my journey into SONGWRITING

growing up studying classical piano and later percussion in the school and university scene, while also pursuing a passion for pop and rock ‘n’ roll in the garage, there has always been a dichotomy at play between my passion for composing and arranging, and my desire to let the music flow more organically in the moment.

when the covid-19 pandemic sent us all home in march, 2020, my day-to-day operations as a public middle/high school choral director all but ceased. there was little in the way of online engagement to be had, and i was left feeling that my most important role had to be that of parent to my two young sons whose lives were upturned, and were understandably confused. my time was spent supporting their learning and activity while my wife worked hard to bring her work into the virtual space.

as time went on and summer came and went, i enjoyed learning a lot about some of country music’s most famous souls and architects. watching Ken Burns’ “Country Music” documentary on DVD became a new passion, and i found myself being drawn in by these voices, their storytelling abilities, the way their words came alive with deep emotional weight. as autumn came into its beautiful new england bloom around me, i found myself brimming with a curiosity around whether or not i could write a country music song. i felt full of inspiration, and at least relatively full of research from my repeated viewings and listenings of the KBCM doc, and i set out to accomplish my goal.