Rogue Nation

Outrage, disbelief & shock. These are just a few words that flood my mind this late Sunday evening as the unthinkable has happened. Despite the overwhelming will of the people, the worst congress & worst president in U.S. history has forced the largest government takeover down our throats ensuring higher taxes on an already depleted economy, a European rationing style of health care, & enough government red tape & bureaucracy to fill the Atlantic.

Today Capitalism died & we will never be the same. My heart is heavy & my fears have deepened. As I write, 38 states are preparing to fight this legally. We are being torn to shreds right before our very eyes.

In January 1838 in a church in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln said "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author & finisher. "

What will we tell our children & our children's children?

Rogue Nation rest your weary head.

The Match

And just like that our lives completely changed yesterday on the opening of one single envelope. Match day 2010 has come & gone for the University of Texas Medical Branch students in Galveston, Texas, but left our family forever changed & grateful for the good news & opportunity that lies ahead. Congratulations to my beautiful wife for her new Obstetrics-Gynecology residency position. Hard fought & many years in the making it has been. Full steam ahead.

About The Music

The following are virtual liner notes which accompany the new instrumental release "Lawter Road" by artist Chess Ward now available thru Amazon, itunes, & Rhapsody. Enjoy!


Saturday Morning With The Kids

With an inspiring warm sunrise musically depicted at the onset, this tune was created on my living room couch with keyboard in front of me while our well-worn ottoman served as a make shift keyboard stand. Meanwhile somewhat manageable chaos ensued around me in our modest, cramped apartment by way of over-sized bouncy balls, paper airplanes & the occasional football grazing my already buzzed hair. The background laughter at the song's conclusion is none other than my oldest two doing what they do best, which you can be certain is my favorite moment of this work. There are few advantages to the life of a musician, but I suppose capturing & preserving your children's laughter at just the right moment for generations to come has to rank near the top.



Natalie

Simple yet elegant, this piece offers perhaps a glimpse of a day in the life of the woman my life is centered around. I'll always remember completing this tune, burning to disc, & playing it over & over while parked on Apfel beach in Galveston, TX, with Natalie beside me. Bitter sweet memories they are due to the hardships our family was facing at the time. That day was also my first experience with the ocean during the winter. The wind was punishing, the waves relentless, but an illuminating lavender sunset extended its rays of hope to us as our car heater worked vigorously to shield us from the outside extremities.

On 2nd Thought

Preparation & Uncertainty. Those are the first two words that comes to mind when I think of this slow, methodical body of work. Composed in our apartment living room over a handful of months while my wife was positioned on the opposite end of the couch reading & preparing for her entrance into medical school. When exhaustion is your constant companion, it's easy to entertain second thoughts. I'm glad dogged perseverance won out.

Goodbye 1999/Jubilation

In the year 1999 there was great unrest concerning the coming millennium & the potential damage the infamous "Y2K" bug might create. Fortunately it was much ado about nothing. I laid the framework for most of the music to this song on my mother-in-law's upright piano on December 31, 1999 while her house was briefly unoccupied. I had been working with some lyrics throughout the final months of '99 & it all came together on the last day of the year. Then I promptly proceeded to perform it at my church in Kansas City the following Sunday. To this day it was the warmest reception I ever received from a congregation over an original composition. As the years passed I dropped the lyrics & tweaked the original arrangement in hopes of giving it the feel of a tune one might hear in the background of a slide show or documentary. Every time I have performed this work the awkward "clock striking midnight" section followed by the vibrant "Jubilation" ending always seems to catch audiences off guard. No complaints so far though so don't YOU be the first! ;0)

Morning Commute & Coffee

During my college experience a percussion major once reminded me music is not limited to traditional instruments, recording studios or concert halls. Then he proceeded to demonstrate his point by simply taking his finger and flicking it on ordinary objects in the room; the music stand in front of him, the wall, his locker, etc. All offered their own unique characteristics & color. Translate that school of thought to the outside world & you easily have an endless symphony of sounds on your hands. Perhaps this is my attempt of turning a lemon into lemonade since the drudgery of south Houston traffic, I am certain, has taken years off my life. The middle section (the "stop for coffee" section that is) offers the listener a momentary retreat & time to reflect on things that matter most in life before completing their heart-pounding, white-knuckle morning commute.






Another Rainy Day In New York City

In the summer of 2001 I was privileged to hear the original composer of this song (Robert Lamm) in a live setting, slyly stroll out on stage under a starry night with only the aid of his percussionist & perform an acoustic rendition of this famous 1970's hit. Though loving it at the time, I didn't revisit the tune until several years later when my wife had the privilege to fly to New York City to perform at Carnagie Hall. Inspired by such a rare opportunity, I threw this arrangement together over the course of several days before her flight out. The song is also a small tribute to arguably the most successful American pop/rock band of all time who took their name from the Algonquin name for the abundant garlic plant that grew on the southern most region of their land. Now it's known as the largest city in all the great midwest...Chicago.

I Know You Say...

This short piece is actually an excerpt of another song I wrote with an entirely different style, purpose, & instrumentation. I always loved this particular passage & lyrics which almost seemed misplaced in the song I had originally written for it. So I borrowed it for this brief composition not worrying about the legal ramifications of potentially being sued for copyright infringement by myself. ;0)

I know you say
You want to change
And I know you have been searching
For a quiet place...
A quiet place that you can call your own




Dream Building

When overwhelmed with college life, a friend once reminded me there is no magic formula for success. The so called "magic", was simply found in the tedious day to day foundation being painstakingly laid as we inched closer & closer to graduation. Dreams & goals often come with a hefty price tag involving blood, sweat, & years. As Robert De Niro stated in the movie The Score, "Figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. Then spend the next 25 years putting it together piece by piece." This reflective body of work (nicknamed "The Waltz" by close friends for its meter in "3") represents the dream slowly being constructed over the unglamorous, sacrificial course of weeks, months, & years.

Lawter Road

A quiet country road located on the northern outskirts of a small college town in western Oklahoma. Summer evenings, bleak snowy winter days, & crisp autumn mornings found me traversing down this therapeutic highway when needing a virtually free as air retreat & fresh perspective from the never ending demands of college life. Everyone needs a Lawter Road at some point in their life. If you haven't found yours, I hope you do.

Into Our Father's Hands

A deeply personal work about death, loss, & grieving, for which I'm glad there are no lyrics. I debated penning text for this song & ultimately left it as an instrumental. In this case no amount of highly crafted words would ever suffice.

Father Son

Reflective musical epilogue to this album, yet simultaneous intro to another forthcoming song on an upcoming album with the same title. This work speaks to the prolonged struggle surrounding the birth of my oldest son & my relationship with him. Stay tuned.