Of the 14 tracks on Shelter, the song Anyone is the oldest. I wrote it back in2001 as an attempt to treat a heart break as a casual incident; as if the feelings never really mattered. At that time, I was still buried in the recording process of another album, Impressions, which was released under my previous band name, Instant Emotion.

I knew the song was special from the moment I wrote it, but I had nowhere to put it. I also realized that it would be many years before I could make a recording that even came close to the sound in my head. I made a quick recording soon after writing it and shelved it.

By 2002, Impressions was released and I began working on the next album, Eclipse. Two songs, Consequence and Grace were the first songs to be written. I did not know at that time that I had written the 2nd and last song on the album respectively. During the writing of Eclipse, I kept looking for a place to insert Anyone, but the song did not fit the concept in any way. So once again, the song was shelved. Eclipse was released in the Spring of 2006.

Work on Shelter had already begun before Eclipse was released. My good friend and photographer, Anne Hwang, had moved to Boston in 2005. She sent me a series of winter photos of the city. Many of the photos caught my eye and captured my imagination. One by one, I discovered a photo that moved me to write a song. The songs were not about the scene, but rather the feeling that it evoked to me. By the time Eclipse was released, most of Shelter was written.

Any person who knows my work understands how important the storyline of the album is. I struggled with the ending of the story for several months. Anne sent me her last batch of photos. There was a photo of a solitary figure standing at the edge of a lake in the night. There was a sense of loneliness and acceptance in the photo. The first thought that came to mind was the song Anyone.

I placed the song as the last track and listened to the draft of the entire album Shelter. The song fit better than I could have ever imagined.

It was now the Fall of 2006.

Recording of Shelter began in October 2006.

In the following weeks I will write about the album and the recording process. I will release clips, rough mixes, and alternate takes, and even some final versions. I will share the stories behind the songs and the album. If you follow this blog, you will experience the creative process behind my work and preview the album that has taken me nearly 4 years to complete.

For now, I will leave you with the photo that helped me find a place for a song I wrote nearly 9 years ago.