I wrote “Free” when I was in Nashville for a songwriting workshop with 25 other songwriters & @marygauthier ,  this is the song I wrote in between the other songs during that amazing three day mind-bending event. 

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/free/1716987836?i=1716987837

We hit the highway to Bloomington Indiana after having a crash course on “Nashville”, and I wrote, revised, and polished the song in the back of our rental car,  while my Marilyn drove. 

We wound up at this amazing b&b in Bloomington, and hooked up with new friends from the city, who we made during the time my first official record with a bar code came out in 2010, “Just to Be”, which, for the record, is probably the most “not” record of me I’ve ever made. What it was, was a crash course in how to get it down, as flawed as it all would be. And while I’m calling it flawed, the blemish in the equation is me. Jeff Muller with Alchemy Studios was a gentleman and a saint and the musicians who played on that record, outstanding.

You see, the weak link was, is, and has, always been, me. I’m so flawed  … and in a studio,  it’s like flawed on steroids. My writers heart got years ahead of any chance I might have had on honing what ever skills  I might need along the way.  It’s been between my ears to grow up and have a day job since I was old enough to understand the concept. 

The little 10 year stint I did playing western Canada to support my family was long enough to make me hate wieners, Kraft dinner, rice, and unpaid bills.  Sure, I gave my all to music for a time, but back then, I had it wrong.  I got my little artist soul held hostage by touring the C and B music circuit, playing mainstream “Old Time Rock and Roll” on repeat so much it made me sick, and whatever’s else, just to get a paycheck till I hit rock bottom. 

As I ponder the now, I’ve been a working stiff non stop since throwing a hissy fit on stage at 12:30AM at Buffalo Bills in 1997 right after our band “Cinnamon Twist” played “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me” by @TerriClarkMusic … Choosing the security and camaraderie of life within the walls of a great company was my next goal in life. 

I told my boss once that I wanted to be the “Betty White” of the Construction rental industry. Now I want to be the “Betty White” of Safety, in the Construction industry, rental included. Why, I wonder… and a scene from the exorcist explodes into my brain …”because the power or Christ compels me”! 

But then… here I am, and I apologize for getting somewhat off topic. That’s my brain you see. The way it is. Today, I feel like if I can be the “Betty White” of me, then all of it, is a part of the package. 

Then 62 happens. 62 and what have I actually done? Well, I’ve written a ton of songs that look really good on my hard drive. Good, debatable. Mine, undoubtedly. So what’s the point of it all, and being compelled to continue with things that matter to just me. The music things I mean. If I could be a mentor for a day to the me I barely knew then, I’d have said, “just follow your heart, because you can’t go wrong”.  And being the me that’s writing this, about the me I never knew, I’d have to say, I absolutely did, and that absolute maze, got me absolutely here. 

I apologize. I apologize for being broken enough to have to feel like I have to apologize for something I may have done that made you think I am a dick, selfish, egotistical, arrogant, mean, aloof, or cruel … because I assure you it was, or is, the armour I wear around my heart, not an excuse … context. Part of, what I know we all aspire to be, is in this mindset. When I was little, back in nineteen sixty something, My grandpa-John used to call me bubbles, because if you looked at me the wrong way I’d cry.  That’s still me. I’m working on it though. 

Truth time… I only ever wrote a second song because when I wrote the first one, I was special because there I was… this twelve year old kid from Warburg Alberta, population 400, who wrote a song. 

Free. The last verse was written one morning while sitting on the floor in the sun room at the b&b. 

Every mountain that I climb just makes me strong. 

Every truth that I have found was by being wrong. 

I’m recording a new record. Truths and  ponderings that reside among my musings. I’m more excited about this record than anything I’ve ever done.  Please stay tuned for everything I have left thats real.  Share. Give me a follow. Stream, whatever it is you all do with your music … I want to earn your ears. 

peace out man 

t