On March 31, 1992 Bruce Springsteen released two albums simultaneously - Human Touch and Lucky Town. That always stuck with me. Fast forward 32 years to March 31, 2024 and I released two EPs (not as ambitious, but similar state of mind) - Troubled By Love and Colton Bay.

Following the completion of the songs for Forever Young (an 18-month labor of love based on my study of Neil Young’s music), I began writing songs for a new album. 15 songs were written and 9 were selected for an album; however, they didn’t work well together. I decided that four songs (Troubled By Love, Old Men Shouldn’t Write Songs, I Belong to Your Love, and You’re My Regret) made for a terrific four-song EP. To my surprise, the remaining five songs (Rider in the Distance, Can’t Go Back, Just Don’t Know, Turn Back Time, and Colton Bay) worked well together also and the second EP was born. The songs were completed and mixed by February, but I delayed the release to March 31 in homage to Springsteen’s dual release date. Ben Holmes of www.drumsandmastering.com did a great job of mastering the EPs.

Troubled by Love is a deeply personal EP that deals with topics surrounding love, aging, death and regret. The song “I Belong to Your Love” was written for a friend who suffered an immeasurable loss and is sung beautifully by Ireland’s Keith Eastwood. “Troubled by Love” is one of my most ambitious songs and features Glenn Welman on drums, Jon Ublansky on bass, Artis Locmelis on sax, and my friend Dennis Urquhart (a fellow Home Studio Corner VIPer and recording artist - Canyon Depths) on first lead guitar. The song pays homage to Pink Floyd’s “Money” in the respect that in the extended solo section (96 bars in length - longer than most songs!), it begins with a saxophone, then transitions into the first lead guitar (by Dennis) and then finally a second lead guitar (played by me). “Old Men Shouldn’t Write Songs” is based on an interview I read following the release of McCartney III where the person commenting suggested McCartney was too old to be writing modern pop songs. And finally “You’re My Regret” follows on a theme that was started with the song “Electric Guitar” on Forever Young that deals with my wondering what life may have been like if I had devoted myself to the study of music instead of following the direction of becoming a physician that was in many ways culturally dictated. It was inspired by my friend Isabel Fryszberg (of the band Isabel & The Uncommons) who was a childhood friend - we grew up on the same street in Toronto and attended school together from kindergarten through university - and DID follow her musical pursuits. My guess, I’d either have become a physician-educator who had a side band, or I would have gone after a PhD in music and ended up dean of a music college.

Colton Bay is more pop-rock related and contains a number of songs inspired by my musical appreciation. “Rider in the Distance” was an attempt to emulate one of my two favorite male vocalists’ works - Robert Plant (Jim Kerr of Simple Minds being the other) and particularly the song “Tall Cool One” from his Now and Zen album. Ben Holmes plays drums. “Can’t Go Back” is a song that pines for the Toronto of my youth - the city still feels like home, but it’s eerily unfamiliar. The music uses a lot of ideas from my lead guitar lessons during 2023 - I needed to become a better lead guitarist and I hope it shows! The music is somewhat inspired by Rolling Stones classics like “Wild Horses” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. “Just Don’t Know” and “Colton Bay” were both written after attending an Elvis Costello performance in Durham NC. I had great seats and really was able to focus on how Elvis played guitar and structured his songs. Just Don’t Know has something of a “Momofuku” feel to it (if you know that Elvis obscure album) and Colton Bay was based on a song that he played that honestly, I didn’t know and can’t recall! Colton Bay is a fictitious Northern Ontario mining town where all of life’s miseries and tragedies occur. The song is told from the perspective of the songwriter who is busking on the streets. Finally, “Turn Back Time” speaks to my nostalgia for my childhood neighborhood and recalls memories I have each time I go back. It is written for my mom who passed away in May 2022 following a brief illness brought on by complications of COVID-19 at age 101.

Finally, two additional songs came out of these sessions for the Troubled by Love and Colton Bay. They were the songs “World Peace” which can be found on my EP “Holiday Music for the 2020s” and features the incredible vocals of DLP-Dolapo, and the February single release, “Cotton Candy Morning” featuring Norwich’s finest - Steve Rosbotham (of Lynnewood and Robot Dan) on lead vocals.