My Creative Life

Over the years I have written so many versions of my life story for websites, or album releases or book jackets, in first person, in third person, deeply personal, or obnoxiously posturing. From humble bragging to pointless meandering prose, I’ve covered it all. Where it lands is here: I am and always will be a man divided by his creative passions and his need to have a life worth writing about. To me, a life worth writing about is a life in service to love and family.

In my creative life, I’ve done a lot. I’ve written nearly 200 songs. I’ve released five albums. I’ve written four novels and published three. I’ve shared the stage with folks like John Mayer, Jennifer Nettles and Gillian Welch. I’ve done a USO tour of the middle-east. All of these things have gone largely unnoticed to the greater world. That’s what it means for most artists. It takes a lot of luck and a strong constitution for relentless self-promotion to be commercially successful. In short, it’s a huge gamble that you can make a life that will sustain yourself, much less a family and I wanted one of those.

So, I taught myself how to make web sites, and program and I took a “straight” job that gradually took more and more of my time. I got married and we had two amazing children. For the next twenty years we made a stable life filled with all the good stuff that is easy to take for granted. I never stopped writing, recording, and producing music but in time I found I had more to say than could fit in a four-minute song. I began writing short stories which turned into novels. The kids grew up and went to college, our marriage imploded and I found myself at 50 reevaluating everything.

Now, I’m taking a breath as I assemble what is hopefully the second of three acts if I’m lucky. I’m grateful. These days I laugh more than I cry and I produce more than I wallow which tells me I must be doing something right. Most of my focus now is on writing fiction. If you want to keep up with me, the best place is on my Substack publication Catch & Release where I publish new things every week.

Thanks for being here.