I began writing I Still Believe in September of 2001 while driving through the wheat fields during harvest near Colfax, Washington. Visions of "amber waves of grain" and "purple mountains' majesty" along with questions about where our country was headed post-9/11 were going through my mind when the phrases, "As long as there's a mountain left to stand on...as long as there's a sea to shining sea" came to me. When I returned home, my good friend Kim Deardorff and my wife Conna

Few people have impacted me more deeply than Jeff Wood, who first wrote and shared Side by Side with the world back in the 1970s. I was privileged to collaborate with him on numerous projects in recent years and loved his kind, inclusive, steady ways. My dear friend and fellow musician Dan Franklin shared this rich memory of Jeff with me: The year is 1971. it’s a Friday evening on the campus of PUC and we’re in the student center singing songs. Jeff Wood, myself, and several

For our family, all roads have led to one place—Kalispell, Montana. It had a place in our hearts, and in this song, Road to Kalispell, long before we were privileged to call it home. I wrote this song on my guitar back in 1998 while sitting cross-legged on the tile floor of our home in Orlando, Florida. I'd never been to Montana, but our fourth child had just arrived and we were longing for a quieter, simpler life. As I fiddled with the melody, I asked my wife Conna what I sh

My son Taylor was home from college a few weeks ago. I was in my studio playing around with a chord progression. I had my Strat plugged in and had recorded layers of reverb and echo that were intriguing, but after eight measures something was still missing. Taylor’s room is next door to my studio. He was taking a nap, but pretty soon he wandered in and asked, “Whatcha workin' on?” I told him it was just a rough idea and I wasn't exactly sure where to go with it. “Why don’t we