This is a short, upbeat instrumental, to add to my post-lyric songs written in the last two years. The explanation for the title is simple – every chord I play in this tune is made by forming the E chord up and down the fret board. Although there are several different chords in this instrumental, they can all be played with the basic E chord notation. The strong strumming is reminiscent of the songs I wrote and performed with my previous bands, No Mercy (hard rockin’) and Poetic Justice, and … [Read more...]

I know exactly why I wrote this song! That’s very exciting, because most of my songs written in the last two years have been instrumentals, and there’s not much to say about why I named them what I did, other than “those were the words that popped into my head when I was working on this song.” (Although I totally believe in Divine Intervention.) But here’s the lowdown, folks: this is the song about that little (sometimes big) voice in our heads that tells us we can’t do this or that, or aren’t … [Read more...]

I could make this a really short post: I wrote this piece early in the morning. On a Sunday. However, that might not be the whole story. It might not even do the song justice, but that you’ll have to decide for yourselves. Unless you are a dedicated night owl and completely adverse to rising up before the “crack of noon”* (*one of Tom Wait’s brilliantisms), you have likely experienced the joy and serenity of being present, at one with the morning, before any of the other members of the household … [Read more...]

  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...]

  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...]

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...]

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...]