I moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1978 as a college graduate (Psychology) with the idealistic dream of becoming a 20th century renaissance man. To my 23-year old brain, it seemed like a solid plan. I would breathe the bohemian air of the Rocky Mountains, absorb culture, take classes, read great literature, pen short stories and write songs. I got off to a modest start, had a couple of short stories published and even got some notice for one of the novelty songs I wrote about my new home (Ports of Boulder).

I wrote tunes inspired by travel and life experiences: the 1960s “generation gap” (Woodcutter’s Children); my travels through Eastern European border crossings in the 1980s (Song of Affinity); relationships and marriage (False Starts).

But as we all know, man cannot live without bread alone. I saw too many struggling artists whose struggling outweighed the art (Never A Rose) and decided that wasn’t the arduous path I wanted to follow.

So I found a more conventional direction and put my artistic ambition on hold. I obtained a teaching certificate, took a job as a high school teacher, became a husband, a stepfather, a father, a grandfather; a Fulbright international teacher; and earned a Master’s degree in history—all the things that enrich and consume a life. Over the years, I found some free time to craft more tunes, but I put any real creative ambition on the back burner.

When I finally retired after almost 30 years in the classroom, I found myself with plenty of time, but without the same mental acuity and drive I had in my youth. I decided to scrape off the rust and inch my creations back onto the front burner. In keeping with that trope, my first album compilation (released April 1, 2024) is called Back on the Front.

I would have loved to go into a recording studio and hire real musicians to play my tunes but—let’s be honest—retired schoolteachers aren’t rolling in the bucks, and what are you gonna do in the middle of a world-wide pandemic?

That’s when modern technology came to my rescue. I could create my own basement recording space. I could begin to climb the steep learning curve necessary to use a digital audio workstation. I could learn to become my own sound engineer (though at the time, I didn’t know a compressor from a hole in the ground).

I decided to go back and “re-”record all of my tunes, originally laid down on magnetic tape with a one- or two-track cassette recorder. Using combinations of styles from the ever more authentic RealTracks in Band-in-a- Box ®, I could create a base for new arrangements of the old material.

I recorded my own voice and guitar and generated any other instruments I needed via my MIDI keyboard. Using Logic Pro X, I taught myself the art of mixing as I went. I let the robots master my tracks (thank you CloudBounce).

With these resources at hand, beginning in 2022, I resolved to re-record one original song (or cover) each month. By the end of the year I had made enough progress to have more than 12 “demos” of my songs.

In 2023 I set myself a new goal. I would release one track per month to all the streaming services via Distrokid, come what may.

What you is hear on many of these tracks (including instrumental solos) are artfully re-arranged and royalty-free RealTracks from Band-in-a-Box ®, overlaid with my voice and accompanying instruments. The result is akin to karaoke, a self-produced backing track created from my own compositions and tailored to my own vocals.

This compilation of streamable tracks began primarily for family and friends, but is now available for anyone else who might be interested. You?

So, if you have gotten this far, I thank you—after all these years—for listening. I hope you’ll find something here you like.