"Mr. Crazy & Other Tales" took a long time to write and record. It was not hastily thrown together, nor was my life, the subject matter of this record. The songs hopefully dovetail into one another, conceived and beautifully performed by the numerous talented musicians and engineers who helped the songs find their true voice. The record revealed itself after many months of misses and false starts. Some of my favorite moments on the record are those that were "unplanned". It isn't my intention to explain the songs on this record, for if we did our job right, the words and music tell the story I wanted to tell. It is not my intention to preach or persuade, but to give a glimpse into a musical life interrupted.

And just for fun... I want to talk about how some of the songs on the record came to be. "Storm" was the first song written for the record, but quickly set aside. After months of recording other songs, "Storm" would not be denied. Three versions of the song were done, all cut live. "Open Road" came second, inspired by a musician I worked with who once told me my chords were not correct. "Robbie's River" was written in the beauty of spring about a dear friend I lost. "Fly" took the least amount of time to write but took the most out of me to record. "Something About You" was written the day before the demo and I kept the lyrics sparse to try to capture how we all go stupid when we fall in love. "Mr. Crazy" took the longest for me to write and was almost cut from the record until Glenn Brown gave it a real musical home. "Third Stone From Heaven" is my humble tribute to Jaco Pastorious and all the musical gifts he gave the world. Although 2 versions of this track were recorded, we ended up using the original one take raw version recorded on River City Studios piano. It had more flaws but more heart. "Oregon" is one of my favorite tracks on the record and the first song tracked. And yes, "Thanksgiving Day" was written on Thanksgiving Day. "Tracks" was one of the last songs to be written for the record. "Free" was written right after I made the decision not to do this record in Nashville. It is a song of hope, not despair.