I’ve written a ton of songs. A ton. I write songs for the same reason as some people keep a journal. Maybe even more than that. I write songs to save my sanity or maybe even to save my life. My lyrics don’t read like a great Country or Americana song, so most people are left mystified or think they can’t relate. So, I’m starting to post songs, one

I’ve written a ton of songs. A ton. I write songs for the same reason as some people keep a journal. Maybe even more than that. I write songs to save my sanity or maybe even to save my life. My lyrics don’t read like a great Country or Americana song, so most people are left mystified or think they can’t relate. So, I’m starting to post songs, one at a time, and shed some light behind the lyric and musical thoughts that went into it. I hope you join me and maybe start a conversation or two or twenty. Maybe you will find you can relate much more than you thought you did or maybe you will think I’ve lost my marbles or I’m from a different planet all together (which is probably true as well). Either way, I hope you enjoy me revealing my heart behind my music. Entertainment Tonight. Love Coma Language of Fools 1995 I was at home watching that celebrity show called Entertainment Tonight, with a guitar in my hands. Their theme song playing and me trying to figure it out on the fretboard… I couldn’t. But I did come up with a dumb rock and roll riff that got stuck in my head. Once I had the riff, I needed a chord structure and a simple arrangement. D and G for me! Two chords and I was mumbling stream of consciousness lyrics until I’m stumbled upon “I’m out, out, out chasing the wind…” Yes… I loved the way that sounded. Where have I heard this phrase before? It took me a minute but I remember reading the book of Ecclesiastes from the Bible. Now, before I go any further, let me tell you my relationship with this book. In my early teens, my father would punish me by referencing a certain scripture or passage from this book, and making me write it out, over and over again on a piece of paper so it would get into my mind. Usually, I was the sinner that the book was talking about and I should be guilty and ashamed of my sin. So the book was a punishment tool for my father. Around that same time, I was going to a church that had a thriving youth group and I would go to their youth group meetings and get together. They would read from the same book and it was a completely different context. Jesus loves you, etc. etc. There was lots of love in the room and I could not get my head around the dichotomy of punishment and love. I was never any kind of Bible scholar and all these years later just a few bits stay with me, but most of it has faded away. I could, however, relate to the idea that living in this world is futile, and everything is just chasing after the wind. I feel the exhaustion of life more so than most people. And to me, that’s what Entertainment Tonight is all about. Now don’t forget, I love rock ‘n’ roll, and most everything that comes with it… So the idea of me singing a punk rock bridge in E major “I’m everything I pretend to be” felt right to throw in there. I was an insecure kid, trying to find my footing in this world, and starting out, I pretended to be a songwriter, a front man in a rock ‘n’ roll band… All these years later I am. I am everything I pretend to be. Fake it til you make it. I don’t have to fake it anymore. “there is a soul, nobody can find it, no one can draw it, shape it or describe it…” I love this lyric as well. Myself at 26 years old talking about the soul. Some of us chase after money, some of us chase after success, some of us chase after possessions or things we can have… But it’s all just chasing after the wind once we look back on our lives. “There is nothing better than a little bit of drinking, a little bit of eating for the good of a soul . When you look down at your weary little fingers, you’ll just be let down by the silver and gold.” So a celebrity show called Entertainment Tonight mixed with the Book of Ecclesiastes (a book that reveals the depression that inevitably results from seeking happiness in worldly things). This pretty much wraps up my life.. in just under 3 minutes. Have a listen & enjoy.

Song: Everything Begins Here Album: Lovers, Thieves, Fools + Pretenders Year: 2018 The spark for the title of this song came from a tweet by Mike Scott of the Waterboys “Welcome to London. Everything begins here.” I reached out and asked him if I could swipe the last part of his tweet for a song & he obliged. “My screws are loose. I got broken

Song: Everything Begins Here Album: Lovers, Thieves, Fools + Pretenders Year: 2018 The spark for the title of this song came from a tweet by Mike Scott of the Waterboys “Welcome to London. Everything begins here.” I reached out and asked him if I could swipe the last part of his tweet for a song & he obliged. “My screws are loose. I got broken parts, I’m black and blue inside of my heart… Everything begins here.” This song (like many of my other songs) is about self reflection. There are always wars going on around the world. Horrible tragedies and we wonder how in the world to stop them… it feels hopeless and never ending. I think these outside wars start because of the wars going on inside so many of us. We are at war with ourselves first. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way? The battle between our human nature and our higher spirit. The battle between what we say and what we actually do. The battle between trying to make others happy and chasing our own happiness. Some of our wars are more intense than others. I’ve built a confessional inside my mind, a songwriting confessional where I lay it all down in music and lyrics: “Oh, a confession of the soul. Wash my sin with rock and roll… a confession of the soul.” I never once thought another man could absolve me of anything I’ve ever said or done. So it’s a wake up call. A new day to start again. Everything begins here: in the heart. In the mind. This is where all the decisions are made. I’m always beating myself up in my own songs. It’s been a constant theme in my music. But there’s a lot of hope in my songs as well. “The cracks are how the light shines through” kind of thing. Misty Jones Simpson transformed this song into an absolute boom boom rocker and this makes me so happy. Enjoy it. ct

Originally written around 1993-94 and performed only a handful of times with my band Love Coma. It's a waltz that turns into a rock and roll orchestral piece. This version is a demo I made years and years ago, playing all the instruments and singing all the vocals. It's as close as I've ever gotten to how I hear it in my head... but it's still not

Originally written around 1993-94 and performed only a handful of times with my band Love Coma. It's a waltz that turns into a rock and roll orchestral piece. This version is a demo I made years and years ago, playing all the instruments and singing all the vocals. It's as close as I've ever gotten to how I hear it in my head... but it's still not quite there yet.

There's a me I wish I was and there's a me I truly am. This song is the struggle between the two versions of myself. I'm the Prodigal Son to a father who doesn't even know me and doesn't really want to know me.

"If love is what we want, how can we be sure? Separate ourselves, don't know who we are. Tell me can I be free?" Sometimes I recognize myself, sometimes I don't. And it's sad enough to come to the realization I can never recapture the innocence I had when I was a kid.

"I call myself the King of Transcendence, standing in a strangers clothes" For as much as I want to be known for writing and performing transcendent music, I feel like I will truly never be known at all.

When I sing "My father cried and threw his arms around me, and I recognize you in those strangers clothes... and it's time to come home" I'm not talking about my biological father... I'm talking about the ultimate spirit of Love which I really hope exists after this life is over. I've never really felt at home... not growing up as a kid, not through out my life as an adult... I've always felt out of place.

I hope when this life is over, I will finally find a true "home" but this is something only time will tell.