Hey. It's been a while since I've written one of these, so I figured it was time to check in and share what's been going on with me. Musically, personally, and everything in between.
The short version: I'm making music I love, I'm clearing space in my life to do more of it, and I'm stepping away from a lot of the noise that had been pulling my attention for years.
Let me back up a little.
A couple of months ago I released Me and a Piano. Eleven songs, just piano and vocals, no place to hide. That project was about depth. Melody and lyrics carrying all the weight. No production to lean on, no groove to distract from the song itself. I'm proud of it. It came from a real place.
But even while I was finishing that album, something else was already pulling at me. A new project. A different energy.
This new album is the music that formed me. The stuff I grew up on and fell in love with. 70s and 80s pop and R&B, warm production, lush chords, strong grooves. Think Kenny Loggins, Fleetwood Mac, Babyface, Stevie Wonder, Jam and Lewis. The Minneapolis Sound. Yacht rock. Dream pop. The kind of music that feels like it was made by real people in a room, not assembled by an algorithm.
That last part matters to me a lot right now. We live in a moment where AI can generate technically perfect music. I'm going in the opposite direction on purpose. I'm leaving in the imperfections. I want my human side to show through. As a songwriting teacher I've spent years talking about the rules, and I know them well. But this album is also about venturing beyond them. Writing what I feel. Going by instinct.
I'm not sharing the title yet, but I will tell you this: I want you to feel like you're stepping back in time when you hear it. I have 11 songs done and I'm aiming to write and record 26 before I sequence and release anything. I'm working from abundance. Building a vault. Honoring what an artist like Prince would have done. Work constantly, finish things, trust the process.
On the teaching side, I just wrapped up my final semester with Berklee Online, where I've been teaching Lyric Tools and Strategies. That chapter is closing. I'm still leading workshops for Andrea Stolpe's EMC Institute, which I love. But I'm not taking on new teaching commitments. For years I poured myself into being an educator and a content creator. I'm grateful for all of it. But somewhere along the way I got reprogrammed. Always thinking about how to teach something, how to package an idea, how to serve an audience. I'm working to undo that. I want to just make music again.
I've also decided to delete my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I know that might surprise some of you. But social media has brought out some of the worst in all of us, myself included, and I fed that machine for a long time. My YouTube channel is still there with over 260 videos of songwriting content, and I'll leave it up. Whether I post there again, I honestly don't know. I'm not worried about it.
What I do know is this: I think about leaving a catalog of music that lives online and finds whoever needs to hear it. I'm not interested in promoting it. I'm not chasing streams or trying to go viral. I love the writing process. I love being in the studio. I love being a recording artist. That's what I want to spend my time doing.
If any of this resonates with you, if you're someone who's been caught up in the hustle of content and metrics and audience, maybe there's something here for you too. Focus on the work. Make the thing. Put it out there. Let the universe do the rest.
More music is coming. I'm happy. I'm at peace.
Thanks for being here.
Chad