Starting from the beginning, although not quite the beginning since that started a long time ago musically, my own Road Less Travelled began like this.
On August 8th, 2019, I went on an odyssey following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac’s book ‘Big Sur’. My idea – to heal my broken heart by connecting with and befriending as many strangers as possible, taking the road less travelled and maybe writing a song or two on the way.
I travelled with a miniature guitar, a suitcase on wheels and blind faith I’d be okay. I had friends in the UK and US who helped by hooking me up with places to crash and people to meet. My friend Hutch, bassist with Bonnie Raitt, even gave me the keys to his house when I got to LA.
In 20 days, I travelled 2400 miles on the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco then drove 1700 miles around California solo. The first song appeared in Heathrow departure lounge and continued over the Atlantic all the way to Chicago. After that, songs came in San Francisco, Carmel, Yosemite, Sequoia and Big Sur. Each day – each new song – I shared on social media. I’d never felt so prolific, so naked, and so wide awake.
On the road, I guess I had a spiritual awakening. Seemed like the more open hearted I became, the more kindness I'd receive from strangers, along with random serendipitous happenings and songs. By day 20, returning home to the UK, I had 5 new and a plan to return to demo them 2 months later with Hutch.
You can see some of it in my mini film The Road Less Travelled film, a snapshot of the first few days travelling, and the story behind the song ‘Home Is Your Shoulder’. That song began on day 6, in Fort Mason Park after visiting Alcatraz in the morning, and was finished the next day at Fort Point. I released a lockdown version of it with Hutch in November 2020.
