A few months ago I wrote a post about trying to write a song in a half hour, spurred by Brian Farrell, a local vocal and performance coach I had been working with.   Well, yes, the “bones” of the song were there in about that amount of time, but it took me about another 10 months to perfect it, and thankfully I had a good deadline to shoot for:  My in-laws 50th wedding anniversary.

Talk about tweaking and re-tweaking.  I guess knowing it would go down in the family history books was enough pressure to bring out my A-game.   I performed it FOR THE FIRST TIME on stage, with my in-laws in the room.  It was a remarkable feeling.   Somehow you could feel the tears right up to the stage — it was really quite emotional!!  Luckily (well, luck has nothing to do with it, thanks God!) I got through it smoothly.   It was simply an unforgettable songwriting experience for me.  Like I had a magical power I was able to share – and there it goes – once performed – the song now EXISTS!  Ahhhh…

So here’s a link to the video of my song called “Sweet Marie” – it’s a biographical tune about how they met and have stuck it out together all these years, a 50th Anniversary present. Ernie (my father in law) always called her Sweet Marie – and I’ve really intended to write that into a song for about the past 15 years!

Thanks Brian for finally getting me off my butt to write the tune….and encouraging my songwriting.  And thank you Ernie and Marie for being such wonderful and amazing supporters of my music, and for inspiring the wonderful story of “Sweet Marie.”