The People That Made Me

I am very pleased to announce the release of my song “The People That Made Me.” Although I wrote the song a few years ago, I made some revisions and produced it during my month off of Facebook, which could probably stand as a testament to how many better ways there are to spend my time than playing around on social media. I’ve also produced a video to accompany it, which you can currently watch on YouTube.

When I say that I produced the song, that’s probably not accurate. I played my guitar and sang to the playback. Wayne DeLair at JumpDog Audio Productions did all of the heavy lifting. After adding the drums (because I have a deficiency where I cannot keep time to a click track), Wayne brilliantly orchestrated a variety of other instruments from the comfort of his keyboard, arranging and mastering them in a way that continues to bewilder me. If you are ever in need of audio arrangement and/or mastering, I cannot speak highly enough of how well Wayne does what he does.

I wrote the song as a way to honor the people that have contributed to my life. While I have tended to be a lone wolf who has dabbled in community, I have not always excelled in developing deep relationships, but I have formed some long-lasting ones. In the first version of the song, many of the verses were much more personal, pointing out various ways in which members of my family, previous lovers, and good friends had helped me become the person I am, but I felt the song should be more about other people than me, so I put the personal verses aside (possibly for live performances) and focused on the more universal themes.

However, in making the video, I had to build on what I had, which was a collection of images of me with a variety of people that have helped me create a rather extraordinary life. Of course, there were a number of people I wish I had a picture with, and I hope that no one feels left out if they didn’t make the final cut. I’ve covered quite a bit of ground in the last 46 years or so, and had the opportunity to meet a lot of wonderful people, only a sampling of which can actually be seen in the video.

And again, the song isn’t necessarily about me, but about the people in the world who help me be who I can be. In this day and age, where we have the technology that allows us to spend hours bickering about things we can’t possibly actually do anything about, I think it’s important to remember just what we’re capable of doing together. My hope for this song is that it reminds people that the connections we make digitally can help us meet personally, and although it is easy enough to share a number of ideas from the comfort of our keyboards, our lives, and what we will truly produce with them, will be lived out in the real world.

Ultimately, this song is dedicated to all of those who have contributed to my life, either directly or indirectly, who have connected with me in the digital realm, and who consistently participate in life in order to help keep making the world a better place to live. I hope I can play this live for you one day.

This song is available on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and Reverbnation. Get your copy now.