What's the point of writing songs or creating art? Of being an artist at all?  It's almost impossible to make a living at it.  Consider, hardly anyone pays for music anymore.  Did you know the number of "professional" songwriters in Nashville (those who make more than $20K a year) is a THIRD of what it was five years ago? So why do we do it?    Answer: Because we have to.     Also, because occasionally we're lucky enough that something we create connects …

Does music really have charms to soothe the savage breast?  (Not BEAST, as it's been widely misquoted).  Well, I got a chance to find out this morning.  On WMTR 1250AM the host and a panel of guests (including politicians) were having a HEATED debate about Islam, Christianity, terror, oppression, etc. etc.  Does this sound familiar?  At the end of the debate they put ME on the phone and played my song "September 12th".   (Click HERE for youtube video)  …

Remembering September 12th   No, that’s not a typo. I meant the 12th not the 11th. Lots of stories, papers, songs, etc. have been written about September 11th. But very few, if any, about September 12th and the days that followed. It has always struck me that from the ashes of the most cruel, hateful and inhumane atrocities rose some of the most kind, courageous, loving and humane acts I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. It seemed for a moment that people actually looked past each …

M any of you followed the up and down saga of how I was supposed to peform my song “We Say Merry Christmas” on Fox and Friends Christmas Eve morning. I had written the song with my friend Dave Rivers to poke fun at Holiday “Political CorreXmas” and to raise monies in support of U.S. soldiers overseas. It looked like we had struck gold and that my manager’s (lovely wife Ellen) public relations work had paid off when I was asked to appear on the Fox Cable News network. But …

Let me start with this disclaimer: I’m not exactly the most conservative guy in the world but I’m also not the most liberal either. I guess which direction I lean on a particular issue is kind of like the Tower of Pisa…it all depends on which way you’re looking at it.  That being said, there’s something that’s happened in recent years that has me (and a lot of my friends who support BOTH sides of the aisle) a little concerned. It’s what some have called …