I began recording the songs on Voices In The Wind in 2003, not long after the release of my first CD, It Looks Like She’s Going On A Trip. After recording basic tracks for half a dozen songs, I lost focus and avoided working on my own music in the studio. In 2005, I lost two dear friends in two consecutive days: Doug Smith and Lote Thistlethwaite, both intense music lovers like me. I was still rattled by the 2003 deaths of my heroes Johnny Cash and Warren Zevon, but now the Grim Reaper seemed to visiting my neighborhood. I hung drawings by Lote in my recording studio and music compilations by Doug were often blasting from my monitors. My deceased friends reminded me of how short our ride is on this planet. I finished the CD in May 2007 and had it mastered by Paul Stubbelbine in San Francisco. I turned the job of packaging over to a wildly talented young fella, Michael Houghton. He listened to the CD, and came up with the cover design, and drew all the little caricatures of me which are brilliant! Everybody is floored by the CD cover and booklet. Let me tell you a little about the songs: Dear was written in 2003 around the time the evil landlord at The Last Record Store had decided to evict us after 20 years. I found myself losing sleep and going a little crazy. This song was written for my wife Barrett, who helped get me through the crisis. The good news is we found a better location for the store and moved it… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My friend Dean Wilson wrote a great song about his dad called “Jukebox In My Mind”, and I thought it would be cool to honor my father, Dave Jayne, with a tune. Dave was an insurance salesman, but for The Rhythm Of The Broken Lines, I turned him into a truck driver. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Boots Of Mine was written for my buddy and band mate in Laughing Gravy, Kevin Russell. Kevin was breaking up with his longtime girlfriend which can be a scary proposition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was listening to a Jerry Jeff Walker record and he does the best version of Bob Dylan’s One Too Many Mornings, so I thought I’d try my hand at it. That\'s Ari Camarota on the alto sax. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Down The Creek is a song about appreciating when things go from shitty to good. My life is mostly good… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warren Zevon has been one of my favorites for over 30 years. I manage to play one of his songs nearly time I host my KRCB Radio program “Connections”. Splendid Isolation is one of his best. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right Out Loud is about finding emotional middle ground: I try and not get too pumped about good things and not too down about the bummers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Virtual Love was written after Dean and I were goofing about how college trained engineers must be needed to design sex toys, particularly the life-size dolls with moving parts. The song is from the perspective of an owner of one of these devices. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wrote The Other Side for my wife’s father, the late Peter Miller. He died before I had a chance to meet him, and I sang this at his memorial service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My buddy Danny Sorentino is a brilliant songwriter. I recorded his version of Long White Robe for his album, “All Good Things”. I decided to do my own version of it, and include it as the middle section of my Morbid Death Trilogy (MDT) that closes the CD. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not Dead Yet was previously released on a KRCB Radio compilation. Barrett made me include it on the new CD. It is a cautiously optimistic folk song.