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“When I Become Confused” feels like more than just a song and a video. It’s part of my story, my wife’s story and many other folks who have been touched in some way by Alzheimer’s/Dementia. Released in partnership with the Alzheimer's Society of Peel, it is both a musical offering and a call to awareness, reminding us of the power of music to reach beyond memory into shared human connection. 

Check out the song and animated and live performance videos here.

STORY BEHIND THE SONG
I was playing a gig in Aberdeen, Scotland in late 2019 and an old school chum, Rob Keiller, came out to the gig.  Catching up with Rob on the break, he happened to mention a poem he had written, inspired by his mother Ada who had died at the age of 64 from Alzheimer’s. I could relate to this as my wife and I were helping care for her mother during her journey with late stage dementia.  I asked Rob to send me the poem and the next day I opened it up and read through. It was a moving piece with a very powerful title, “When I Become Confused”, as well as other evocative lines. Later that day, I was on a plane back to Canada and literally when the plane was touching down in Toronto, I heard a melody for Rob’s title and sang it into my iPhone along with a few other lines. Over the next few weeks, I caught some more notes in the air and managed to finish the music for the song. But I still had half the lyrics to complete.  The thing about songs though, is that they have their own timing for being born. Six weeks later, I went into hospital and was told I needed open heart surgery.  

It would be another year after my heart repairs that I finally dug back in and was able to finish the song lyric. Having watched my mother-in-law Ruth as the disease progressed, I became aware of things that helped me imagine what it might be like for her. I hope the song will open audiences to a sense of empathy and understanding for someone living with this disease and for those journeying with them.

RECORDING THE SONG - TORONTO - NASHVILLE - NEW YORK
For me, so many decisions along the path and journey of a song happen like instinctive signposts or, put another way, letters to my soul.  It starts with the kernel of a song idea that eventually comes to fruition. But it then moves onto what key it should be in, what tempo, and what production approach you should take. Daniel Lanois describes the recording stage of a song’s journey so beautifully when he says it is the means of securing, “an aural photograph of an emotional or spiritual condition. The secret is being able to spot the magic and never lose sight of what it was about a song that excited you in the first place.”

With “When I Become Confused”, I was blessed to work with producer Justin Abedin, and he and I talked through all the pieces of how to capture the song’s magic. An important part of the puzzle were the players for the recording session and we chose the wonderful team of Davide DiRenzo on drums, Drew Birston on upright bass and Aaron Davis on piano. I’d never worked with Aaron before and Justin sent him my simple acoustic guitar/vocal work tape recording.  When Aaron arrived at the studio, I remember he was surprised to find I wouldn’t be playing guitar on the session, just singing.  This meant Aaron, Davide & Drew could have room to add their combined thoughtful phrasing and musical space, weaving their parts together while I sang the lead vocal. I recall vividly the amazing sense of all these wonderful parts wrapping around me as I strived to tap into the emotion of where the song came from.  All these moments of magic were captured live off the floor with vintage gear and the vintage ears of Jeremy Darby at Canterbury Music in Toronto.  After the session, Justin overlaid his electric guitar parts, creating a delicate soundscape like a textural brain fog over the live tracks that for me, along with the sensitivity of the other musicians, translated the lyrics of the song so beautifully. We sent the tracks to mixing maestro Chad Carlson in Nashville who did a marvellous job bringing out the organic nature of the instruments and vocal. After that, mastering engineer Dan Millice added his sensitive sonic touches to the track at his studio in New York.  I truly believe each of these players, producer and engineers added a piece of their own heart and art to this recording.

You could say it was happenstance or just the music doing its job. It was through performing at an outdoor concert in Toronto that the door opened for me to experience performing music in a healthcare setting. I was heard by the Music Programmer at Sunnybrook Hospital and it was an honour to play for the Veterans and their families in their Warriors Hall, in the gardens, and on some of the wards for the more vulnerable residents for more than 10 years. 
 
In those spaces, up close, I watched the power of music do its work, with all of us, moving our bodies and our hearts. There’s a kind of “musicking” that has a circular, reciprocal effect where people can somehow manage to meet in the space between, song by song and note by note. I don’t think you can do as many of these types of gigs as I have over the years without your heart naturally being wedged open further to a place of deeper empathy. 
 
After one of my performances at Sunnybrook Hospital, I was speaking with a staff member who said, ‘if only I could have put a little bit of my feet in her shoes.’ That’s all it took for my songwriting wheels to start turning and a melody was mapped out during my drive home. At the time, my wife Mary Ellen was a full-time carer for her Mom at home who was dealing with dementia. Fuelled by the carer’s need for empathy - whether in a hospital setting or at home - I set out to write the song, “Feet In Your Shoes” to capture the emotion of a carer’s need for help but not being bold enough to ask. The song won top honours at the 2022 Mississauga Summer Song Contest and is an infectious upbeat production with a horn section, stirring electric guitar and Wurlitzer piano - where the lyrics move your heart while the groove moves your body. Check out the track and video here that reminds us we are all living in a world that needs more empathy

After performing at the Fergus Scottish Festival a dozen times, I was inspired to write “The Tartan Kiss” - a love song for the town of Fergus and its Scottish Festival which is the oldest Scottish Festival in North America. I wanted the song to capture the deep emotion that people feel from all the different parts of the Festival experience, both past and present. It’s about yearning for a place in our hearts called home that springs from our shared connection to Scottish ancestry, culture and history. 

 The track features the "Friends of Fergus" which include the Festival’s musical alumnae from as far away as Alabama and Glasgow, Scotland, as well as the Fergus & Grand Celtic pipe bands. Veteran producer Justin Abedin and alumnae from past festivals – Mark Kelso, Drew Birston, James McKie, Mark Fletcher, Scooter Muse & Jil Chambless, and singers Tommy Leadbeater, Gillebride MacMillan and the Mckenna brothers - all added their heartfelt sounds. Check out the song and extra music video content here.

“Voyageur In Song” is a concept record, inspired by the 64 pieces of Canadian history and culture built into the iconic Six String Nation Guitar nick-named Voyageur. As a transplanted Scot who now calls Canada home, I feel very fortunate to have taken this creative and culturally immersive journey with Voyageur.  The project came about after hearing Jowi Taylor’s inspiring multimedia presentation and being given the opportunity to spend time writing songs on Voyageur. The guitar pulled me to write in a way which was both very stirring and very quick. I sat down, put my arms around Voyageur and I asked her to tell me the stories in musical language. I kept listening to try and translate the emotion I felt from the stories inside so I could crack the code. Of everything I heard in the writing sessions, nothing was denied. It seemed to flow through me at en-lightening speed! It was uncanny and spiritual, like I was in service of something greater than myself. As I went hunting down the lyrics for these musical ideas, I had the opportunity to dig into some of the stories and history embedded in the guitar and gained a better understanding of the kind of diversity, pain and beauty that is Canada. It helped me grow in my relationship with my adopted country and in my relationship with myself. The songs that resulted included stories about a piece of Labradorite and it’s billion year journey; the historic & mysterious Massey Hall; the fascinating and tragic story of the Golden Spruce in Haida Gwai,; Canada’s champion Oyster Shucker Joe Labobe from PEI; and the Doukhobors’ brave passage from persecution in Russia to Saskatchewan.

Once written, as an artist I could hear exactly where these songs could go and continued to take them down that road working with my co-producer Justin Abedin and musicians Gary Craig, Drew Birston, Drew Jureca, Jaron Freeman-Fox, Scott Galloway & Kevin Turcotte. I was delighted when it was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Contemporary Album of the Year Award in 2022. Check out the songs and extra video content here.

There’s something timely and emotional about the six tunes on this record that flow from Celtic, country, folk, rock and soul, all wrapped up in my favourite time signature - 6/8.  6/8 feels like a musical home to me, a signature of time, a sense of place. I think songs, if they are written from a true place, are like living stories and as such, I try to follow where they lead.  When I look at this album and what came together - in terms of writing the songs, the production and even the cover art - I see a work of a particular time. I was lead to grapple with emotional and social problems in our world, without looking away, and that process changed me.  "Six in 6/8" was co-produced with the wonderfully talented Justin Abedin and involved a cast of 19 incredible musicians, recorded by ten different engineers in 11 different studios from Toronto to Montreal and Nashville to Alabama. Chad Carlson, the Grammy award-winning engineer who mixed the re, had this to say, “Man your songs are poetry! So damn good! Love them all.” Check out the tracks yourself and watch some extra video content here.