In the early spring of 2011 I was disillusioned with music. Twenty years on the road can jade even the strongest of souls. I told Kathryn that music had changed from the early ‘90s and that I was on the verge of walking away from the whole damn scene. She asked me what was the difference and I told her that somewhere down the line the craft of writing songs had given way to the business of music. The reason I fell in love with writing in the first place, I told her, was for the love of the song. She replied, “Then why don’t you start a songwriter group.” I thought about it for a minute and decided to give it a try. I called my friend, Tye Phelps, and asked if we could use his bar down in Plano called “Love and War in Texas” on Monday nights. He agreed and Songwriters Anonymous was born. The first meeting was Monday, February 14th, Valentines Day. Only one person showed, but for me the seed had been planted. Each week we managed to attract a few more songwriters until eventually we had a group of regulars and even some listeners who didn’t play, but enjoyed original music. Back then we sat on top of picnic tables in the covered beer garden and played acoustically, straining to sing above the traffic on nearby North Central Expressway. This was the infancy, and I found myself writing again, not for the audience, but for the song. The greenhouse in my garden adjacent to my home became my refuge. I found myself spending more and more time there working on music. Monday night attendance grew and acquaintances blossomed into friendships. Soon friends were joining me in my greenhouse to write. By that summer I had five songs I thought were good enough to record as well as another three or four in the works. I called my friend, Milo Deering, and asked if he would produce my CD. He agreed and suggested using Paul Osborn’s studio, Audio Dallas, where Willie Nelson had recorded the Red Headed Stranger album back in the ‘70s. Then we set off on a one-year adventure that I will always look back on as the most wonderful musical experience of my life. There were no electric instruments used in recording this project. I wanted the songs recorded without distortion, clean and crisp, the way they were written. Thanks to Milo’s genius and Paul’s expertise the transition from greenhouse to studio is now complete. Hope you enjoy the harvest! MDM