Sweet Little Angel: When our granddaughter, Scarlet, (now 14) was an infant, she experienced a serious recurring respiratory problem. As a result, she was hospitalized several times during the first year of her life. One day, I wrote in my journal, “I just want my sweet little angel to come home!” A melody accompanied that thought. She eventually outgrew her breathing issue but I wanted to finish the song. Making this album was all the inspiration I needed to do so.

Forever I’ll Be Loving You: Is a song that I wrote for our second daughter’s wedding. It speaks for itself as the desire for two to become one. It is intended to represent the bride and groom making their vows to each other. The female voice that you hear on that song is a lady named, Cherri Black. She lives in Detroit, is active in her church’s worship ministry, and professionally has toured as a background singer with Katy Perry for the past six years.

Love Wrinkles: When our youngest daughter, Emily, 7 or 8 years old, she used to hate it whenever I had to go on the road and sing or preach somewhere; sometimes for a couple of weeks.. One time, I was scheduled to make a media appearance that required me to be gone overnight. I got up early, ironed my clothes and thought I could sneak out of the house without a fuss. However, when I opened my bedroom door, there she stood in her pajamas and red robe. She asked if I had to go and I said yes. She looked so sad and she came over to hug me. Suddenly, I had a dilemma - how do I hug her without wrinkling my freshly pressed shirt? I said that we should just hug necks to avoid wrinkling my clothes (I was such a jerk). She said, “But Daddy, they’ll only be love wrinkles.” So we gave each other a big wrinkly hug and that day and over the next few days I wrote this song. Thank you Emily.

Smitten: Our granddaughter, Daisy, is 1 yr old and absolutely adorable. The first time I laid eyes on her, I was truly smitten. Of course, that’s how I felt about each of my daughters and grandchildren. However, knowing that she will be our tenth and last grandchild, I felt a need to express those feelings in this song.. I wanted the music to reflect the free-flowing sense that I feel when I see her. Red Campbel wrote a beautiful orchestral score and Tony G, one of Detroit’s finest jazz pianists, brought it to life with his masterful playing.

Hey Little Buddy: Spencer, our firstborn grandson, is now 21. One night when he was about 4, I was hanging out and playing music with a friend. Suddenly, I started missing Spencer (music does that) and I just wanted to see him for a while but it was late. This is one of those songs that came quickly and easily because of the sentiment I felt. His mom told me that he listened to it most nights before bed into his teen years. The original was just me singing and finger picking my guitar. I suppose I’ll always have a strong affection for that arrangement. However, Gayle Brannan (who produced the album) really did an excellent job at reimagining the song. Darryl Dixon (bass, acoustic, and electric guitar) was a household name in gospel music. Unfortunately, he died shortly after we finished recording this song and Love Wrinkles on which he also plays. It’s an honor to hear such a fine professional play on these songs.

Just About The Time: Our grandson Samuel is 6 and lives with his parents and siblings in Cleveland, Tennessee, about 650 miles away from us. His parents, our youngest daughter and her husband, had become anxious in their longing for a baby. Eventually though, their prayers were answered and she discovered that she was pregnant. Sam and I have a tight bond. I wrote this song during the process of making the album. The intent is to express the way God surprised us with good news and also to celebrate our precious grandson.

Mid-Air: Our granddaughter Claire, is 9 and loves gymnastics. It seems that she is constantly flying. Handstands, cartwheels, handsprings, and splits are as easy as pie for this little sweetheart. For years now, whenever she comes over to our place, she comes up to me, takes my hands, climbs up my legs, and does a backflip…three times. The last time, she plants a big kiss on my face. She’s getting bigger now, and I’m getting older, so I am always mindful that I might need to catch her mid-air if something goes amiss. Her love of twirling is the perfect metaphor for her love of life and her hopes for the future.

You’ll Find Your Way: Jackson is 11. He is the second of four children. In essence, he is a middle child. Middle children sometimes find it challenging to understand their place in the family and in life. I wrote this song during the making of the album to express what I truly believe for Jack. It’s wonderful to watch him comes into his own and find his way. Gayle Brannan and Tony G creared great piano sounds on this song.

You Carry Me Away: A few days after our daughter Allison brought her newborn baby boy home, (Carter, now 14), she called me over to her house to watch him Laugh and smile. He was just a week old and I assumed he had gas :). Anyway, I drove right over and sure enough, he had a big smile on his little face. I looked at his parents who were caught up and carried away with love for their newborn…and this song was born. I wrote the first few lines that day but I finished it for the album. Red Campbell and Tony G, once again, did an outstanding job.

Glad Because I’m Happy: During the making of Legacy, Grant, my 6 yr old grandson, called and asked me if I would help him write a song. I readily agreed. I asked him what he was feeling and he replied, “I’m glad!” I then asked him why he was glad and he said it was because he was happy! Again, I asked why and he said “because I like to spend time with Slade (his 18 yr old cousin)!
I told him that was a great start and asked if he hade a tune in mind. He pulled away from the phone and wandered around vocally with absolutely no definitive tune. Then he came back to the phone and said, “Ok Papa, I have it!” He proceeded to hum the melody of the first portion of the chorus. Together, we came up with the chorus as it is. I added chords and then later I wrote the verses and bridge. The verses refer to things he really enjoys. There’s one more thing though! Grant and his cousin Slade are as thick as thieves! They wanted to share this song, making it uniquely theirs. The first verse is about Grant’s and the second is about Slade when he was young. They wouldn’t have it any other way! Also, no dogs or cows were hurt in the making of this song🤣.

Hey Papa: Ben is 4. He lives with his family in Tennessee and loves to climb all over me whenever we are together. Also,when he wants my attention he repeatedly calls out, “ Hey Papa, Hey Papa, Hey Papa,,,” I love that sound! So I wrote this song using his words and our common experiences. It just seemed right to have no other instrumentation besides me on acoustic guitar. I’ll always have time for Ben.

The Third of September: On that date in 1976, our first child, Krista Marie was born. Kitty and I were young and inexperienced but nonetheless we were excited and hopeful. When the special day arrived (two weeks late) my wife labored for 28 hours. During that process, our darling baby had taken hold of the umbilical cord and cut off blood flow. As a result, the doctor had to rush Kitty from the room to perform an emergency C-section. I did the only thing I knew how to do, I went off to pray. We felt lost at sea, searching for help. Soon however, the doctor found me to announce the birth of our first beautiful baby girl. From that day till this, she has been like a shining star to us. I wrote this song for her during the recording of the album. I wanted this song to reflect not only my love for Krista, but that of Ireland, as well. So, I played acoustic and my friend, Neil Woodward - officially known as Michigan’s Troubadour by the State Legislature - played boudhran drum, mandolin, and fiddle. Gayle, Neil, and I sang like pirates as the end of the song.

Home: is the song that I wrote for my wife, Kitty. She was my first kiss, my first date, and my first and greatest live. We’ve been married almost half a century. Once again, I wrote this song during the recording process. It expresses my true feelings for my sweet wife, Kitty. I have no earthly idea what I would do without her.