I've been at music full-time for about thirty-six years and yet I'll probably be a total newcomer as far as you're concerned. Why? Because I've been playing mostly in churches, admittedly an almost entirely parallel universe to the folk music/singer-songwriter world I'd like to be introduced to.

Please don't misunderstand ... I still very much love my church work and it's my honor to try to take acoustic, song-centric music to audiences that rarely hear that sort of thing these days. Yet I've never been overly accepted in the gospel music business because I have a dogged determination to write and sing about a variety of subjects. For years this drove me nuts, but now I suspect it might be a modest badge of honor.

I simply sing about what matters to me across the board, hoping and trusting that audiences can find a place for themselves in my songs.

So what do I actually do? What are my songs about? I try write about a lot of things … little league, the blessings and challenges of family and friends, failing and succeeding at love, shunning selfishness and building community, the shifting sands of faith and doubt, hope and hopelessness living next door to each other in the same neighborhood, romance in youth, romance for grow-ups, conflict and peacefulness, walking in circles and never looking back along a straight path, self-knowledge and self-delusion, having fun and, where appropriate, even making fun. All of these things are present with us and inside all of us whether we’re on the highest mountaintop or in the dreariest laundromat.

If I hope to give any gift away, it would simply be this: To appreciate and respect my listeners and to always assume that folks don't need me to tell them anything. I’ve heard songwriting described as giving people new language to describe things they probably already know by heart. I do know that I'm happy and grateful when anyone takes some time to interact with my songs.