If you have been following along on my musical adventures you likely already know that my song Borrowed Time was written for my little boy when i realized that as an older dad i would probably not be around anymore when he reached my age. I penned the lyric as a sort of parting message. The first line pretty much sums up what i was thinking; “What would i say if i were with you now?” and the rest of the song tries to answer that question. If you were to hear my first attempt at recording the vocal you would hear me struggling not to cry like a baby. (maybe i'll upload that version to the website just for fun at some point if enough people care to hear it.)

Anyway, the song is finally out in the world and on all the usual streaming services for all to hear so add it to your playlists, share with all your friends, and put that sucker on repeat.  

As always, you can listen to it for free right here on the site. 

cheers, 

C

A quote often attributed to Picasso that resonates deeply with me goes something like “a work of art is never finished, only abandoned”. I'm not sure that what I do is “art” but I do know that I am never completely satisfied with anything I put out and I have to abandon my perfectionist tendencies in order to release anything to the world.  I can point to parts of every song of mine that I still want to fix. Maybe the snare sound isn't quite right or a line in the 2nd verse sucks or a vocal inflection is embarrassing.  I always think I can do better (and I believe I am probably right a lot of the time) but that means that I spend a whole lot of time trying to improve little details that 99% of people would never notice.  Since I self-produce all of my solo music (i.e. I have no one but myself to answer to) I get bogged down on those details and it slows my progress to a crawl. This creates a vicious circle because in my mind i'm thinking “this has taken so long that people are gonna expect something great and it's so far from great i can't release it yet”. Logically i know that i just need to get over myself and move on (and i'm working on that, i swear) but I suppose my insecurity is a hurdle that is often difficult to surmount. 

Anyway, that's the reason it has taken me so long to put out a completed record. It's not because I haven't worked. I have had finished (nay, abandoned) songs on my hard drive for years and some still “in progress”. I am forcing myself to just get on with it and release them. 

So, with that said, I will be releasing a new song here on the website every Monday for the next 6 or 7 weeks until I have released all of what will be my debut, fully produced, full-length album “Better Late Than Never” . The songs will also be available on all the streaming services on a delayed release schedule so if you click the “follow” or “favorite” buttons on your platform of choice you can find them there as well. I'll also have some new merch available here on the site that all of you wonderful supporters can grab if you care to. 

As always, thanks so much for your continued support and check back every Monday to hear the new abandoned tune. 

Cheers, 

c

I've always found it a bit strange that a person can grieve someone whom they have never met. Yet here I sit, grieving a man I had no physical connection to. Never been within a hundred feet of him, in fact. His name was Ozzy and though he didn't know me, in some inexplicable way I felt as though I knew him. He had a huge impact on my youth and, though the songs I write may belie the fact, my music. I actually have a cassette lying around somewhere with multiple versions of me playing crazy train with 

How is songwriting like golf?

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Todd and I went on a golf outing. At one point, after making a super-sweet shot, Todd turns to me and says, “That’s what keeps me coming back.”

THAT is what songwriting does for me.

Recently, after performing a song I wrote for my son, a woman approached the stage with tears on her cheeks, demanding an explanation of what the song meant. (It’s true, I swear.) Her reaction really punched me in the gut because I so often wonder what the hell I’m even doing and if I should just give it up already. It oftentimes feels like I’m just singing into a headwind. 
But just when you need it someone genuinely connects with something you’ve written and it keeps you chasing the end of that songwriting rainbow. 
THAT’s what keeps me coming back. 

See you soon, 

C

It's been a minute since i've updated anything here. That's because i've been busy getting back to work and between that and raising a 2-year-old i haven't really been keeping up with the site as i should. Anyway, i've been gigging like crazy hoping that this new wave of the 'rona doesn't sidetrack us all and lock everything back down. I've also gotten into the studio a couple of times to work on getting a couple new songs started and i also reached the 400 episode mark of the SOTC facebook livestream series. Crazy to think that i have done 400 of 'em already. As slow as 2020 seemed to crawl by 2021 is flying by and it's hard to believe it's already August. 

I'll try to stop in and update a bit more often. For now, you can see the vid of episode 400 at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/KH3q76THTGhuqUUg/?