In the late summer of 2022 while pooching through bits and pieces in an old closet for an overdue clean-out, I came across a pile of dusty half-forgotten songbooks. Among the tattered pages were scribbles, musings and half-fleshed out ideas, which reflected the styles which had influenced my music over the previous two decades. I picked up an acoustic and began to thread some melodies together. I felt that there were really interesting ideas which, with the passing of time and a bit of experience gained, gave these songs a new perspective and meaning. The characters within their verses had their