I like playing out and its neat to see peoples reactions And it's always kind of fun like whether they are originals Or covers, it's nice when they like an original, they say hey I like that song...oh wow, a request for an original And that's nice when you get that, but it is kind of neat just the reaction Your playing and sometimes somebody will be in the back of the room And they come walking up and they stay there for that whole song.

I think the first time I realized The moment that is just all made sense was like looking at A booklet of Brian McKnight and Was listening to the words and melody And then I was reading the lines And they had structured like it was poetry, so then oh...this makes sense now.

Songs are poetry But with a melody behind of whatever you want to call it.

I really like doing open air shows Whether at the Bettendorf Public Library or at a winery At a festival, I really like those Open air kind of shows where I know my music Is going out there.

I'm not being distracted by them And they're not distracted by anything, other than a Butterly...beautiful cloud and a shape And stuff like that, so a little egotistical, but I do like my larger venues, my open air venues Where people can really appreciate and I can appreciate everything That happening.

You're writing down your ideas as they come and it doesn't matter What time of day it is and if you don't have a napkin handy Or your hand, you capture The idea when the muse decides to speak and that's part Of this deal.

That's part of the responsibility of this deal Of being a responsible song writer.

If you want to do it, you just To have get creative in more than your song writing, you have to be creative as business person And just always be good to people, and those relationships Will come back around because it's the long haul and long game That you have to play with.

There's no short cuts in the music industry if You want that long term career.

I know a lot of people older than still playing out Well, what do I want to do?

Do I want to be at the bar at midnight No, not really unless it's a band and that's kind of fun For me, more of a coffee shop, people sitting there I don't like people when people are not interacting at all, if there's an audience That's not saying anything.

MUSIC: c'mon baby lets kiss You got elastic pants C'mon baby lets kiss and when you move like that Well I was standing On the corner in Winslow, AZ and saw ya So maybe that's another song Guess it was California I know what its got to be When you're standing next me to me, I said yea c'mon baby lets kiss C'mon baby lets kiss ... Baby lets Move nice and slow Cmon baby lets grow Were rockin Tokyo You know I never met a woman with a heart shaped Tiara, it must have been A beauty queen from California This song is a little older for me.

One of those fun songs Kind of writes itself in a way, you're with somebody And you want to give them a kiss just in that moment And it started out with a verse, cmon baby lets kiss You got elastic pants...doesn't make any sense but it was kind of Sometimes you write and the first verse stays no matter what, so It was a quirky song about wanting somebody Being attracted to someone, a quirky person Looking good...MUSIC: you know I never met a woman with a Heart shaped tiara.

It must have been a beauty queen from california I know what its got to be, when you're standing next to me I said yea, cmon baby Lets kiss.

... ... ... ...

Guess me being me, like I've always been more of an emotional person Even when I didn't want to be there's these moments of Growing up I was always, I would always wear button up Shirts since I got hand me downs from my cousins, and they were like Old Navy They also fubu and other stuff, but I never really liked Wearing fubu.

I was just comfortable with a button up That's why I wear it now.

I would judge myself and think that I was Wrong for being who I was because I wasn't like everyone else in my neighborhood Now I am in a comfortable spot I have moments of caring about how Other see me, but a lot of times I really don't care I know that I'm not a perfect person No one is, just like accepting Yourself for who you are MUSIC: Whistles and humming ...not much in my pocket If there ever is gonna buy me a rocket ship To show how some people See I aint Money comes, money goes, spending on the daily, working Just to live life basic, hoping things change so i Can start hating my I get up an early bird Just trying to make a living, but don't feel like im living For need for gifts, my money low Some people So broke so long Capable of changing who I am But money comes and money goes.

I don't know...

It just seemed like one of those songs when I heard it This is like a working song, cause I mean most of my background is Has been kitchen jobs and food And beverage industry.

I've always wanted to do music As an artist, just full time I felt like I was wasting a lot of time in kitchens and This isn't my thing forever This is my, getting through life This is one of those to get me to that next part In my experience and stuff MUSIC Yeaaaa!

Ive got a dumbstruck load of ideas, both musically and lyrically You get pretty good at separating The wheat from the shaft.

To me, as a songwriter Kind of feel like 'I still got a better one in me', maybe That's the hope that keeps us going, keeps us writing.

I find myself editing music when I'm driving...I wouldn't have ended it that way or I wonder why they didn't go with this at the bridge or So I try not to listen to music when driving, which is Maybe the antithesis?

MUSIC: Get up in the morning, there's a full moon in the sky Lift your eyes up Wake in the dawn When first you realize You take your heart up You answer to the calling Oh what you will find You made your mind up It comes and it flows down the wall until it comes to the fall At the start of it all Feels like the end, hmmm Welcome friend Oh these wonders never cease to amaze me Hear our voices crying, somebody Save me, look around and there's No one else No one But me When I first wrote that song it was Started off as a very folky ballad kind of 'You get up in the morning...there's a full moon in the sky' It was very Etherial.

Then i had a band in the late 90's And we were very world beat We had a guy playing Irish Whistle and mandolin and I had a fretless bass playe And keyboards, a drummer...one of the first drummers on the Hand kit...congas, snare That he hit with his hand, a cymbal.

So, we were very Rhythmic...kind of world beat sound.

When that band broke and im out doing my own thing Again, I try to play all of these things That I played before the band after the band And realized I couldn't do it that way anymore.

That band had brought out Some different kind of ideas and Qualities and ways of thinking about my music Instead of this etherial All these pretty angelic notes...all the sudden are ditty ba dot de da Da dad dit dit, and the song kind of Had more of a drive to it, and I don't think it took away From the idea of the song, which is always be looking Up, always be looking ahead.

Don't let Things get you down.

MUSIC: step into the water I think I used to be more like that, I'd have a pad Of paper by the nightstand.

If woke up, thought up something...write it down Sometimes its good sometimes its not.

The older I get, well if its any good I'll remember it.

As im getting going About the process of it all, accepting the fact This might have been what I was born to actually do It's kind of weird, life can take all of these other turns It just feels Right.

Performing live is heavenly.

For me...to be real with you.

Music was always there and it came natural Didn't have to work as hard at that, then As soon as the lyric got better, at least commensurate with my Music, then I started to look more at the melody.

That's a third component.

There's a rhythm on the guitar And keyboard, the lyric that goes with it, the process Then how do you shape that melody All those things make a song memorable And sticks in the brain and becomes earworm Although if you try and do that All the time, then it becomes kind trite sounding, so The trick again part of the challenge part of mystery Is to make the song and end product sound like You've just fallen off a log.

MUSIC: my first girlfriend was sweet My girlfriend was swell My first girl found out about my second girl And it did not go so well That's another story, yeah That's another story I can't tell Send a little money to my mama Give a little to whoever needs help, then there is That's another story Yeah, that's another story That I can't tell Well I can't tell, she can't tell I can't tell, no she can't tell If im heading for heaven or hell Well I know My friends and family love most anyone Else.

We need nasty People who hate, they can go straight to, well That's another story Whoa, that's another story, well I can't tell Well I can't tell, no no I cant Tell.

If im heading For heaven or hell Contemplating and im Ruminating.

I know I lead a life That's goes so well And ill talk to jesus They both left me talking myself I can't tell...nonono I can't tell, if I heading For heaven or hell So whichever place I end up That will be one more thing I won't be able to discuss, Gonna another story, yea another story I can't tell No, that I can't tell You want to give yourself so much credit because you are the one I drove myself here today, did my own hair and makeup, picked out my wardrobe, paid For the whole thing, my guitar is on me...all of that stuff is me At the point, none of this is possible without other people so Surrounding yourself with good people and knowing that you can't do it all on your own And knowing when to delegate, when to outsource, when to bring people to help you But in a way that's going to get you to the next level, that's Another business and science in and of itself That's something I had to learn in the last 15, you're not a one woman show Even when playing on stage by yourself, it wasn't just you that got you here, so being able To give credit where its due, but also being able to give yourself that credit MUSIC: we stopped in a quarter to ten For just one.

By the looks of it half it the town Been there since lunch, two silver blonde Walk into a bar, you think one Us would saw it coming There's a kid we went to high school with and couple old farmers Lady truck driver chases with Shots with tequila.

We all became best friends close to One AM, with a ten dollar Bar tab at the Dixon Legion.

This ain't our Town.

But these sure are our people We're on the wrong side of the county They made us feel like home.

Just me And my best friend stumbling out at 1am With a $10 bar tab at The Dixon Legion Was in Iowa on a Tuesday night and the entire thing is a very true story.

Its just about really having a good time with the locals We really didn't buy any drinks, so that was kind of the joke of it, we spent All night at the Dixon Legion and we left with a $10 bar tab At the end of night, and definitely drank more than $10 worth of liquor These sure are our people We're on the wrong side of the county But they made us feel like home Just me and my best friend stumbling in Out at 1am, with a $10 bar tab At the Dixon Legion.

We may never go back again, to keep our reputations I guess They see many of our kind, on a Tuesday night.

WHISTLING Me and my best friend, stumbling out at 1am With a $10 bar tab at the Dixon Legion