Story behind the Song: Of The Free

After the passage of Proposition 8 in California I was angry. Very Angry.

When they repealed gay marriage in Maine my anger was washed away and all I was left with was hurt. I remember crying myself to sleep that night thinking that equality was hopeless. We could pass laws, but as long as people held hatred in their hearts no change would last. I woke up the next morning with a strange calm. I took my songbook with me as I boarded the subway to go to another day of work at a soul crushing day job.

As I sat on the train I just began to write how I felt and it came flowing out from a place of resigned honesty. There was no anger left, and the song came out uninterrupted. By the time I reached my stop, I had written the complete lyric in its song form. I have never written a song like that in my life.

After work, I rushed to a small practice room at NYU and the music flowed out as easily as the words had and in less than a half an hour the song was written. I knew right away that the song was special because of the way it came out intact and also the way it felt to play.

After sharing it with some friends, I decided to play it at an the open mic at Caffe Vivaldi, where I try out a lot of my songs. The room was packed that night and I was a bit nervous to play such a political and personal song. While the song is definitely political, it also is the most personal song I have ever written. As I played, I became very emotional and I realized that performing this song was definitely going to open up very raw parts of myself every time.

When I finished, the room erupted into applause like I have never received. People began to stand and I saw tears in peoples' eyes. I have never seen that kind of response at an open mic before. After I got off stage, people came up to me and told me how much it meant to hear someone say those things. I had a straight man come up to me and tell me that he had never thought of the issue that way and said it had totally changed his view on it. That is the kind of response a writer always dreams of.

I kept playing the song to huge responses and my producer, Mark Marshall told me we had to pause recording my album and record the track immediately. We did, and we were able to recruit the amazing talent of Michael Leonhart (Grammy Award winning horn player) to put the horns on the album. The recording process was emotional and amazing and just continued my feeling that this song was different than anything I had ever written.

I am very excited to share this with you all, and I truly hope it can reach people and make them see this very personal issue in a new way.

Love.





Buy your copy here.

Peer Motivation: Rachel Epp

When I first started playing out in NYC, I frequented the open mic at Caffe Vivaldi in the West Village. I remember being awed by the talent that congregated in this beautiful venue and being incredibly nervous to actually play for the first time. I happened to sit at a table across from two lovely ladies who I was about to see play. One was the incredible Mary Jennings (more on this artist later), and the other was Rachel Epp. Both of them floored me when they played, which made it all the more rewarding when they commented positively on my songs and began to welcome me into their circle of friends. That feeling of welcome really helped me find the confidence to keep putting myself out there.

I remember that Rachel played her song "Beautiful Like This." This is one of those songs that you hear for the first time and it changes your life. I was stunned by the beautiful melody and lyrics but more so by the deep emotional connection and flawlessness of the voice that delivered them. There is a purity when Rachel sings that lets the listener right in to the heart of the song. I remember thinking that the song may be one of the best songs I had ever heard. To this day, it is still one of my favorite songs.

Our friendship grew, as did my appreciation for her as an artist. I began to attend singer/songwriter sessions at Mary's apartment with Rachel and others from the Vivaldi open mic, and I really felt like I had found a supportive artist community in New York. I also had found a wealth of inspiration from these fellow artists.

Rachel has just released her new EP "Rosary," which can be found on iTunes. From start to finish, this album is inspired. With her flawless voice that spins melodies as smooth as silk, and the breathtaking arrangements of her brilliant writing, "Rosary" manages to transcend genre and create its own space in the musical continuum.




From the first note of "Ghost in the Graveyard," Rachel hooks in the listener to a tale of youth and the first tinges of reality that bring about the loss of innocence. Set to the backdrop of the popular children's game, the carelessness of being a child is juxtaposed with the first inclings of love and loss. This focus sets up the theme of the songs to follow. In essence, the EP is an examination of a woman's journey to adulthood through the lens of love and loss.

"East of the River," picks up the thread by examining the feeling of being isolated in the city and the realization that the distance that separates people is not only geographic. The guitar work and production on this song is extra sweet and reinforces the longing that permeates this track.

"Virginia" is one of those epic songs that somehow captures a whole moment in time and extrapolates the meaning of life out of it. I was seriously addicted to this song for a few months, listening to it on repeat to try and glean another facet of this incredible song. At its heart, "Virginia" is about going home and realizing that it can never be the same as it was before you left. This is reinforced by the fact that she is returning home to say goodbye to a dying relative, which solidifies the fact that there is no going back. Only the slow progression of time is left and the memories of the way that it used to be. This song will grab your heart and leave you with nostalgia for your own lost memories.

"Beautiful Like This" is one of my favorite songs of all time. This simple yet emotionally deep song about leaving and knowing that there is no going back once the moment it passed is universal and a perfect song to follow and reinforce "Virginia."

"Are you taking a picture? Are you taking this all in? Cause it could be the last time that it looks like this."

If only we could always be as present in our lives as this song is. The way she paints the moment is in a way the picture that she sings about, which forever captures it in this beautiful imagery.

Transcendent. Emotional. Beautiful.

"Wasted" rounds up the album as a seemingly more wise and weathered woman deals with an emotionally unavailable man and tries desperately to reach him. In the end, she is now seeking a partner who can match her presence and experience.

"Rosary" is an amazing debut for this gifted artist and amazing woman. In life, she oozes a calm strength and beauty the is contagious and her music is just an extension of this. From the writing, to the production, to the incredible performances, "Rosary" is sure to leave a lasting impression on any listener and help them discover their own inner beauty.

Buy it here
Find her here

Inspiration: Gregory Douglass

Gregory Douglass is another artist that I discovered on Pandora Internet radio. The first song I heard of his was his amazing track "Sentimental Fury" of his Up and Away album. I was instantly blown away.

His song writing is brilliant and full of lush melodies and captivating rhythms. I instantly bought the album and quickly fell in love. I then searched for videos and information on this dynamic performer. The first video I found was this:



Yeah... Color me impressed. So I bought that album too.

From there, it was a quick collection of all his recorded materials. As I delved into his music, I also read more about the artists and discovered that he was an out gay artist. For me, this was a revelation because at this point in my life I assumed to have any kind of success you would have to stay closeted in the music world. His courage to be completely open inspired me to do the same. in the end, art can only be damaged if filtered through a dishonest filter. And an omission is still a lie.

Watching his guitar playing also inspired me to finally do something that I had been meaning to do since I started writing. Pick up the guitar. I went out and purchased a guitar and played until my fingers bled (literally) I always though that was just a poetic musing in that Bryan Adams song, but it turned out to be factual.

The guitar has definitely opened up a whole new world of writing and music for me, and I have in part thanks to Gregory Douglass for opening up this world.

Here's one more video of his amazing work.

New: Live From My Room Sessions

After quite hiatus, the sessions are back! New Room, New Apartment, New Toy, and a New Song! Christmas came early!

It Gets Better

The numerous teen suicides that are in the news right now are completely devastating to me.

Many of you would never guess it from knowing me now, but when I was 13-15 growing up in Wisconsin, I was completely on the edge. I felt completely lost and alone and thought that something was horribly wrong with me. I did not have any gay role models to show me that it was OK and that things would get better. I very nearly ended my life, but I was lucky enough to find music in time. It saved me, but these young men were not lucky enough to find something or someone to save them.


We all must do a better job of speaking up and letting any kids who may feel outside the normal that they are perfect the way they are.


In regards to GLTBQ youth, we must speak out against these loud voices that are telling them that they can not marry, serve openly in our military, teach, or live safely in our schools or communities. When we let these voices go unchecked, that is all these young kids are hearing. We need to stand up for them and tell them that it will be OK and let them know they have an ally that they can go to when they inevitably go through these hard times.


Silence is killing these kids and we can't stand by and let it happen any longer.

Inspiration: Tracy Chapman

No artist has been more integral to my understanding of social issues and empathy for people who are seemingly different from myself than Tracy Chapman. Many issues that I am passionate about and fight for today were first discovered in one of her songs. Issues of socioeconomics, race and bigotry, and the bi-product of greed in our capitalistic society were not even on my radar growing up a white middle class midwestern boy until they were sparked by her writing.

I remember the first time I heard her song, Fast Car. I was very young, but somehow I could totally relate to this voice and her emotion even though I had no basis to truly understand the situation she was speaking about. It was the first time I can remember feeling transported into another persons life through a song. From that moment, I think I began to really understand the power of music and songwriting. With one song, an entire new world was opened to me.

It wasn't till much later that I really started listening to her. In high school as I began to form my own personal beliefs, I found I was drawn to her songs and began to really study her music. Her amazing voice makes you emotionally connect with what she is singning about, so it was natural to fall into the stories she was telling. While exploring these new worlds, my mind was cracked open and filled with new possibilities and I began to challenger beliefs that had been instilled in me as well as the status quo. As an artist, I feel it is essential to be able to break from what you know and think about every angle. Tracy's music helped to break those molds.

During this time, Tracy became my go to artist when I was troubled with the world. Not only for her insight, but because the emotional depth she has. I'm the type of person who listens to sad music when I'm sad and it makes me feel better that I am not alone. When I feel like I'm drowning in a world gone mad, Tracy's my woman.

She has also become an artist I can trust. When she puts out an album, I buy it. I know that I will love every song and learn something as well. There are very few artist that I trust so implicitly. I think she is one because I always believe what she is saying. There is an honesty in her voice and writing that can't be faked or replicated and that hooks me every time.

It would be hard to pick a favorite album, and impossible to pick a favorite song, so I will pick a highlight off her most current album, Our Bright Future. In the song, Thinking of You she delivers a lyric that makes me strive to be a better writer.

"I used to think, consider gravity
If I placed you on a pedestal, you'd slip and fall for me
But you floated on the air, far away at light speed
I guess some objects do defy the laws that we conceive."

-Tracy Chapman

And here is one of my favorite videos of her.



Ok, and one more.



In the end, she is definitely one of my favorite artists and biggest inspirations. Her talent, songs, and her integrity in the way she has navigated her career without every losing herself in it make her a true icon.

Exclusive Fan Download: This Is How We End

If you are a fan and on my mailing list, you can get an exclusive download of my new track, " This Is How We End."

I'm really excited about how this one turned out.

Check it out here!