YONDER BREAKS

When Katie, the girls and I moved back to Los Angeles back in 2018, I never expected to discover the strong musical community that I did. Thanks to my long-time friend and collaborator Ben Boquist , I was invited to a weekly songwriters group hosted by the talented Cortney Matz at the Hollywood co-working location, Epiphany Space . I was a little nervous to share that first night (which happened to be an open mic with a very kooky featured artist doing some sort of beachy Jim Morrison style of performing), but wanting to be bold with music upon arrival in LA, I jumped right in. The warmth and appreciation that that group presented to a stranger was wonderful. As the weeks and months went on, I became more and more involved in the group. Quickly I learned that if I didn't come with something progressive (to me, at least), then I wouldn't get much of a reaction from the group, and so I worked hard to have a new song every week. Over time, I developed a larger repertoire, and m...

Have you ever had to fix something that you didn't break? Maybe your kid broke your neighbor's window, or you're helping someone fix a car who obviously didn't take care of it, causing the problem in the first place. It's annoying, to say the least. Yesterday, I was working on a green trash can that I borrowed from my neighbor, because we were clearing out a lot of brush from our backyard and needed the extra can. We've had it for several weeks, so I wanted to return it, but when the trash man (or woman -- no prejudice here) came, he must have dragged the can when he dropped it, causing the rubber part of one of the wheels to fall off. It doesn't roll well and I didn't want to return the long lost can damaged. But for the life of me I could not get that stupid rubber wheel back on! I became increasingly irritated as flashbacks of a lifetime of working on cars with stuck bolts and water pumps not coming out right (my most recent job) came floodin...

I wrote last year that I felt that distraction was one of the great problems our generation, and society as a whole, are facing. I still hold to that, but sometimes distraction can be a good thing. Reluctant as I am to write about COVID-19, it's affecting the whole world in major ways, so I suppose there is no way around it. Initially I was in the camp of folks that felt it was blown out of proportion, just an oversensitive reaction to a really bad flu. However, seeing what is happening in Europe, including the "total collapse" of hospitals and food systems , I slowly came to take it seriously. This week I went out for groceries for the first time in about ten days. It was strange, wearing gloves and a bandana over my face as I perused the aisles, stressfully avoiding people and only touching what I had to. It's a deviation from who I am and my normal treatment of others (as well as germs), but I was advised to do it, so I'm complying, for better or worse. I ...

I've written before that this most recent move back to Los Angeles (yes, we move way too often ) has been very special to me, because it's been the most musically charged. Almost all of that has been because of Cortney Matz and the Monday night songwriters group that she hosts at Epiphany Space in Hollywood. The group has been going strong for several years now, and out of it a beautiful community has emerged. Doing something creative (particularly trying to do it for a living) can sometimes breed competition. When one finds success, it often brings about a closed-fisted response, keeping the piece of the pie he or she managed to get with no intention to share. When that unfortunately happens, how can a loving, supportive community emerge out of such a mindset? It doesn't! And such is a big problem in pursuing creative positions professionally, particularly in Los Angeles. At Epiphany Space however, this reality is so far from the truth! I've never seen such a su...

Here is the last song from The Light EP . It's been fun sharing the stories of each of these songs with the world, and even more so the songs themselves. I hope you enjoy this one, a fun little tune about Ellie, my oldest daughter. I used to manage a property in Redondo Beach, CA, two miles from the beach. We moved in a couple days before Ellie was born, and it was an excellent place to learn to be parents. I used to walk Ellie all over the Redondo hills , mostly in this cool little green car my mom gave her. Every day was a park visit, and sometimes the afternoons were spent exploring more of the scenic neighborhoods, usually with a 7-Eleven coffee in hand. The green machine, next to the infamous Baja . The property had a little lawn out front where we would sometimes sit and wait for Katie to get home from work. The street was lined with those super tall palm trees that California is known for, and there always seemed to be a breeze blowing through. We really wa...