. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest album, and what themes or stories you aimed to convey through your music?

My last Album « Born to Be Broken » revolves mostly around brokeness and wow we are all broken people trying to navigate love and life the best we can. « Deadwood » for instance reflects on this idea; how much do I need to fix myself before I’m good enough? The lyric « You’re almost good enough says my father, It’s always just a little bit farther. How deep does the Deadwood go? Straight down to the bone marrow? » However I do end th3 EP on a nicer note with a love song I wrote dor my wife called « Frost on the Pines ». Becuase even in the midst of depression and brokeness you can still find moments of beauty.

Music often has the power to transport people to different places and times. Can you describe a moment in your life when a particular song or album had a profound impact on you?

One song thay always takes me back is « Look what they’ve done to my song » by Melanie Safka. My Memere (grandmother) used to love that song and I think of her when I hear it. She was french canadian and would speak french quite often and when the french section of that song comes up I can hear her singing it.

Many artists have rituals or routines they follow before performing or recording. Do you have any unique or quirky pre-show or pre-recording rituals that you find help you get in the zone?

I don’t have many pre-show / pre-recording rituals per say. I make sure I don’t drink alchol until maybe right when I got on stage at a performance. Drinking too much beforehand can really affect my singing voice so I do my best to save the drinking til after. I also make sure if the room I’m in is very loud and causing me to talk louder, I’ll take the conversation outside or just not speak. Nothing will burn your voice out faster than shouting over music in a loud room.

Your lyrics often tell a story or convey a message. Can you share the story behind one of your songs and the inspiration that led to its creation?

« Don’t Tell Alley » is my most recent song and probably my saddest one. Alley and I were highschool sweethearts and got married shortly after highschool. We have 4 children together now and are still very much so in love. If you’ve been with someone most of your life you probably have had conversations wondering what life might be like without them or worse, if something terrible happened to them and they were to die. Alley and I had one of those conversations and it really brought tears to my eyes to reflect on her dying so I wrote a song describing what that might be like. This song is a prayer to God asking him to lie to Alley up in heaven and tell her that I’m doing well so she doesn’t see how I’m spiraling without her. For me, this song reminds me to cherish my wife because everyday with her is a blessing

Music can be a powerful tool for advocacy and change. Are there any social or political causes that you’re passionate about, and how does your music play a role in promoting these issues?

As far as social causes go I try to be very vocal about struggling with depression and addiction in my songs. I feel like today more than ever people are struggling and not talking about it. Writing songs about it kinda helps me work through some shit I’m going through myself and I guess I hope it does the same for my listeners. I also write a lot about love becuase my wife and I have been together for 15 years and I like to think i know a little bit about it. I’d like my love songs to give hope to people trying to find it and help people who are in love… keep it.

The music industry has evolved significantly with technology. How do you see artificial intelligence and emerging technologies impacting the creation and distribution of music in the future?

I just think AI is going to make it harder to find real upcoming artists. This day and age is all about content, content, content pushing artists forward and if people can make money off of AI content and AI written music that just means more and more real artists could get lost in the internet ocean. 🤷‍♂️

Many recording artists evolve over time. How do you see your musical journey changing and growing in the next decade?

For sure. I love all kinda of music and I enjoy mixing folk, country and pop elements into my songs which gives me a lot room to grow and push some boundaries a long the way. I love exploring new options for production and songwriting and look forward to changing things up a bit as time goes on.