In July, 2024, Gina and I traveled to Minnesota for the first time. The occasion was a special event called The Everything Conference, and it drew artistic and creative people – who happen to be multi-potentialites – from around the world. The attendees were also the content presenters, providing unique perspectives and implementable strategies for a large variety of topics (close to everything!), as varied as the personalities and backgrounds of the folks who attended. It was a sweet week, … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: I’ll Be There with You
August 15, 2025 By 2 Comments
Like the previously released “To Get Next To You,” this song, “I’ll Be There With You,” was written, recorded, and produced after I regained my ability to play guitar (acoustic and electric), write music, write lyrics, and sing after my dementia diagnosis. And, like “To Get,” it came out of my thoughts about the uncertainty of how long I had to live, and/or, how long I would continue to “be myself.” My wife, Gina, would often talk about her beloved grandfather, Bob, who passed in 1996, … [Read more...]
Legacy Music Project: Henry’s Gift
August 8, 2025 By 2 Comments
I am so grateful for the public libraries of this world for allowing people to sample, for free, all kinds of books, music, movies and more. I used to grab five or six CDs every time I went, artists and albums that I knew nothing about, but was intrigued by the song titles, or the band name, or the cover. It’s where I discovered a now favorite band, Explosions in the Sky, which led me to explore an entire genre of instrumental music that I was completely unfamiliar with. All this to say, Gina … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: I’m Still Here
August 4, 2025 By 2 Comments
Shortly after my diagnosis, I started to feel (not necessarily based on reality, but undeniably what I felt) like I was being abandoned, that long-time friends were uncomfortable continuing a relationship with a person with dementia, no matter what stage they were in. Suddenly, people that I’d had ongoing communication with started not communicating. I felt ghosted, and ghost-like. (This concern was recently validated when I was watching a show about the residents of an assisted living facility, … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: Repair
January 23, 2025 By 1 Comment
Many of us are better at breaking things than repairing them, especially in our relationships with our friends and loved ones. Repairing is hard, and requires overcoming our feelings, like pride and guilt. It also can’t be rushed or done half-assed. It’s a heavy thing, which is why I dedicated an entire instrumental song to it: Repair. It is the fifth instrumental video we’ve released for our Legacy Music Project, if any of you are keeping count! Fett wanted to try layering two very similar … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: Lover’s Line
January 9, 2025 By 1 Comment
Lover’s Line has been with me for a long time and has had a few different studio incarnations. In my recollection, the writing came together quickly, and is one of my simpler compositions. Lyrically, it is one of my “progressive” songs, as each chorus adds a new element. The original title, Till the End of Time, was meant to convey a sense of this love lasting forever, through “thick and thin,” overcoming any obstacles. Over time, I decided to focus on an unwavering commitment – as in sticking … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: Now You Tell Me
January 2, 2025 By 2 Comments
Now You Can Tell Me is the fourth instrumental release from my upcoming mostly instrumental album, Electric Ned & The Danger Babies, and the first to include the gorgeous piano work of Nashville session player, composer, instrumentalist, and producer Dave Hoffner. This is a collaboration that will feature prominently in several of the upcoming releases, both instrumental and lyrical. Fett and I did not want to hold Dave back for this recording and gave him a full carte blanche to let loose … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: Be Home Soon
November 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment
When I received my vascular dementia diagnosis about 2 years ago, I wrote a handful of songs that were, admittedly, kinda maudlin and morbid. Three of them – “I Will Be There With You,” “To Get Next To You,” and this one, “Be Home Soon” were written from the point of view from someone who was not here anymore. I wasn’t depressed about my situation, but I did perseverate a bit about not knowing how long I’d be around, or how long I’d be functioning well enough to write, play guitar, sing, and … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: For This Reason
September 1, 2024 By 4 Comments
Continuing with the mostly instrumental portion of the Legacy Music Project, which some of us/you may know as Electric Ned & The Danger Babies, here’s “For This Reason.” This expansive song was written with a creative question – could I compose an instrumental with a ton of space in it – both “out there” and empty connotations – that would still be musically interesting enough to keep a listener’s attention? Have I been successful? You’ll have to let me know! I’m particularly pleased with … [Read more...]
The Legacy Music Project: Blue Night Blue
June 9, 2024 By 10 Comments
In 2023, after regaining some of my confidence in composing music, playing the acoustic guitar, and developing my skills on electric guitar after losing everything to a dementia diagnosis and basically starting over, I began to write instrumental songs. This one, Blue Night Blue, is one of the earliest attempts to express myself without lyrics. To my surprise, the composition began with a lead part, a riff. This was completely unexpected, because in all my years – 59 – of playing guitar, I was … [Read more...]
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