Sonny has enjoyed a long career as a composer. Word Music of Nashville has published close to 200 of his songs, including 10 albums of youth musicals and other collections. Some say Sonny's Opus is "The Backpacker's Suite" (1975) and it is still used frequently by church choirs, along with "Breakfast in Galilee" and "Love Came Down." Sonny and his wife, Linda are both natives of Southern California but now make their home in Yakima, a town of 60,000 dotted with apple orchards in Central Washington. They are closing in on their 48th wedding anniversary. Sonny has a life long love of the wilderness, of camping and backpacking, and many of his songs have been written in the mountains. His favorite place to sing is around a campfire with a group of folks who like to do the same. Many of Sonny's acquaintances agree that "How's About a Boa?" is the finest recording that has ever been made of his music. He agrees and is very grateful for the gifts of producers Michael Gayle and Jennifer Russell. Most of the "Boa" songs were written at camp! I have a life long love for camping and music has been a huge part of that experience. I hope these songs will find a home with a new generation of campers.” “Wake Up” This song was part of a children’s musical of mine, “Little Big Lunch”, published by Word Music in 1978. “How’s About a Boa?” Emerald Cove Camp, Bass Lake, CA I was driving a bus load of kids up to Yosemite, when we spied a Rubber Boa on Highway 41. After talking about snakes with the kids for a while, I amused myself by writing this song as we continued into my favorite National Park. “Aslan is Near” Ghormley Meadow Camp, Rimrock, WA The Chronicles of Narnia are my favorite books, so it was inevitable that I would write a song about Aslan sooner or later. “Pennies” was inspired by the story Annie Dillard told of her childhood in her Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.” I wrote it on a backpacking trip from Ghormley Meadow Christian Camp. “Patience” was written a long time ago when our children were little and Danny was begging to open his Christmas presents early. “Emerald Cove” Emerald Cove Camp, Bass Lake, CA Using the classic melody from “Abilene,” we have had a lot of fun with this song at many camps, including Forest Home, Idyllwild Pines, Ghormley Meadow, and my favorite camp in the whole world, Emerald Cove (Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp). “These Are the Trees” Forest Home Conference Center, CA Gary Richmond and I were doing outdoor education at Forest Home and I decided this little song would be a good way for kids to remember some of the trees there. “The Vegetable Song” Forest Home Conference Center, CA During one week of camp it seemed like every table of kids I sat with for a meal were complaining about particular vegetables they hated. So I preserved their complaints in this little tune. “Popcorn” Emerald Cove Camp, Bass Lake, CA One summer while my sister was staying with us during a camp session, she joined my wife, Linda in reading a book to enlarge her vocabulary. They ended up using words that were just a little too grandiose for the situation. I decided to have a kernel of popcorn tell its life story using the same idea. No popcorn in Nebraska really talks this way.