Cowritten with a cowboy singer artist who recorded a prior song. I grew up in the middle of cowboy country but in town with sidewalks in front of my house. So, my friend Joel Alden White who was once a working cowboy was the perfect one to write a song about a cowboy with.

Inspired by one of my ex-daughters-in-law. I am an old dog trying to teach myself new tricks. This song incorporates some melody writing tactics I learned from a Jason Blume course. Other things I was aiming for in this song: To use some of the (to me) odd melodic intervals I hear in today's country songs and limit the number of chord changes, focusing on the rhythm of the song.

I wrote this song almost 40 years ago, when ballads were still in fashion. It has stuck in a couple of peoples' minds besides mine and I recently re-recorded it for a possible sync placement. The song was written during a major life change for me and I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn into the emotion of that time in my life. So, though it strikes me as somewhat clunky by today's standards, maybe there is something there.

Old fashioned love song

I went through a divorce long ago. One evening a friend I'd known since high school started grilling me about the specifics of the breakup as if he were considering which of us he was going to remain friends with. Rather than confront him about it directly, I opted to write a song about it. Surely others have experienced the same kind of disruptions in relationships with friends and family when a breakup affects more than just the couple parting ways.

This song is an old song with an updated production and a re-write of a third verse into more of a "middle 8" section. The demo was produced by Johnny Dwinell at Daredevil Production as one of the demo deals he offers from time to time.

My grandfather co-wrote a song with Hank Williams Sr. that was recorded the same session as "Cold Cold Heart." He never achieved great success but, still more than I have to date. Some of my earliest memories of him were of him trying to get other cuts after Hank died and Nashville moved on. Friends of mine have tried Nashville and have been disappointed. This song was kind of written in their honor, based on my visits to Nashville over the years.

A friend of mine from out of town was visiting and wanted to go for a brew. Really, he wanted to be able to talk about his divorce without my wife around. Anyway, he went on for a while telling me all the bad stuff that went down and then said, "It goes without saying I loved her." Ah, friend excuse me while I take a note ....