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