During my college years, I produced three albums as a singer/songwriter, calling my unique style idyllic rock. I used an eclectic array of instruments around a core of piano and voice, following a structure modeled after the great rock poets of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The idea was to make a variety of songs that were poetic and attractive to listen to. On a technical level, these are all rough recordings, but each song has a clear concept and could be recorded more professionally at some point.
Riverrun (2007)
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This was my official debut album as a singer/songwriter, which I recorded during my first year of college. My inspiration came from the Willamette river in Eugene, Oregon, beside which I would read, observe, and meditate. It reminded me of the river in Hermann Hesse's short novel, Siddhartha (my all-time favorite!) The title, Riverrun, however, comes from the enigmatic first word of the James Joyce novel, Finnegan's Wake, which I figured to be a good statement signifying that my music and lyrics are a work of literature that is both dream-like and idiosyncratic. I also thought this word evoked a powerful feeling of the soul being "run through" by an ever-flowing river.
Track List
1. You Never Had to Ask 2. The Message 3. Lost 4. Feel Wonderful 5. You Will Soar 6. If You Need 7. Imagination 8. I am Jealous 9. Victory 10. Thank God 11. River 12. I'm So Sorry |
To create this album, I synthesized all instruments on a piano keyboard and played them back to record them acoustically. I used ProTools software to mix and produce the recordings. Photography for the cover and insert were taken by Kevin Olsen. It was a joy to put this CD together!
Released: September 4, 2007 Lyrics |
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The World We're Making (2008)
I used keyboards to synthesize the instruments, and all the recording was acoustic. Unlike my previous album, Riverrun, in which I had lumped all the instruments into a single track, in The World We're Making each instrument had a separate track. Photography was mastered by Laurel Narizny, and the globe was painted by Lily Robertson.
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By 2008, I had become very interested in New Thought, especially the idea that people can create our own reality by deciding our thoughts and attitudes. So, when putting this idea into musical expression, I decided to create songs to inspire positive thinking, to reveal the divine creativity of the human spirit, and yet also to express some of the real ways that people make their worlds.
Track List
1. Splitting Hairs 2. The World We're Making 3. Endless Delight 4. Get Off the Tracks 5. I Will Care For You 6. Stay Alive 7. Warm Words 8. This Moment 9. Our Sunday 10. A Mystery to Me 11. Christi's Lullaby 12. She's Trapped 13. Walden Pond Released: September 19, 2008 Lyrics |
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Songs for the Road (2009)
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I created this album to explore the metaphor of "the road of life" as it relates to the human experience. Songs for the Road rises and falls with a bit of a theatrical flare, as I sing expressions of love, sorrow, spirituality, uncertainty, nostalgia, and the promise of reaching one's proverbial destination.
Track List
1. A Song for the Road 2. Lover's Triumph 3. Eyes Like Horizons 4. To Mecca 5. A Little Sting 6. Hit and Run 7. In Your Footsteps 8. The Prince 9. Memories of My Devotion 10. She's Loving Me 11. A Song for the Road (Reprise) |
Released: November 20, 2009
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Other Recordings
House of Providence Musical Soundtrack (2006)This soundtrack contains 19 original songs from my full-length musical, House of Providence, the tale of Bridget Hutchinson and her family's struggle to keep their home in tact in the face of moral depravity. Last performed in April 2006 by students of the Federal Way Public Academy, the musical featured 17 of these songs. "Sheltered Life" was added to the final copyrighted version of the musical, and the French version of the opening number, "Chez Moi à la Providence," is featured exclusively in the soundtrack as a whimsical bonus.
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Act Two
10. Through the Times 11. So Grand 12. A House Like This (reprise) 13. Sheltered Life 14. Future's Floor 15. Eternity 16. Anything I Want 17. A House in Hartford 18. Providence Finale 19. Chez Moi à la Providence |
The Wizard's Return Musical Soundtrack (2014)This soundtrack contains 15 songs from The Wizard's Return, an original FWPA musical co-created with Julianna S., which was performed in the fall of 2013 with tremendous success. All songs on this soundtrack are adapted as solos or duets. In addition, the French version of the opening number, "Le Retour du Sorcier" is featured exclusively in this recording as a bonus.
Release Date: May 9, 2014. Official website: www.thewizardsreturn.weebly.com
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Act Two
8. Locked Inside of a Dungeon 9. Beasts Dreaming 10. The Plague, Reprise 11. Sterling Guard Imprisoned 12. Tend to Your Heart 13. The End of Cartesia 14. Mr. Matthews' Reprise 15. Everybody Has a Wizard (Finale) 16. Le Retour du Sorcier |
Ode to the Academy (2007)The songs in this EP were written for the Federal Way Public Academy (FWPA). There are two versions of the school's "Scholastic Anthem" (which I wrote in 2003), two songs previously featured in FWPA musicals, and two theme songs attributed to summer math workshops I taught at the Academy during my college years.
Track List 1. FWPA Scholastic Anthem 2. House of Providence (orchestra version) 3. Conscience (from Jon Brebner's A Race in '62) 4. The Meaning of X 5. The Secret of Figures 6. The Meaning of this Song 7. FWPA Scholastic Anthem (instrumental) Released: August 10, 2007 Lyrics |
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The Federalist (2005)
In 2005, I was very interested in the American Revolution and the intellectual history that came out of this time period. Some of my favorite writings are the The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays published one at a time between 1787 and 1788, which discussed the current political theories and the benefits of ratifying the 1787 constitution, which is the same one that still serves as the foundation of United States law today.
I thought it would be fun to take excerpts from The Federalist and put them to music. I used an eclectic range of styles (from baroque to rock to rap), and structured each piece with a complex recursion of musical themes. In 2012, I began splicing together these old recordings, mastered them, and created videos that show the words (written by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison) as you hear the words.
I thought it would be fun to take excerpts from The Federalist and put them to music. I used an eclectic range of styles (from baroque to rock to rap), and structured each piece with a complex recursion of musical themes. In 2012, I began splicing together these old recordings, mastered them, and created videos that show the words (written by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison) as you hear the words.
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