I initially wrote the chorus to Merry-Go-Round in 2000, when consequently, I was in an extremely tumultuous marriage with my first wife. It was one of many frustrated pieces I had written, but this particular title was locked away unfinished in a box full of other failures. After our divorce years later, I rediscovered my old footnotes and played the chorus for my future bride, Amanda Rae. She encouraged me to finish the job because it had all the elements a good song should possess: catchy phrasing, good hook, and great finale. The next day, I wrote the verses. I’ll never forget what she stated to me after playing it for the first time: “Michael, you never cease to amaze me...” I strummed the song for my close friend Scott Duke, in which he encouraged me to record it stating he thought it was the best song I had written to date. I recorded the tune in 2005, but was simply not satisfied with the outcome- and neither were my peers. The song was too long, too slow, and (no pun intended) too redundant. Years, trials, errors, and my buddy's persistence to “speed it up” led me to reform this title to the contemporary country-pop-twang style it is today. In the summer of 2010, I wrote the bridge and reworded some phrasings which completely tied up the loose ends I felt lacked for so long. Even after its completion, I had too many ideas on which direction I wanted to take Merry-Go-Round. All the years of reshaping left me confused as to how I really wanted this powerfully whimsical song to stand out in a mix. I commissioned old friend and fellow recording engineer, Brent Rader, to take my seemingly mess and make it his own for this very reason. He did, and the results are clearly amazing. With overwhelming approval from my peers, I decided to make this tune available as my first independent release as a songwriter. I hope you will agree, this track has what it takes to not only tell a good story and invoke powerful emotion, but to compete in the big leagues as a truly great song! Lead Vocal: Michael Dalton Acoustic Guitar: Brent Rader Electric Guitar: Brent Rader Pedal Steel Guitar: Reggie Duncam Drums: Brent Rader Bass: Brent Rader Piano / Keys: Brent Rader Background Vocals: Brent Rader Produced and Engineered by Brent Rader