New Single!!! "Holding Souls" is here!

The New Single - "Holding Souls" - The first song from the next album "For Others, Vol. II"

The new single is out now!!

These past few years have been very transformative for me as a songwriter, as I've discovered the absolute honor and pleasure of writing songs for and about other people's inspiring, and often difficult, stories.  Some of the songs on the last album and the upcoming album have been commissioned, others I just wanted to tell the person's story because I was inspired by their awesomeness to do so.  These songs have ranged from celebrating new beginnings, like weddings or businesses, or anniversaries - and those are super fun and meaningful.  But as I'm finding out as I go, the stories that really draw me, are the songs that help serve people experiencing grief, loss, and transition.  So you can say I've been writing love songs, as well as legacy songs. 

Sometimes, the legacy and the love song intertwine.

"Holding Souls" is one of those songs.

I met Raes and Rob in July last year through my friend Patrick, for whom I wrote the song "Children of the Stars".  I had the longest Zoom meeting I've ever had in my life with this amazing couple, me from Vista, and they from their beautiful home in Taos, New Mexico.  We spent 4 hours talking about spirituality, retreat work, their founding of "Psych-K", which greatly interested me as a healing and growth modality, and just getting to know each other.  What struck me was how they told their own love story - they had been together 17 years, and they laughed and giggled like teenagers in love.  It was awesome. 

I didn't know that a few months later, Rob would be gone.  I knew he had been sick, but not that sick.  I was honored to have had that 4 hours.  Shortly after her husband's death, Raes contacted me about writing a legacy song for her amazing husband, but this was no ordinary legacy song - this was not only about what an amazing man he was, but what a magical love story they shared.  This truly is a Legacy Love song.  Raes provided me with a wonderful story/reflection about their lives together, and how they saw their future selves long ago in the form of an old couple sitting on a bench in a lovely park outside Sedona, and how that prophecy was fulfilled in Rob's last days.  They were not only holding hands, they were holding souls.  

Call me crazy, but I sorta feel like Rob co-wrote the song with Raes and me.  I knew he was there as I wrote it.  After I recorded it and started putting it together, I remembered he had told me of his passion for music, and specifically the trumpet.  He was part of big bands since he was 16.  He played flugelhorn in his military service in the Air Force.  I  knew the finishing touch on the song would be the trumpet.  

With the song finished and listening to the final mixes, I was blown away how adding that horn elevated the song from sort of a melancholic remembrance and celebration of a life and a relationship well-lived, to a triumphant celebration and a sending forth to, and a welcoming into, other realms.  It was sublime, recording this, and then sharing it live last week at Rob's Celebration of Life out in Taos.  I am constantly humbled, surprised, flabbergasted, honored, and eminently grateful to have these opportunities that music affords me.  Music as service, that's what I'm living for these days. Pinch me, it is awesome.  

I just saw someone at the service posted me playing the song - check it out on YouTube Here  - First time ever playing it out, to a crowd who was grieving and celebrating their dear friend.  https://youtu.be/SnhM2NCLX4k?si=dSD3xthesnv-4Hld

Thank You, Rob and Raes, for allowing me to walk with you for a bit.