Inception

“is the sadness overwhelming, or is it taking us deeper into our craft?”–Nigel Goodwin

This small collection of songs was conceived shortly after one Saturday in May of 2011.  I was enjoying one of the things I love  most—an early morning breakfast at my favorite spot in Oakland. I get the call from my father that my aunt is in ICU with the flu.  Hmn? So I drive home and decide to hop on my motorcycle and go visit my Aunt and pass some time with her.  Oh, I got this tiny switchblade that she’ll dig; she loves knives, we both love knives.  Off I go.  I arrive.  Walking confidently into a place I know so well, a place we both know so well because of our profession, suddenly became unfamiliar to me.  We are xray techs.  We help the sick, the sad, and the hurting.  But what I saw that day  hit me so hard that almost 3 years later I’ve just now stood back up and started to feel the healing in my mind and my heart.  I never got to give her that tiny gift.  In fact, I never got to talk with her again.  Continuing on in 2011, my wife and I experienced life in an acute downward spiral.  Everything from financial hardship, to another couple of near death experiences seemed to rain upon us.

We’ve all been here in some way.  In a place where the hurt goes so deep that the present leaves you numb and the future is pitch black.

I read somewhere that songwriting is the process of self-discovery.

These songs are my process.  These songs are my journey leading back to joy.  And I am truly thankful…for those who came alongside me in times of trouble.

—Brian

“I will know that I am healed when the music flows.”–Charles Robinson