Well, are you?  Let’s put it this way… The guy who fixes your computer when you can’t even get it to boot, isn’t he a computer expert?  The girl at the pet store who recommends a better dog food for your puppy, isn’t she a dog food expert? You’re 3 years old, and your dad lets you sit on his lap as he mows the lawn, isn’t he a lawn-mowing expert?

Yes to all the above.  And why?  Because they know more than you do.  He knows more about computers, she knows more about dog food, and Pops knows more about mowing the lawn.  Don’t you know more about something than somebody else you know?  Do you know more about something than most people know?  Doesn’t that make you an expert?

It makes me a music production expert, a songwriting expert, a singing expert, a guitarist expert, an alternate-tuning expert, and to many people, a computer and web design expert.  Now I feel better.  So aren’t you an expert?

So I sit down to record a new version of my song “Misfit” tonight, and I just know after 5 minutes that I simply don’t have *it* tonight.  Maybe it’s because I didn’t warm up my voice this morning like I usually do, or maybe it’s because it’s approximately 2,700 degrees in my room where I record… or maybe it was something I ate (aka, McDonald’s) earlier today.  Probably all of the above.

Some nights you just know you are better off focusing your energies on something else.  :-)  But that’s okay!  I’ll listen to the song on repeat for the next 72 hours and practice, and see if I can’t get it together this weekend.  Saturday is my birthday, by the way!

My song “Slow Dance” is a song I wrote for Amanda only a few months after we started dating (almost 3 years ago now!) It was inspired by our first New Year’s Eve together… It was freezing cold that night and her deck was covered in ice, so we went outside and we were sliding around on it and ended up slow dancing by ourselves for a little while. A few weeks later, I wrote this song!

A fun fact, in case you didn’t realize it already, is that the bridge of the song incorporates part of the bridge of “Boardwalk Baby.”  I thought it was neat to contrast a summer song with a freezing cold winter song and show that regardless of whatever season or circumstance life happens to have us in, love can make all things beautiful.

As always, you can download it for free!

Driving in the car to Maine for vacation and I’ve got one thing on my mind… My Half-Way-to-New-Year’s Resolution.  Six months ago, I don’t think I really had any plan for this year.  I think I got caught in the common rut of “just take life as it comes.”  That mindset is such a cop-out.

Then last night, I went to the John Mayer concert – and he blew my mind.  I got quite the education in music domination.  And it suddenly brought me back to 12, 14, 16, 19… when I had dreams.  And when that passion for music ignited creativity, and inspired me to write 3 or 4 songs every day.  Granted, I had more time then – but that’s a cop-out too.

God made me to do music – to write, to record, to produce, to pour my heart into every line of every song.  And that’s what I need to do.  So here’s my promise to you… to write more, to record smarter and faster, and to release more songs this year than I ever have before.  I still have half the year left, right?

Thanks to everyone who frequents my site.  To everyone who shares my songs with their friends.  To every friend on Facebook and Twitter and even Myspace (though you really need to get on board with the Facebook thing ;-).  Thanks to my friends and family for always sticking by me and encouraging me to do what I was born to do.  And thanks John Mayer for reminding me that it’s more than what I was born to do, or what I need to do – It’s what I love to do.

The new media is infuriating, and it’s awesome.  Because there is a lower point of entry for musicians, writers, and creative producers of all sorts, there is sooo much more crap being put out every day.  The percent of something being crap is creeping up to 99%.  But that’s okay.

More stuff being produced means a lot more crap, but it also means there will be more hits. If you have talent, if you can do something great or think big, you too can be a hit.  And it will cost you hardly a cent.  Just hit “publish.”  Just hit the “record” button, the “upload” button, and if you’re good enough, a lot of people will hit the “share” button.

The people are the filter.  The cream will rise to the top.