I couldn't be more grateful to have had this experience with you all. Writing these 12 songs in 12 months has been truly life changing. As an artist, I am always writing songs, but the "Album" is something special. It's a unique concept and at this age, I'm not going to do one unless I truly feel like I have something to say and this one, feels really good :) Of course, these things are not done alone, yes, I write the song, but unlike my last album in 2010 titled "Maybe I Set My Sights To High?" (It was supposed to be "Too" but hey, this actually gave the album a new interpretation. I call those beautiful mistakes.) This album demanded an incredible amount of musicianship and somehow, I found my team.

My mates on this one were Jason Farnham (piano/organ/electric guitar) - I also share co-writing credit on the Electronic Song "Edison Lights" which I encourage you all to take a trip to Europe, walk down a cobblestone street with a loved one and listen to this song. That was my vision, when I wrote the lyrics. A couple, hand in hand, taking on the world at large and my buddy and singer/songwriter Jason Farnham set the perfect tone with the instrumentals. Next up: Koshi (Bass)

Koshi is from the UK, she also goes by Maria and was an incredible addition to the sound you here on this album. Personally, I've never thought of bass as an instrument that can compose, but Koshi went above and beyond and treated each song with reverence. You can really hear her work stand out on songs like "2AM" and "Demon in my Head." She is practically running the show on "2AM." So definitely leave some love for her here and I'll pass on the message :) Where would be without the electric guitar?

Mr. Nicky V. was "instrumental" (Yes, I know you loved that pun as much as I do.) in bringing my sound to a whole new level. His dynamite lead on songs like "City Lights" and "Lightning Strikes" are a testament to this guy's talent. Then he comes in and pulls off a Gun's Roses "Patience" vibe with the song "Give Me Tonight." I mean, Nicky just delivered on every song. You can really hear the hard/core metal side on "Demon in my Head" but then he can absolutely go Country with songs like "You're Here Now." Just beautiful. Nicky, you're beautiful. There, I said it. Lol. Moving on, since we're in the world of beautiful, my next introduction is exactly that - Tom & Jess - aka: The Severn Duo.

Any cello/violin you hear in my songs is the Severn Duo just raising the bar to a whole new level. Songs like "Song for Ukraine: Come Inside" you can literally feel the pain and anguish when they play their strings. Then they move onto songs like "Til the Wind Blows" and as a songwriter, I'm "blown away." (Yes, I like using puns. Sorry.) But seriously, listen to "Yellowstone" they take haunting to a whole new level. This song is a love letter to the land I grew up in MT and also a nod to the TV Show of the same name and it's instrumentation like this that completes the letter. When you hear the strings come in, I see the war, bloodlust and fight for the land that was the Native American's soil. Not ours, theirs. I feel that and if you listen to the last verse, I tried my best to include Native American Mythology in the lyrics. From the trickster (crow) to the coyote/wolf and in between, I truly believe this song really captured the sound I was going for and I couldn't done it without the Severn Duo. And last, but not least, the heart-beat of every song you hear on this album is Glenn Welman.

Glenn lives in South Africa and he's an incredible drummer. Every one of the songs on this album, requires a different pacing and Glenn set the tone. Real quick, when I make these songs, the first part is recording the guitar and laying down the vocal. Now, I do this with a click-track (metronome) so everyone who plays on it is playing in time. It's probably my most not-favorite part of my job/recording process, but it has to be done and it has to be recorded with enough feeling that the other session artists can get behind it. I want to be clear that everyone I've mentioned is not part of my band, but a session artist I paid to make their work come to life. But as far as I'm concerned, they feel like my band because everyone of them has been with me for these last 12 songs and nothing would make me happier than to have all of you buy this album and blow it up, so I can take all of these peeps on tour with me and then we'll rent out a bar and we can have a huge blow out and celebration for the Album "Inside Out." Any way back to Glenn. Here's the difficult part. Glenn has to come in and lay down drums right after my acoustic. In other words, he's got to hear what the song is "Going to be." Because when he gets it, it's just acoustic and my vocal. And Glenn knocked it out of the park. You can hear his work every song, but most potently, "Lightining Strikes" - "Demon in m Head" - "Til the Wind Blows." 

So here we are. I have one last song to produce and finish up for you titled "Biggest Fan."  And everyone of the artists I introduced you to will be attending. This song is a tribute to Kobe Bryant and his legacy. Even though I'm not a huge sports fan, when the helicopter crashed into the mountain, as someone who lived in LA for ten years and was a Lakers/Kobe fan, this was devastating. Honestly, it just completely shocked me. I felt like I had lost a good friend I'd been rooting for years. And so I picked up my guitar, which is what I do when I just can't put words to what I'm feeling and the chorus was there, "You came into my life, when I put you on my wall (poster), I lived by all your words, play the long game, dream of something, I was your biggest fan." And I'll be honest, the universe just dropped that one in my lap. The rest of it, I had to put the work in to make it what we have now.

I did want to release this song on January 26th - the day he and his daughter passed - but I don't think we'll make that deadline. I will promise you this, it will be worth waiting for and I will have it out by first or second week of February. So there you go, this is a very long essay and if you're reading this. Well, thank you. You like words as much as I do :) But in all seriousness, appreciate you for going on this ride with me and I can't wait for you to hear the album! Here's to continue to making it happen and thanks for being my "Biggest Fan." - DW, Missoula, MT, 01.23.23