Songs

This is where I share my musical offerings. I’ve been a songwriter since I picked up the guitar at 8 years old and wrote my first song called “1969” about the strange feeling I was experiencing as I contemplated what it meant to be born into this world, and eventually, to leave it. I was already feeling like an outsider as I grappled with my gender and sexuality. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was having my first existential crisis about death, and music, specifically songwriting, came to my rescue.

Exploring my own philosophical ideas about existence might sound like a weighty subject for an 8 year old’s first song, but I don’t think I’m that unique. I believe it’s more the case that our society doesn’t create enough space for young people to openly engage in conversations about death, sex, sexuality, drugs, addiction, violence, and other topics that many adults find uncomfortable. 

It’s no surprise that music covers these topics for us. Think drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll! However, this isn’t new. The Derveni papyrus, the oldest book ever found in Europe, sheds some provocative light on music’s secret power to transform its creators and listeners, even in the next realm. You can read more about this in Music to Raise the Dead and Music: A Subversive History by musicologist Ted Gioia. I love these two books and consider them essential to my music education.

As a songwriter and musician, I create songs to express my creativity. Each song is a foothold in the mountain that I’m climbing on my quest to seek the summit of who I am and what I’m capable of during my time in this world. Each song reflects something I need to understand or overcome to continue on my journey. I’m sharing my songs with others in hopes that listeners and fellow songwriters will be inspired to embark on a journey of their own. Please follow, comment, and DM me with your reflections.