New Single - "The Smile Assassin"

“Thank you Gregory for teaching me to ski and fall in love with the mountains.”

– Text that my son sent to Gregory 2 days before his passing.

The journey that writing custom songs is taking me on is an exciting, humbling, and transformative on so many levels. I'm so excited to release my latest custom legacy song, "The Smile Assassin", for my friend Gregory Merena.

I spent almost a year in a van with Gregory Merena, back when I was 18 years old and part of a traveling Catholic youth ministry team. We connected over our love of music and of sharing the love of the God as we understood it at the time.

I lost touch with Greg for years, until my gigging days brought me frequently to Mammoth in the winter. Gregory had moved out there to continue his passion, ski instruction. Greg absolutely loved helping people fall in love with the mountain, and with nature, and hopefully, with themselves through it all. Over the trips, Gregory and I connected on a much deeper level as adults, as I had done some learning and maturing, as had he. We talked about philosophy, mysticism, service, good beer, and music.

One season a few years back, Greg gave me some free tickets that he had earned through volunteering with helping disabled skiers learn the sport. I went to the ticket counter to redeem them for my kids. The ticket clerk said, “Score! Free tickets! Where’d you get these?”

I replied, “Do you know Gregory Merena, the ski instructor?”

The agent paused for a bit, spent a few seconds in thought, and all of a sudden lit up with a huge smile and a nod of the head, “O, you mean the Smile Assassin!”

YESSS!! That was Greg! Always beaming with a smile, full of joy and connection and passion. Unassuming, quiet, gentle, humble, but radiant! Like a secret agent sneaking up on you, injecting his unsuspecting victims with joy and kindness.

This past spring Greg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That’s the one you definitely don’t want. I got to spend a day with him when I picked him up from USC Cancer Center in LA and gave him and his car a ride back to Mammoth. Our conversation and philosophizing got way more real in the face of such a mortal challenge.

When I sat down that next week to write Greg a song, as some tears came in thinking about his suffering, out of nowhere that memory of the ticket agent popped back into my head in blazing colors – I hadn’t thought of that in so long! The truth of it hit home to me – Gregory truly is “The Smile Assassin”. People knew him from his always-present smile and his ability to lighten anyone’s day. This was another song that fell from the sky into my lap.

I recorded the song last month in haste, as Greg had taken a turn for the worse, and we knew he didn’t have much time. He couldn’t speak, but his sister would let him hear voice messages left on his cell phone. My son had sent that text, and I sent him a tearful but happy goodbye, telling him I’d see him on the other side, and that I had written a song for him. He passed two days later on September 21st and never got to hear the song, as I was just finishing the mix and mastering on it.

And so, today is what would be Greg's 57th birthday. I'm releasing “The Smile Assassin” today in his honor and legacy. Definitely not a sad song, but a joyful and very rocking tribute to Greg’s super-power and elite-level special agent skills...

Go check it out, and share it, here: https://song.link/thesmileassassin

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