I've been writing and recording songs since the late nineties. The very early ones were... not good. I kept at it, though, and by the time I released my first studio record in 2006, a couple of songs like "In the Sun" were good enough to get some play on local rock radio.

Back then I was chasing the sound and vibe of the post-grunge alternative rock bands I loved, and still love. But my deepest musical influences were always the 60s, 70s and 80s classic rock and pop mix tapes my dad played in his truck on long drives when I was a kid. As the years have passed, and a big mainstream audience has become both a lot less likely and a lot less important to me, more of those older influences have crept back in.

These days I record at home and play or program every part myself: guitars, keys, bass, drums and vocals. It's the most fun I've ever had making music, and it sounds the most like me, whatever that is. I can wander between styles without worrying whether the next song fits neatly after the last one.

I don't know if I'll ever write the song I've always hoped to write: one that ends up on the soundtrack of someone else's life, the way my favorite artists' music has always been the soundtrack of mine. But I know I'm still learning and growing creatively. As long as the next song might be better than the last, or offer something new, I'll keep making music for the joy of it, as free of comparison and expectation as I can manage. If one of these songs rides along with you for a while and adds something to your life, that would be the best reward this journey could give me.