I thought I might share a bit about what inspires me to write songs. Even though what you hear are my instrumental piano songs, I have also had a lot of experience writing singer/songwriter-type material. When I am coming up with my lyrics I need a human story to draw from. It helps me structure the song, and it provides the emotional motivation I need to immerse myself in the endeavor. I find that I require the same thing when I'm writing instrumental music. It always helps me to think of a human story, or experience. Even if I can hold an image of a person or a situation in my head while I experiment with melodic and harmonic ideas the results tend to be more poignant, and satisfying. The human experiences that have inspired my songs come from my own life, as well as from stories I've heard from/about others. I tend to like the more complex stories - the ones that don't paint people as caricatures or as one dimensional. I believe we all have light and dark within us, and confronting this paradox in my music holds my interest as the creative process unfolds. I'm worried that it sounds as though I'm taking myself too seriously here - one of my pet peeves. The fact is writing music is a pretty mysterious process for me, one I'm sure I'll never completely understand. I'm fine with the not-knowing but it never seems to keep me from trying to find answers anyway. We humans are funny that way:)