Composer’s Thoughts:

This album is a work comprised of songs I had written over a number of years. Once I felt it was complete, I then began the year long journey of having my compositions orchestrated, recorded, mixed, and mastered. The sole purpose of this album was to leave it for family as part of my legacy, hence the title “Thinking of You”.

My sincere desire is to share my passion for music not only with friends and family but with the rest of the world in hopes of ministering to them spirit, body, and soul. In doing so, I’d like to share my thought process behind these compositions.

Song Title: Renaissance

Time Period: Renaissance 

Composers Thoughts: When I started composing this song, the intro of the song took me back to the renaissance period, I envisioned it to be in a movie with Knights, King and Queens. Like a movie scene in the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. Those types of movies.

Song Title: Serenity

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: This song took me to a serene emotional scene where the emotions build and climax to a joyous moment in the movie.

Song Title: Piangere Per Te

Time Period: 1940-1960’s era 

Composers Thoughts: “Piangere per te”. That’s Italian translation for “Cry For You”.  When I was composing this song, it kept taking me to an Italian Mobster type movie scene. Like “Good Fellas”, The Godfather” type movie. I kept picturing a scene at night where you could barely make out a lone street light because of the dense fog in the night. This song could be for various scene scenarios. I was thinking of a Somber moment in a scene like a slow motion scene where one of the main mobsters meets up on the lone foggy street to do business. Does not realize that it is a setup to ambush him and take him out. The scene goes into slow motion as the machine guns come out and ambush takes place. The scene then moves to his home where the police are notifying his wife and family of her husbands death. She breaks down crying and mourning for him. That’s what made me think of the title “Piangere per te” or Cry For You.  The scene then moves to an aerial view of the burial site as his mobster friends are walking from their cars to the burial tent. Then to a final ground view scene of the burial site as friends and family are laying rose petals on the casket. 

Song Title: Wild and Free

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: This song just took me to a feel good moment in a movie. I pictured a well-liked prominent businessman in the community down on his luck. His main barn with the majority of his farming belongings and livelihood had burnt down. The scene I pictured at the climax of this song is where the whole entire farming community has come together and are helping rebuild his barn. The scene moves to and from different teams working on the barn, all in good moods in full action making it happen.

Song Title: Smoke Signals Rising

Time Period: Late 1800’s 

Composers Thoughts: This is the very first song I ever composed. Many moons ago. Back when I was Junior in High School.  When I composed this song, I was picturing a Western Movie, Calvary troops and Indians. During the Theodore Roosevelts Rough rider era. I pictured this song being an Action and Suspense song. 

I pictured an aerial view of the Calvary’s campsite with their wagons in a circle, camped out for the night down in a Valley surrounded by hills. Not knowing that the Indians were up on the hilltops planning their attack.  Scene starts with an Aerial view of the Campsite at sunrise with hills surrounding it. From the aerial view you see one of the calvary soldiers keeping guard, look up into the hills as he sees Smoke signals rising from the hilltops. It then shows him running into the camp where the soldiers are cooking breakfast over the campfire and warns them of the Indians. They then turn and look at the opposite side of the hilltops and also see smoke signal rising. They realize they are in for the fight of their lives.

 Scene then moves back and forth from the Calvary scrambling to get in position and the Indians appearing at the edge of the Hilltops completely surrounding the Calvary. Scene then shows the Chief giving the signal to attack and Indians rushing down then hill on their horses. Then to the Battle Scene, during the battle scene the Captain of the Calvary gets taken out by the Chief. Scene moves to a slow motion scene as the Captians falls backwards to the ground. Camera then switches to a view from the captains viewpoint as he’s laying on the ground watching the fight scene as he slowly starts to die. The view from his eyes is a blurry and smoky view   from all the gunpowder smoke.

Scene then moves to the Indian retreating back up the hills, then moves to an aerial scene of the battle aftermath. Aerial view shows the Calvary soldiers helping their wounded and final scene is aerial view with camera slowly zooming down on the captain surrounded by his men as he takes his lasts breathes. Then Camera slowly pans back out to an aerial view as song finishes.

Song Title: Good Day (Uzziah’s Song)

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: I pictured it more of a Grooving type upbeat song. In my mind I pictured a scene of a guy excited for the day. For some reason I pictured Tom Cruise in the movie. Scene starts with him lying in bed slowly waking up. Then shows him showering, shaving and getting dressed.  Scene moves to him jumping into his expensive convertible car and driving off. Pinnacle of the song changes to an Aerial view scene of him cruising down the highway going across the Golden Gate Bridge with top down on convertible.  I was hearing shakers and drums going on in this song.

Song Title: Grace

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: I am picturing this song being a theme song to a Movie. More of a Romance Love story type film. I am picturing, that as soon as someone hears the first couple of measures of the song, they will shout the name of the movie it is from. 

Just like when I play the first measure of a song, like the theme song from “While you were sleeping” my daughter and wife shout out the title of the movie and my daughter will describe exactly what scene it’s from.  I can just play three notes of the Forest Gump theme song and my wife and daughter will shout out “Forrest Gump”. The same goes for Cider House Rules. These songs are a staple to the movie and are a constant throughout the movie. I picture the same for this song.

Song Title: Mystify

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: When I composed this song, I pictured it to have a mystical vibe to it. For some reason, it took me to the scene in the movie “Field of Dreams” where Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones go to a ballgame and actor Kevin Costner hears a voice and see’s Dr. Archie Ball Grahams name appear on the JumboTron screen. It is a mysterious type scene. I pictured this song in a scene of a movie where you enter a place that’s mystical. Like a feeling, where you find yourself in awe and ask yourself, “Is this place for real”. That type of feeling.

Song Title: Farewell

Time Period: Late: Current 

Composers Thoughts: I pictured a gloomy rainy winters day. The scene starts with an aerial view of a neighborhood that shows a car park outside a home as a slow steady rain comes down. The aerial camera view then slowly zooms down to the home where the car is parked and enters the home through the dining room window. Inside the home is a husband and wife sitting at their table in a very serious somber conversation. They both have come to the realization that their marriage is over and it’s time to go their separate ways. 

They hug and cry together as they say their Farewells. The scene then moves to the husband walking out to his car in the rain, as his wife stares out the dining room window with tears rolling down her eyes as he drives away.

The scene is then moving back and forth between the two. One scene is the wife going from room to room throughout the house as tears roll down her eyes looking at pictures on the wall and all their memories they had built together just fade away. The other scene shows the husband driving in the rain crying, thinking and contemplating. Both are contemplating and trying to figure out what went so wrong in their marriage that got them to this point.

Song Title: Thinking of You

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: How this song came about. I was sitting in my music/office staring at a picture of my Dad holding a huge Fish who has gone on to be with the Lord. He passed away on Christmas Day going on two years now. My dad was a Pastor who loved the Lord and was a great man. He was also a great sportsman. He loved to Fish!  Lots of great memories of some awesome fishing trips with my dad. 

I was thanking the Lord for giving me such a great Father and role model. I was just missing him at the moment and sat at the keyboards in my studio and this is what came out.

Song Title: Anaiah’s Song

Time Period: Current 

Composers Thoughts: Pictured a movie following the life of a young Lyrical dancer trying to make it big in her profession. This song would come at the end movie, the Pinnacle point of the movie, where she comes out and dances a beautiful dance to this song. At the end of her performance, she knows, as well as her peers know she has finally made it.

Song Title: Yesteryear

Time Period: Colonial Period

Composers Thoughts: The scene I picture is back during the colonial period, I pictured a movie following the life of a young girl who fled England with her parents on a ship to America. This scene I pictured this song to be in, is toward the end of the movie in which that young girl is now an elderly widowed lady. The scene finds her in her Log cabin, sitting at her kitchen table with a kerosene lamp on a gloomy rainy winters night writing in her diary contemplating and reflecting back on her yesteryears. Penning her life story. Reflecting back to scenes of her youth, her marriage, family and the good times they had. And how she longs to see her husband again someday. At the end of song, the scene goes back to her sitting at her log cabin as she finishes writing for the night and blows out the lantern.

Song Title: LightHouse

Time Period: Current

Composers Thoughts: Envisioned this song in a Hallmark type movie. Pictured a feel good Scene in the movie where emotions build and lots of excitement in the air. Pinnacle of the song brings all those feel good emotions to a head.