to the process - and they are truly impressive magicians with absolute mastery of their instruments. I am awed. My Producer, Lowell Reynolds, creates and protects the sacred space for collaboration as he captures the magic on tape. It's euphoric!
Here are the super rough awkward iphone videos of the new songs in rough form. Still 1,000 run-throughs to go before going into the studio.
The morning fog lay heavy down the valley by the river
sunrise found the space between horizon and the clouds
who hung heavy with child not knowing if he’s rain or if she’s snow
you cuddled in your blanket eyes wide in the morn
why so quiet is your question and the answers I will hold
for to tell what will be coming is to break what now is pure
so we share the blanket cross our chests as sunlight starts to glow
and greet the day with open eyes the day before the storm
We're not ready for the storm
it’s too warm for December and the air smells of the sea
a seagull lands a hundred miles from where she ought to be
by the spruce tree in the backyard where the mountain starts to rise
the fog still in the hollows the red still in the sky
We're not ready for the storm
Too afraid to move out of its way
Everything is quiet in the forest above the lake
the nervous birds left early flying north and flying east
the noisy ones are busy putting food down in the holes
the quiet ones are waiting fear building in their souls
We're not ready for the storm
Too afraid to move out of its way
not a plan and frozen with nothing left to say
and tomorrow will decide
How strong the wind how high the tide
and where the lightning strikes this time
Which lakes to grow which roads to cross
Which bridge to wash which roof to throw
and when the longest night is done
awakened as the sun breaks through
for me for you
what kind of neighbors will we be
You wrap around me like cold hands wrap around
A hot mug of coffee on a gray snowy morn
in the last month of winter the first month of spring
when the ground is all frozen
and the birds the birds start to sing
You wrap around me like fire on a tree
too close to the flame and melting within
the blush of your soft cheek lit up by a flame
then pulled to the cold air and thrown
thrown to the sea
God grant me serenity wisdom and courage
Powder kept dry and enemies held close
because there will be a fight
You wrap around me like armor like war
all steel and leather forged from the mine
scared anxious resolved to the fight
all energy and focus lethal silent
God grant me serenity wisdom and courage
Powder kept dry and enemies held close
Because there will be a fight
Yes there will be a fight
Then every story that’s ever been told
of good and evil friend and foe
will play out before us with new starring roles
Because there will be a fight
and we will choose a side
And this time the enemy will come from inside
and everyone will believe that they are in the right
When the dust finally settles on blood dried and cold
on the leaves and the grasses your hands and the snow
we’ll walk home together trembling and old
for serenity has gone to war
One moment of quiet one drop of peace
Bricks laid down side by side stacked up high stacked up high
to silence the sounds you blocked out the sun
and what a lovely cage you have built
One hand in the air and one hand on the book
One minute of quiet one twinkling of peace
snow outside as far as the eye stacked up high stacked up high
put distance between the hate and the rage
and wrote yourself a sentence of exile
One hand on the book one hand in the air
Tailor tinker soldier spy kind lady clear road take care
One flash of quiet one trice of peace
Soldiers and guns as far as the eye stacked up high stacked up high
to bring down justice with mortars and mines
and weighed your soul down heavy
Look for the helpers she said
look for the ones who have always been there
a notch on a fencepost a mailbox a sign
an ally a wingman quiet and kind
Abolition she said set up the railroad again
For when they go low we go high
and sometimes we have to go
sometimes we have to go
underground
If I follow through the fog
Words gone hollow light gone soft
I am lost here you are not
A hand a tear a whisper you near
Held like a memory held like a fear
Following leading chasing fleeing
Drop like a rock falling screaming
Tumbling lost flailing reeling
Trying to fly in a hurricane
Screaming your name in the wind and the rain
If I follow through the fog
Waves grown louder light gone dark
I am lost here you are not
You are close just a feeling a touch then you’re gone
Seed of light on the horizon cracks open the dawn
This is my time this is my space
These are the things I do to keep my feet in place
This is my time this is my space
These are the things I do to keep my feet in place
Jump from the rock and ride on the edge
Of the storm that has ravaged our hearts and our heads
wings beating clouds ceding
Drop like a rock locked in and speeding
then turn to the sky I now am leading
I’ll get my wings in a hurricane
I’ll learn to fly in the wind and rain
I’ll earn my wings in a hurricane
I’ll learn to fly in the wind and rain
When will I see you again
Bright spot in a gray sky on a gray day
Didn’t think I’d find a friend
Not here not now not here
Then your arm brushes mine You cover up my eyes
Take me by the hand Pull me outside
Lead me up the hill quiet words gentle steps
I think I can breathe again think I can breathe
Your words catch flight on the breeze
Scent and a hint that you’re near
Heart beating faster eyes filled with laughter
The only one that matters to me
Then your arm brushes mine You cover up my eyes
Take me by the hand Pull me outside
Lead me up the hill quiet words gentle steps
I think I can breathe again I think I can breathe
I dream of you now
Your eyes lit by the moon
A halo around
A kiss in the night will make it alright
Today on the path by the reeds
red winged blackbirds came north they’re singing again
as the ice melt falls from the trees
a chandelier of water and light
Lilac is your color always been that way
the kind you see when you close your eyes
I know you when you’re near lit like a firefly
a drop of comfort in the dark on a sleepless night
10 more years and a baby’s cry
Rise and fall on a six hour tide
A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night
When we gonna go
When we gonna go
To the other side
grey pickup cuts the snow up on 89
Two lights to follow on a stormy night
You got her home safe it’s gonna be all right
a field of green clover in a clear blue sky
10 more years and a baby’s cry
Rise and fall on a six hour tide
A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night
When we gonna go
When we gonna go
To the other side
and on some quiet evening
after decades fall aside
spin your ring around your finger
and look back on good time
10 more years and a baby’s cry
Rise and fall on a six hour tide
A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night
When we gonna go
When we gonna go
To the other side
Come out of your shell you quiet one
Come see what the light has to say
There’s more out here that you don’t want to miss
There are poems and notes and paints
She asked you to dance on the grass
Underneath a blanket of stars
To music she’ll share if you ask
A song never heard by anyone
It starts quiet and slow like the ocean at night
Lights at the edges the first tinges of morning
And if you are lucky
if you are lucky
she’ll sing you the rest
Come out of your room you somber one
Bring all your awkward and shy
The unspoken words that you hide so well
The notes and the colors so bright
She asked you to dance on the grass
Underneath a blanket of stars
To music she’ll share if you ask
A song never heard by anyone
It starts quiet and slow like the ocean at night
Lights at the edges the first tinges of morning
The next part is sad about a house in Georgia
A misunderstanding and blood in the dirt
But hold on and sway the music keeps coming
Her head tucked in close and tears on your shirt
And if you are lucky
if you are lucky
she’ll sing you the rest
She asked you to dance on the grass
Underneath a blanket of stars
To music she’ll share if you ask
A song never heard by anyone
It starts quiet and slow like the ocean at night
Lights at the edges the first tinges of morning
The last part it grows like leaves in the springtime
They fill in the space between ground and the sky
With perfume and clouds of seeds and longing
Her chin lifts your eyes meet
the dew on her bare feet
and if you are lucky
tracks in the moonlight
tracks in the moonlight
are all that is left
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