Songwriting is a very personal thing. It is a process that is challenging emotionally, creatively, and musically. It is hard to understand this process, especially for those who don’t write, and on certain occasions I have been confronted with this dilemma. “Why’d you write that?” “Where did that come from?” “Is that about me!?” It is especially difficult when those who have inspired my music don’t understand this process. Since I don’t live in a bubble, and have feelings, often people and situations in my life manifest themselves into pieces of music. It is important to keep in mind that none of my music is meant to be malicious or hurtful. Each piece is simply a snapshot in time of a personal reaction to a particular situation or event. Opinions, perspective, and feelings all change and evolve over time- but that song remains specific to a certain moment- in the past. The process usually looks something like this.
1. Something happens
2. I am personally impacted by this event
3. I don’t know how to express what I am feeling (sorrow, loss, anger, love, joy…you know…the easy ones) so I sit at my piano. For hours. Until the right sound is coming from my hands.
4. I begin to piece together the appropriate verbiage
5. I decide that the music isn’t specific enough, and begin to tear apart and rewrite everything I created in step 3 until each note has a meaning and a function in relation to the story or message. The music must say more than the words. I write this down on my giant manuscript paper.
6. I write and rewrite the lyrics. I throw them out and start again.
7. I edit the music and the lyrics until I feel that they accurately portray what I am feeling. This usually takes months.
8. The process never ends. It is personal. And the first time I play this song I have been working on privately in public, I sometimes forget to breathe.

This is not a random practice!!! I do not sit around and think “gee…that Ebola crisis is a hot topic. Maybe I’ll write a song about that today. Let’s throw some notes down and make up some words and call it a song”. That is just not how it works!! I am in no way trying to capitalize off of innocent bystanders for the betterment of myself. Remember, I’m just as much as involved in these situations! These are my feelings, my reactions, and my thoughts alone…something moved me enough to make me go to the piano and start creating. A quick analysis of the time-invested/income-gained continuum would show an inverse relationship. So capitalization and self betterment is out of the question. So why do I write? I write because I have to get it out.
I write because people say “Your song helped me.” “I’ve been there too.”

I encourage you to be open minded and kind when you are listening to my (or anyone else’s) work. These songs came from somewhere private and special within the writer. I will never apologize for my music, because it is the truth. It is my truth of a specific moment in time. And remember, if you’ve made an appearance in one of my songs, it is because I have truly loved and cared about you. You gave me something that forever changed me. And for that, we should both be grateful.