Click here to hear the only music I have recorded... that I'll show to anyone, anyway.

Strangely enough, I get asked two questions more often than any others when it comes to music: 1) "Where did you learn to sing so well?" and 2) "How do you write such amazing songs?" The reason I say that it is strange is because one of the questions is easy for me to talk about and the other really isn't. Can you guess which is which?

If you guessed that "songwriting" was hard for me to talk about, you'd be wrong. Of all the things I do, I am most comfortable in my role as a songwriter. Songwriting comes easily to me, and I truly believe that anybody can learn to do it; you just have to be dedicated and study the kinds of songs you like, look at the structure, and emulate it in your own way.

Easier said than done, I know.

In all, I've written over 800 songs. Of those, I show people around 10% of them. The reason for that is: most of what I write is drivel, and any songwriter worth his salt will tell you the same. Ninety percent or so of everything that is creatively produced should never be shared; it's that whole, "ninety percent of everything is crap" rule. Anybody who shows the world everything he or she creates is either delusional that everything he or she creates is his or her gift to the world, or he or she is a complete elitist egomaniac. Maybe they're the same things. Anyway, I digress.

When I write, I usually start with lyrics and build a tune around them. Sometimes, a tune comes to me, and I write lyrics to it. VERY occassionally, a song will come to me fully formed and ready to be shown off. This has happened to me, in the span of 23 years, three times. Once was a song called "Slow Burn," which a few people have heard and which may make it to the band's next record. This song came to me just as I was going to sleep, so I had to get up, write it all down, hum the tune into a handheld recorder, and hope I could to it again later. I did.

Another time was with a song called "Rumors" (which is available in the "Fans Only" section of the band's web site, incidentally, if you're interested). I was driving home from my Mom's house when this one hit me. By the time I got home, it took me only 10 minutes or so to figure out the chord progression and the song was finished.

The last time it happened was with a song that will be on the band's record called "Even If It's Wrong." With this one, I ended up changing the lyrics a little bit before it was finalized, but it's pretty much the same.

I would say that my songs are not really derivative of anything, but have subtle hints to the things I was mainly influenced by: classic rock, bluegrass, classical music, and church hymns. It's an odd combination, I know, but it seems to work. My songs, I believe, are pretty unique and yet they are familiar, and I try not to hold back what I am feeling when I am writing. Doing that makes for trite songs. However, not holding back at all creates drivel: songs written about, oh, I don't know, your Walkman or something. Blech.

Okay, you say. But where's this amazing new stuff you're writing? You're right. I ought to put some of this stuff on the Internet for others to hear, but it is not yet ready. Actually, the band plans to go into the studio very soon and record a bunch of it. And, truth be told, I actually have the songwriting demos in the band's "Fans Only" section on the Make Me Shiver site (see link on the right, above). Yes, you have to have bought our record, OR posted 200 times in the band's forum, OR bought some merchandise, OR come to a show and requested that you have access to get into that section. That's why it's called "Fans Only." :)