This album finds my songwriting ability hitting a new plateau in terms of structure, cohesiveness and diversity. It's been almost a year in the making, patiently writing and rewriting, recording and rerecording around whatever little hours of free time the world would grant me.
Of all the songs I've written over the last year, these twelve (technically thirteen with the 'hidden' track) seemed to gel the best in telling the story I was creating. The songs were carefully placed together with attention to style and key, to give a subconscious effect of progress and movement, and finally a closure at the end.
The first several songs are generally more mainstream 'pop' than the rest, but even those songs have many layers of other non-conventional approaches within them (i.e. keyboard drones, extra guitar work, noise, etc.) There are repeated themes of dreams, regret, strangeness, mature realizations of life's circumstances and general frustration toward the world that all seem to tie these tracks together. I like to advertise that this album has most definitely something on it for everyone. It was incredibly time consuming, working in my little hole in the wall studio, held together by spit and cracker jacks. In the end, I feel that this is the best I could currently do, given the equipment I have to work with.
The individual strengths of these songs are obvious: catchy hooks, interesting chord progressions, unusual combinations of instruments, etc. What I'm most proud of is how autobiographical this all is. This album is dedicated to a very special girl, my daughter Cassidy, who I haven't seen in over five years. After a great deal of soul searching, I've realized that the one thing I need in my life is her, and to have a place in her life, as well. Unfortunately, her mother has decided to aggressively keep me out of her life, and so I'm stuck on the outside, hoping to one day find a way in. I want this album to make it's way to little Cassidy's ears, and maybe she can hear the father she doesn't know. Ultimately, I'm hoping for this to bring us together and eliminate the distance and silence that years of miscommunication have given us. I want this album to be the 'in' that Cassidy and I need to one day connect and be part of each other's lives.
Any exposure of this material is a step closer for me and this goal. Your support and enthusiasm for my music is greatly appreciated. Feel free to drop comments, and come back for new tracks in the not-so-distant future. Thank you