When I received my vascular dementia diagnosis about 2 years ago, I wrote a handful of songs that were, admittedly, kinda maudlin and morbid. Three of them – “I Will Be There With You,” “To Get Next To You,” and this one, “Be Home Soon” were written from the point of view from someone who was not here anymore. I wasn’t depressed about my situation, but I did perseverate a bit about not knowing how long I’d be around, or how long I’d be functioning well enough to write, play guitar, sing, and … [Read more...]

Continuing with the mostly instrumental portion of the Legacy Music Project, which some of us/you may know as Electric Ned & The Danger Babies, here’s “For This Reason.” This expansive song was written with a creative question – could I compose an instrumental with a ton of space in it – both “out there” and empty connotations – that would still be musically interesting enough to keep a listener’s attention? Have I been successful? You’ll have to let me know! I’m particularly pleased with … [Read more...]

In 2023, after regaining some of my confidence in composing music, playing the acoustic guitar, and developing my skills on electric guitar after losing everything to a dementia diagnosis and basically starting over, I began to write instrumental songs. This one, Blue Night Blue, is one of the earliest attempts to express myself without lyrics. To my surprise, the composition began with a lead part, a riff. This was completely unexpected, because in all my years – 59 – of playing guitar, I was … [Read more...]

To Get Next To You is one of my recent ones. In a miraculously prolific year (thank you 2023, for this part, anyway), I’ve written eight new songs - music and lyrics - and six instrumentals. For perspective: I hadn’t written a complete song in more than two decades. (Which is another story for another time.) I also taught myself to play the electric guitar – my now-beloved Fender Stratocaster, Dolphin Gray. (At least for me, playing an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar are two very … [Read more...]