In 1996, I was looking to do an acoustic album. I had recorded the 9-piece horn band (The Gras-Dads) on “Gimme A Dollar.” And, then I recorded with a slightly more edgy Blues band on “Blues Junk.” But at this time, I was really wanting to pare down and try to get something that maybe I could support and tour on, as a solo act. In the year prior to recording, I had been heavily influenced by David Wilcox (the American one) and started experimenting with open-tunings. And, once I played around with it for an half-hour, the floodgates opened. The accidental chord voicings that I was lucky enough to happen upon, inspired new songs and textures that I just wasn’t getting from the standard tuning. It also allowed me the freedom to strum with my thumb while playing leads with my more forward phalanges. It was like “open tuning” was Scientology and I was Tom Cruise. I was way crazy into it. I ended up writing all of the songs except for two in a matter of weeks (fast,…for me). At about the same time, my close, close friend, fellow Baton Rougean , bass player, and “producer nonpareil,” Brad Cobb, called me up from his home in Los Angeles. As we talked, I told him that I was thinking of doing an acoustic album and he plainly said, “Why don’t you do it out here?” So, we worked a deal and I flew out to L.A. (to Brad’s O’Dark30 Studio) and had probably the most comfortable and relaxed two weeks of recording that I’ve ever done in my life. As a producer, Brad is the three “C”s; Calm, Creative, and Confident. We would meet every morning, put on some dark, dark, dark roast coffee, and talk about the project. Then we would start building the record. And even though I filled his recycling bins six times over with beer bottles (each week), we still finished ahead of time with an album that I still love and listen to frequently. The song about my son (Dream While You Can) still puts me in a euphoric melancholy (…what!?) following the haunting and swelling bass lines that Brad put down, supporting the opened strings of the acoustic guitar. I love this album. Enjoy.