Music

Music plays a vital role in my writing.

The first writing I seriously attempted was lyric writing. I played in bands for years and was always eager to contribute to my bands’ creative output.

The limitations imposed by lyric writing create a challenge that forces you to think differently. As poems, lyrics are extremely lean. With so little space to create images and experiences for the listener, every word, every syllable counts. Then, of course, integrating lyrics with the music and melody are a whole other fun adventure. It is so pleasing when it all comes together in a new song.

When writing fiction, I try to include lyrical moments, in which the words have a musical flow and feel. I hope this comes through in Body, my novel about body image and intuitive eating. I listened to music when writing many of the scenes for this book as well. One section was composed while playing  William Tell Overture (Rossini) in my headphones, another while cranking Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots). A couple tunes by The Police made it into my writing playlist, and the one that brought me to tears of joy every time I drew from it for inspiration was “Streetbeater” (a.k.a., the theme song from “Sanford and Son”) by Quincy Jones. What a powerful work of art.

Beyond fiction, I have a few pieces of music I plan on releasing this year. My band, The Möbius Trip, has a tune ready to drop soon, and I plan on recording a few live guitar instrumentals. Will keep you posted. 

For now, I share with you a cut my son and I produced. We’re both huge fans of Weird Al, so it only seemed natural to record a parody. My son has a jogathon fundraiser coming up soon at his school . . . he has been singing “Old Town Road,”—a great hip hop country tune by Lil Nas X (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus)—non-stop around the house. I worked out some lyrics, and we mashed it all together into a tune we call “Run ‘Til I Can’t No More.” 

We hope you enjoy our tune.