Album Notes

The song Standing Up was written to honor some friends that I have, who have sacrificed so much to help other people. Like Joe and CC, who moved to Haiti after the earthquake, and spend all day everyday helping people one by one to recover, and rebuild their lives. And a wonderful young man Zack who spent months building houses in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. These are not super heroes, but are regular people who set aside a part of their lives in the service of others. By what they do, they are standing up for the rest of us. In giving so much, they are the real heroes, aren't they?

The germ of Reach Inside was written for the film Code of Ethics in 1996, but I unearthed it and completely reworked it for this CD. What makes me most excited was the original rap written and performed by the talented Brett Geaber. When I finished this track for the CD, something was missing. After weeks of listening to it and thinking about it, I realized that it was missing the kind of direct language of today's hip hop music. At the same time I knew that this was not within my capabilities - wrong generation. Then I remembered that a fellow martial artist, Brett Geaber, was a very talented rapper and extreme dancer. If anyone could add the right words and spirit to this song, to make it really complete. So I was really glad that he agreed ... and what a great job he did. Among my songs, Reach Inside is unique because of his contribution.

20 Years was written to celebrate and honor my martial arts instructor, Kyoshi Chick Gavitt, upon the 20 year anniversary of the dojo. A school is more than just a building - it's a living, breathing thing made up of a sea of people. Like the sea, it ebbs and flows - some remain the same over a long time, while others are coming and going. If you have ever kept something good for 20 years, then this song is also for you.

I really ended up happy with My Bright Idea, which really came to life when I got the idea to add the answering vocal parts to tell a more textured story. Before I wrote those vocal parts, I am not sure that the song would have ended up on the CD. But with them, it is undeniable.

What She Wants is about the love my wife Susan has for her relatives in Perryville, Missouri. She lived there for a short time when she was younger, and the place never left her. The sounds at the end represent her favorite place in the world, the back porch of her grandma and grandpa's farm house just south of town. A steady hum of crickets from the cow pasture at night, as a truck rumbles by on the B Road. Kids squeal and dishes clatter from the kitchen as her grandpa turns the TV to Hee Haw, in that easy world.

But I struggled with the recording and arrangement until I got the idea to try a three-part harmony in the verses. It gives the song a kind of Beatles feel in a few places, which works well with the louder parts later in the song. My favorite place is the break, which begins "There's a tractor on the B Road." Every image is directly from her grandparents' farm, and her experiences there.

From 2007 I went to Colorado many times, and really fell in love with the mountains. I really miss mountains when I am not around them, and this song represents the power and constancy that they provide. The song imagines a family connected through blood and time to the eternal mountains, and the central role that they play in their ethic.