I brought my plastic guitar with rubber-bands for strings to a James Taylor concert when I was five. Deep into the second set I decided it was time to light out...and so I wandered up toward the stage, hoping for a chance to meet my musical hero...(I was hooked on his music by the age of four…I was raised in the household of a couple of war babies.) JT was finishing a song right as I reached the foot of the stage; he put his guitar down, and picked me up. After our brief and pleasant interaction he set me down in the aisle, and I was regaled with hoots and high-fives from fellow concert-goers as I made my way back to our lawn seats. The stage was lucent, hot, and alive. The exhilaration of being cheered by a throng of people struck a bright chord with me. On that night I decided I would make a living in showbiz. 

During school lessons, I would stare out the classroom window and daydream about driving tractors (I come from a line of farmers-those that I’ve known are some of the greatest adventurers among us) or being on stage, under the spotlight. Soon, I was schooling myself in the craft of story-telling through songwriting. 

You do this by attempting to write songs, reading lots of books, and listening to a lot music.  I got Randy Newman's "Good Old Boys" album on my thirteenth birthday...it lit my head on fire. There were chords to learn, and rhythm...oh a boy needs rhythm!

While some of the technical elements of playing music can be taxing at the outset, I'm fortunate to have discovered the joy made possible through music as a young person...that joy is magnified by continuing to seek out new music, (new music to my ears anyway...some of the stuff I listen to now was written over a century ago) playing with people, and playing for people…in backyards, bars, libraries, on park benches, et al. In closing I would say this: my self-created course of study in the subject of musicology has led me to the conclusion that a collection of songs can be alternately outrageous and tender, educational, wistful and funny...as long as you tell a good story. I hope that's what I'm doing here. Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy!

DM