<P>Though I'm reasonably well known as a performer and Musical Director, very few people know me as a songwriter. The truth is, I've been writing songs since my mid-teens. In fact, in the summer of my 17th year, I made a little home album on the crude equipment I managed to hobble together - my prize Roland JX8P keyboard, a borrowed DX7 and Jupiter 6, a Yamaha four-track cassette recorder, and a Yamaha RX5 drum machine (all long gone). All that gear is primitive by today's standards, but back then, they were gold to me, and I spent many happy nights cranking out the songs in my heart. I called the album "Mien" - French for "mine", but which also can mean "the way" or "the means". I still have that juvenile expression on a cassette somewhere (it is something you will likely never hear).</P> <P>Then I went off to university, and began my professional career. Even though the desire to make albums has stayed with me, the opportunity never seemed to present itself. There was always some gig that was too intriguing (or too lucrative) to give up, and the work I took absorbed all my waking moments. There were many moments when I thought, "okay, now's the time" - but then either the money or the time was lacking. Years passed, and I began to seriously wonder if I would ever find time to commit my ideas "to tape", or even if I could. I began to feel blocked, creatively stifled - very occasionally I would manage to complete a full song, but most of the time, what came to me would be just a fragment, and I would be unable to spin that bit of straw into gold.</P> <P>A number of years ago, this lyric came to me: "In this August month, lessons about responsibilities". I liked the sound of it, but nothing more came along with it. So it got tucked away with all of the other fragments of lyrics and songs that I've been keeping in a book all these years. Little did I know that there would come a time when that lyric would be the cornerstone of my debut solo CD.</P> <P>So you might ask, what changed? Life changed. I could point to a specific event that made me decide I had to make this CD: I was offered the last featured vocalist spot on the "Let It Be" Lennon & McCartney tribute tour, alongside the great Rik Emmett, Russell DeCarle and Damhnait Doyle. It suddenly dawned on me that would be the only one of the four who didn't have a CD to sell at the merchandise table. Unfortunately, I came to that realization too late to properly finish the CD in time to sell on that tour. Regardless, I'm grateful for the kick in the pants that gig gave me.</P> <P>But when I look deeper, I realize that the true answer is much more than a sales opportunity. There have been fundamental shifts in my life in the last few years: marriage, fatherhood, moving to a new city, starting a parallel career as a radio broadcaster and producer. Those shifts are all in addition to more personal work: karate, yoga, energy work, and tons of introspection. I'm approaching mid-life, and have begun to grasp what this stage of life means, at least for me. It means to embrace responsibility: to provide for a family, to perform to the best of my ability in my work, to care for the earth, to set an example for those around me and to the youth coming up. I also have to be responsible to myself: to provide for my own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, and to provide room for my inner artist to express.</P> <P>I've come to realize is that the album I've always wanted to make, I couldn't make until now. Now, the stars have aligned properly, and I really feel like I have something of substance to say artistically. Given all of this, I'm glad I waited.</P> <P>And now that the floodgates have opened, they are not likely to close. I already have the next four albums planned. Stay tuned: my inner artist has much more to express in the coming months and years.</P> <P CLASS="heading">purchase link coming soon</P>
