Be With You will be with you

Debut solo single - Dec 11

I’m a McCartney guy.

“Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. What’s wrong with that?” - Paul McCartney

In dark or difficult times (present moment, anyone?) I often turn to the beauty and simplicity of sincerely rendered love songs. Less love bad, more love good.

With that intention front of mind, I humbly offer, at age 55, my first solo single, Be With You.

I don’t know why it took me so long to release a proper solo single. Laziness. Lack of know-how. Attachment to the idea of being in a band. Insecurity or fear of failure. All possible explanations.

Or maybe I just wasn’t seasoned enough.

Whatever was, in fact, holding me back has seemingly fallen away, and here I am. With you.

Be With You was written 20 years ago, in a period of confusion and growth for me. It is an ode to stability. A celebration of the “rocks” in our lives that serve to ground even the most groundless individuals. My rock was, and is, my partner, Alma.

Be With You is an expression of relief and gratitude. Thank god for Alma. While I have my head in the clouds and my heart on my sleeve, spinning from one flight-of-fancy to another, Alma remains salt of the earth. A foundation of support, love, and acceptance. Be With You celebrates the feeling of having someone whose aim it is to walk beside you in life. A bona fide life partner.

To construct this silly little love song, I turned to friends. Peter Hicks (Sleepy Driver, My Black Ram), master of the demo process, produced the record, which was recorded by Corey Bonnevie at Monopolized recording. Peter is a real gent, and he introduced a new wrinkle to my process - professionalism - and laid down what must have been a dozen, or more, guitar tracks. He brought his trusted collaborator, John Heinstein, into the mix with some slinky little keyboard hooks, and we were on our way.

My band, Tuckersfield (currently on hiatus), had performed Be With You live innumerable times over the years. I invited one of Tuckersfield’s original members, Kendra Gale (Kendra Gale Band, Kover Gale, Poets and Liars) to play drums and sing harmonies on the track. When Kendra is around, things always lighten and brighten. Some people just make your life better. In this case, Kendra also made the song better. Thank you, Kendra.

I hope you enjoy the song. I do. It’s heartfelt. In this place, and this time, that is a good place to start.

Or as Macca put it, “Love is all that stays. Only love remains”.

Be With You is out everywhere Dec. 11.