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As we move forward in life and time, we sometimes wonder where we will end up and what we will be doing. This, for me, turned into the concept of “Where The Story Goes.” I had bought an old Roland hard disk recorder and used it to track these songs. Not quite cutting edge technology at the time, but one I understood and could work with. I had used another Roland recorder at my friend Ed Sharpe's house and it had a variety of amp sounds and effects that I liked.

This was the first record I've done where I played, recorded and mixed everything myself. Just working with what I had and trying to be a good steward the tools at my disposal. It was a great learning experience. The process went on longer that I would have hoped, but it was a steep curve. It is my hope that these songs are cathartic and just a little bit transcendental in nature.

Song notes:

Angelina is a name for anybody and nobody. I wanted to write a love song, but had no one to write it to at the time. So I made up “Angelina” and wrote the song to her. Before it was recorded, I found my true “Angelina,” Jenn. Hopefully the song means something to people who are alone, or who remember being alone.

Unbroken - One of the most personal and honest songs I've ever written. The idea of “makeshift wings” had been around in several incarnations before resting permanently here. Hints of Icarus. Striving to accept freedom.

Mercy In The Moment - This song speaks of the heartache of personal pain. Much too often, we hurt ourselves much more than others hurt us. It is important to remember that there is mercy to accept and live with at every moment in life.

Box Of Stars – I had a small box painted and in the shape of a star. I used to keep keepsakes my daughter gave me in it. Little notes we passed to each other, mostly. The idea emerged of the "Box Of Stars” being a magical device that held eternity within it. Something special you share with one person.

So It Goes - “The fool I was becoming” is something I identified with very strongly. This song came to me one day while driving home for work. “So it goes” is a reference to a the Kurt Vonnegut book “Slaughterhosue Five” where each time mortality and death are dealt with the section ends with “so it goes”.

Learning To Crawl - “You have to crawl before you can walk” people say. I thought it would be amusing to reverse this. The singer is disillusioned because of his problems and decides it's time to revert back to crawling. The singer also hopes that there's more to existence than the mundane and material world that we encounter daily.

Where The Story Goes – The title track for the album and a very personal song. It was written for my wife Jenn, who loved me fiercely, sometimes as if her life depending on it. She never gave up and me (and she had plenty of chances). I had suffered what can only be regarded as a nervous breakdown and the recovery was slow and full of “holes” I guess you could say. One of my best lines is here: “The dust that we are made of we can never hide / But nothing lasts forever except what we decide.”

Arrow To The Sun – One of my favorite songs. After a time of great struggle, I found it important to say “The war is over now / Nobody lost or won". All our hopes and dreams are fired as an arrow into the sun, where they melt, and when the healing begins. This song was originally inspired by the book "Arrow To The Sun" by Gerald McDermott. It is a beautifully illustrated story about a Pueblo boy being turned into and arrow and sent to the sun to seek his father there.

'Easy' was a project that waited tooooooo long to be recorded. These songs kept me awake at night, demanding to be put on tape. Skip forward a year or three. My co-worker, Nick Hetzler was an all-around amazing guitarist and programmer.

We put the songs together, and I am very proud of how they turned out. I think Nick feels the same way. Where did we do it? Pro Tools after work, and partially at longtime friend Ed Sharpe's home studio.

Incidentally, the first song, 'Easy' started out pretty nasty. I was writing about how easily my boss at work cut people down and threw them under the bus to save himself. I decided that I didn't want to sing that song twenty years from now so I turned the words around and made it positive.

Big guitars mark this release...frenetic and crazy - and a beautiful acoustic song as well. The DOD Overdrive/Preamp got a workout on this one...

Right after '...losing steam', I had a flood of songs rushing in on me. Trying to make sense of it all, I realized that the joy of fatherhood and relationships was at the center... I recorded these songs at Ed Sharpe's house on Mercury Ave. in Nashvegas.

I sang my heart out into an SM57 and Ed turned the dials. Listening back to it, I hear a little too much 'boingy' bass in the mix, but that's the zone I was in at the time.

This project was recorded on a Roland 8 track recorder (VS880), on a table made of a front door. Ed, a long time friend and professional sound guy was patient and exuberant about helping me. Thanks, Ed. I had plenty of time and your expertise to aid me.

Three of the songs were also recorded earlier at Chris Colbert's studio, but the project did not get finished there and I redid them at Ed's. So 'Trade' and 'Upside-Down' have alternate takes.

After what was considered a commercial failure with the Velocipede '...sane' album, I put together 3 songs and recorded them at Chris Colbert's new studio in Nashville. They came out great, and I added three more, then three more, then pressed a CD. I wasn't playing 2-man band anymore...I had bass and multi-levels of guitar carrying on.

At the time, I had a desire to show people I could do more than just scream and rant under blurry guitars...now, I wonder if I should have raised my voice a little.

Either way, the album stands on its on...and it sounds like it was recorded in the 70's maybe...due to the production style and the equipment being used. Chris had some serious skills.

This album re-energized me and set the stage for a lot to come...I had some really great times in the studio.

All drums were by Jeff Bradshaw, drummer extraordinaire who was willing to try crazy stuff just for fun. We cut some great tracks. This album has proven to be a favorite of many people.

'...sane.' Wow. What do I say about this record? It was recorded and mixed in a week? It was the summation of a sludge guitar and drums, with heavy metal vocals? Maybe. Maybe not. Angst upon angst, for sure.

This album has lovers and haters. I started this band as a two-person project. Drums and guitar. I was inspired by Athens GA's Flat Duo Jets. These days, the White Stripes and the Black Keys are no big deal, but in the mid-90's, a two piece caused a lot of shrugs. Our own label blatantly let us know they had no faith in us.

So, well...here it is. The album with a wall of smacking guitar and searing vocals. The energy and drive of Mike Santrock's drumming is brilliant. Enjoy.

Recorded at Neverland Studios, Nashville.

I must also add that Velocipede was breathtakingly loud in concert. That part was always fun.

Demos and nonesuch, recorded after '...sane', with Mark Waldron on drums.

Some recorded at Hummingbird Studios by Ed Sharpe after hours, some at Mercury Ave.

Some good stuff here, some half-finished ideas, too.

I think I was tuning the guitar to dropped B at this point...with gigantic strings.

'Needle's Eye' was separate and recorded by myself with drummer Steve Ebe while learning to use the Roland recorder. John Coble played some guitar on that one.

Most of these tracks were taken off of a 20 year old DAT tape in 2015, unheard in a long time. The 'Pede stuff was meant to be a second album following '...sane', but it just didn't work out. Much thanks to Ed Sharpe for all his time and effort (once again).