Here are the history/meaning of each one of these songs.


Where I Live - This song came about since my wife and I have so much discussion and debate about our home in Marin and the town we live. Having traveled about for months on end…my take on my home is much different than what my wife sees and feels since she’s stuck there alone with her family and the kids. It can be a peaceful sanctuary for me, and at times just plain boring for her. I bought this house with the ex wife and lived there as a bachelor and watched every bedroom fill up as our children arrived. My wife has done an amazing job of transforming this place into elegant but usable living space. I like the imagery in this song…especially that every moment wherever you live…there is someone doing something different you’re not aware of. Sometimes I think we are all stuck in our own universe and it’s not always a good place to be. My wife and I have reached out to our community a lot especially with school. We volunteer for lots of things and have had a wonderful time working with our own children and the local kids. My Christmas concert is near and dear to my heart and I will miss them again this year since I am touring. However, we have decided to stay and change our backyard a little. She likes this one a lot and wants to do a home video to go with it sometime soon. I told her she could direct.

Can She Say – This song was inspired by my wife…It was her title and I just ran with it and I hope I got it right. Every woman must have moments feel like this song. It’s probably a dangerous question for a woman to ask herself depending on what kind of dreams she had for herself as a little girl and what kind of family she married into. I know my daughters all have visions of what there lives might be like and I encourage any ideas they have. My wife’s dream was to be a mom and when our first daughter arrived I think she got a lot of her youth back. When the twins arrived she was completely fulfilled as a mother. That’s why she’s still so beautiful after all these years of being married. I hope she can say it was all she hoped it would be.

Sometimes She Breaks – This was also inspired by my wife back in 2000. We were considering this for the Journey album but there were so many songs that it fell into the cracks. It’s about the venerable part of the feminine emotion that can come falling down sometimes. I think as men we have no idea how much certain things mean to them. Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time…not listening when we should be listening…the list goes on and on. Every month around a certain time women have to deal with different hormonal moods and pain we as men have no clue how to handle. I have learned to become a better listener and communicator. Neal wrote the middle eight chords on this one and it appeared on Bare Bones as a different mix. It actually inspired me to continue writing my personal songs and abandon the smooth jazz that radio decided not too play. I performed this song at a record buyer convention along with my smooth jazz from Bare Bones and it was the crowd favorite of the night.

Between a Heartache and a Song – This is a road song that I wrote in Phoenix Arizona. The title occurred to me as I ended a conversation with my family on the phone. Sometimes it’s not enough just to talk to the ones you love and it all comes caving in on you. We sacrifice a lot to do what we do and are rewarded handsomely for it. Being on the road we always have a price to pay and the older I get the more aware of how much I miss in their lives. When I saw the movie “Click” with Adam Sandler, I was reminded of how much we all have fast-forwarded through our lives. I try as a father to remain in touch with all my children’s hopes and fears and I hope as they grow into teen-agers I will be able to keep them close.

Fragile World - After the hurricane left a nation shocked and saddened, this lyric came to me while I was taking a walk in Norfolk Virginia. I believe there are no mistakes in this perfect universe we live in and that things happen for a reason no matter how tragic they might seem at the time. Maybe everyone in the world should go see Al Gore’s movie, The Inconvenient Truth. I pray the hurricanes stay away from the Gulf Coast for enough time for those areas to get back on their feet.

Shine On Chicago - As I said in the album liner notes, this song was a musical postcard I wanted to leave behind after being honored at my old high school East Leyden. It came to me very quickly and I finished the lyrics in the car while my wife and I went to the city together. It was like writing Faithfully as images and memories came flowing out. I wish all songs could be written as freely and effortlessly. It still makes me smile when I think about what a great time I had performing this with the East Leyden choir that night a few years ago. I know my dad and mom would have been proud.

Pride of The Family - This song started as a title and grew quickly into a father’s song for his changing teen-age daughter. The acoustic guitar sound came from a new keyboard I bought and the bluesy feel really works on this one. My friend who shoots weddings for a living thinks it should be the bride’s dance with her father. That would be something I’d like to watch. Anyway Neal’s playing is haunting and melodic and it added a finishing color to this track that almost made the Generation’s CD.

Half Full - This was a lyric I had written for the Arrival album with my friend, Kim Tribble and I re-worked a melody that I think works. It’s a bit like a Cheryl Crow track simple and bouncy but makes you listen to the lyric. I practice this idea everyday in my life. The rhythm loop is pretty funky for a white boy to sing to as well!

Letting Me Down This song was written with two of my favorite song writer buddies, Kim Tribble and Rick Baron. Rick sang the demo and I loved the song so much, I tried a version of it and liked how it came out. Someone in Belgium recorded it in Dutch or something but it had never been released here in the states. I thought it would have been perfect for Martina McBride or Faith Hill but I’ll have to dream on.

Before Brando A tribute to one of my favorite actors…Marlon broke the mold and broke the rules when it came to big screen idols. The first time I saw him in “On the Waterfront” I knew his presence would change the way Hollywood would cast for their movies. He talked and walked like one of us…not with a British accent or that squeaky-clean nerdiness many of the male movie stars had before him. He knew how to reinvent himself at the end of his career…something few have been able to do.

Man’s Best Friend - This song was written for Tony LaRussa and his ARF foundation. He called on me a couple of years ago to perform as a solo artist at his benefit in Walnut Creek. I had an idea to write a song and told him I would try and finish it for the show. The song took a week to write and when I finished the bridge it brought a tear to my eye. I had many dogs in my life and loved them all dearly. It was performed the first time with a local high school choir from my neighborhood, “The San Marin Jazz Choir“ from Novato CA. I had the folks from ARF walk about a dozen dogs onto the stage as we sang. It was a sight to remember as the dogs sat around the piano with their handlers. I believe we got a standing ovation. Anyway, Tony and his family have become great friends and he recently used this song in one of the ARF DVD’s that are used to promote the shelter.

Faithfully - This duet was recorded back in 2000 during the Arrival sessions. I was working on an album Namaste and had planned to include this version. The record company changed it’s mind and dropped me as a solo artist so I shelved this till something else that made sense would come along. After finishing most of the songs for “Where I Live” I sent this to the people at Reality Records and they loved it as the final track. Mica does a great job and has her own CD’s now as solo artist. She’s a great person and still sings with top country recording artists as well. I hope this sticks around as a single in January 2007.