Yes, I've heard it before - I like my coffee sweet and my songs pretty.  And I'm ok with that.  I grew up listening to the Beatles, Michael Hedges, Albinoni, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Clannad, and Pat Metheny.  Lately (as in the last 12 years or so), I've really come to enjoy artists like Lewis Taylor (incredible funk/soul), The Swell Season (the couple from the movie Once), Andrew York (classical guitarist and composer), Alison Krauss (beyond bluegrass), and jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.  While they span a great range of musicality, I think I most appreciate their abilities to write and perform beautiful melodies - especially those that are haunting and perhaps a bit sad - as they serve to remind me of the lovely impermanence of life.  

I've been writing my songs since I was sixteen or so, and many of them came while at the Naval Academy.  I like to play in front of a crowd, though I think much of the thrill comes from the fact that I'm still not at ease with it.  I think one of my fondest memories was when I performed almost all of my songs in a crowded train station in Shibuya, Japan, before being very politely asked to leave by a Japanese police officer.  By leaving my guitar bag open in front of me, I had made 1030 yen - 50 yen short of paying for my round trip train fare that evening.     

Thank you to all of you out there who listen, and to those of you who make life so intoxicating - music just wouldn't have the same meaning without you.    

Cecil&#x27;s Refrain is following

Cecil's Refrain is following