Playing the guitar and writing songs encompasses the craftsmanship of emotional expression, storytelling, individuality, creativity and aesthetics. It creates a way of articulating ideas to explore and push the limits of your own creative potential. Sure, when I first started playing the guitar I had wild ambitious thoughts about being on MTV. I used to wonder what it would be like if I played guitar for Motley Crue. Dreams of replacing Mick Mars aside, for the most part, playing the guitar has never really been about fame. I've always looked at it as a way of reinventing myself to become versatile in both style and songwriting.  

Writing songs first means finding inspiration. For me, that usually means feelings of nostalgia, introspect or regret. Next, I hear a melody that I translate into a chord progression that conjures either dramatic echoes of life or tells a story of hope, laughter or optimism. Being a guitar player, chord progressions are sequenced in a construct of delicate release that provide structure and resolve. I want it to inspire thoughts and memories as each note is fretted with calloused fingers. Amplified strings should bend perfect pitch with a touch of heart felt hand.

Writing a song is done with steady pulse of heart, strumming hand and syncopated fingers that weave the tones of the melody and chord arrangement into existence. Each note aligned in a unique convergence of ability, experience and spirit, where emotions channel unspoken desire, passion, retrospect and unfulfilled dreams. 

For me, the reward is in the moment when you know you've played an incredible solo or when you know the song is perfect and you see the guitar as more than just an instrument. It becomes a rite of passage. A bridge to a place your fingers and heart carry the weight of all your experience and history. It's truly amazing when you realize your own promise of creativity and greatness. And when you listen to the last playback with the final note fading into silence, the soul is left humbled but charged, forever enigmatic from the perfect elocution you've created.