Welcome to another day here at the website.

I know there are a lot of you reading this in different parts of the country and different parts of the world. But, so many people from all around the planet have emailed me or approached me in Central Park with something positive to say about the effort we're making to bring members of the Bush Administration to justice for their affronts to basic human decency. (Read this banner and help out. And then, we'll get to today's update.)

Seriously...

This whole project has been an organic process. It's also been an incredibly educational process for me and an amazing opportunity for both Spiritual and artistic growth.

Hey listen... I've said this often.

Songwriters, if they are writing from a pure place, don't often get to write the next song they want to write. They simply have to write the next song that wants to be written. There was, and is, a very Good reason why I wrote every song in the new collection that's about to be released. There is a very Good reason why I wrote the song "Resolution" and made the video that's running on YouTube these days. And, people who question my motives for writing the things I write? Well, they almost never get to me. Believe me.... I don't mind all that much and I can't take that stuff personally. People who really know me as a man and as an artist know what I'm about.

(Ha! And besides... I take a personal inventory every day. But, it's my inventory.... no one else's.)

Some of you might be new around here. So, a little bit further down the page we'll really get into the reason for that particular song.... "RESOLUTION". (Free download)

FIRST... I wanna thank every single one of you who showed up for the little free benefit gig I did downtown this past Friday night to raise money for Ms. Cynthia Papermaster, who went the extra 209 yards to get the first round of "Resolution Ads" on the air out in the West. We raised a good chunk of change during that little 2-hour show.

(One thing about the people who like to share music and laughs with me - - they care about stuff, and "show" that they care by "showing up" at the donation button!)

And, thanks to all of you who hung out with me this past Saturday afternoon in Central Park.

I'll be back with updates all this week. And, I'll be sure to tell you about the places we'll get to hang together this coming weekend.

ALSO... I'll be sending out an email blast the minute I know when the new CD will be available. I know a lot of you have been waiting for it. It's waaaayyyy overdue!

Click on image for larger version.

Now!

I wrote a song.

Y'see? If you've been coming around here at all for any length of time, you've heard me say that I'm politically a registered Independent who is not a flag-waving, blind-partisan-patriot, but rather a man who loves the "ideal" of America and the principles upon which this nation was founded. I also feel that as an artist, my purpose is to put my honest opinion of what the Truth might be at any given moment of my Life into my song, whether it's to touch someone's heart, make them laugh, make them think or simply let them know that they are not alone. And as an American singer/songwriterr a percentage of my job, a part of my job description is to "comfort the disturbed.... and disturb the comfortable." Well...

I wrote a song.

And then with the help of some of the beautiful, enthusiastic, Life-loving, funny, sexy, intelligent people in my circle of friends and colleagues, I recorded it and then followed the inspiration to make a video to help carry the message. (Told you, I'm very lucky man. I love the company.)

I did all this for no other purpose other than.... it' what I do. It's what I'm meant to be doing. It's at I do for a living. It's what feeds my soul. It's what makes me excited about getting up every day.

Okay.... here's the song and the video.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Listen, we all had fun and felt really Good working so hard on a track I hoped would cross generation, genre, race, gender and ideology. We're all hoping that a song like this raise the level of discourse in this country around the issue of torture, decency, principle and justice. Thinking about whatever small way it might help make this world a better place, we were jazzed about the work.

ABOUT THE NEW VIDEO AND AD CAMPAIGN

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed... it's the only thing that ever has."

Turns out, a whole lotta people are listening to the song and the message is landing.... so much so that a "small group of thoughtful, committed citizens" have decided that it should be made into some TV spots. One woman who saw this video and heard the song though it should reach a wider audience and suddenly came up with an idea, followed by an extraordinary effort.

Her name, this woman whom I haven't met yet, Miss Cynthia Papermaster is a hero in my eyes. A true patriot. She is so passionate and committed to justice and love of country that she is going through every personal resource she has to make this ad campaign a reality. I'm so impressed by her passion and commitment. She's really "showing up" in the most extraordinary way. She's decided to front the money in the amount of approx. $50,000 needed for the ad buy on her own American Express card! She's just going on Faith that people of Good conscience and organizations who like to "talk" and "write" about issues like this will actually show up for this.

Inspiring.

Look... I just wrote a song. I recorded it and produced it with engineer Brian Bauers. Christine Lavin and Sid Bernstein and a group of really cool people showed up to sing on it. Then on another whim, I did that video! Then Laura Manske, who shot some of the footage for the video, got moving and has been an inexhaustible force behind it. I had NO idea this would pick up steam.

After hearing that there was interest in taking this message to a wider audience, my new pal, Emmy Award-winning director Dean Love, shot the 3 commercial spots for free! His brother Dave is a top-notch pro film editor who cut these spots for FREE! Everybody has worked ion these things tirelessly for weeks. Now, we've got a song. We've got a YouTube video. We've got websites. We've got about a quarter of a million dollars worth of .30 spots to work with.... to help start a wave. But, we're all tapped out and beat.

Here comes Cynthia. Turns out, making these commercials was her idea. She has the commitment and belief and Faith you don't find in many people these days.

I'm gonna ask right now that YOU do EVERYTHING that YOU can to get the word out to the corporate media and EVERYONE you know.

We've ALL gotta get on our horses and ride!!!!!

And PLEASE... go up to the top of this page, on the right up there where it says "Resolution", and donate whatever you can to get some money back to Cynthia. I think the good people in my audience will show up for thousands. We've all gotta get this money to Ms. Papermaster in ANY way we can. And we'll make this country a better place in doing so!!!

Cool?

DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS "SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS"?

Click on this image to watch one of the first three commercials.

Then... we hafta raise $50,000 but it's gotta start somewhere!

(I'm serious about this.)

Hit the PayPal button over there on the right at the top of the page where it says "Resolution". That whole thing is going to this ad campaign. Every nickel!!! So donate whatever you can!!! We need the help!

Make a difference. BE the change you want to see in this country and the world. Listen, if you've seen the video and actually gotten your mind and your heart around what the song is trying to say, I hope you'll understand that this is not about revenge, retribution or punishment. It's about doing what's right and keeping the rule of law intact. It's about holding onto the right to call ourselves "civilized". It's about appealing to, what Abraham Lincoln called, "the better angels of our nature".

It's about simply admitting the Truth.

BACK TO THE MUSIC

I recently promised you guys a few sample tracks from the upcoming CD. Didn't get to it for a while because me and some friends and colleagues were.... um... busy trying to... y'know... make the world a better place. Ha! It's hard! Takes time!

But, a promise is a promise. So, here. A few 2-minute clips:

KEEP HOPE ALIVE

ANY OTHER WAY

Okay...

(whew!)

I'm outta here.

See you guys tomorrow and all week with updates!

Thanks for everything.

.

PEACE