Click on the song title link for the lyrics. After each song title is the inspiration behind creating the song.

For This is a song about what it feels like–happy, exciting, scary– when you finally get something you’ve wanted for a very long time.

Bobby Joe Plays Violin The idea for this song, about one man’s solitary breakdown, came to me late one night as I was driving with the windows rolled down, listening to Bob Dylan.

What If I Was Serious? this song is all about the bridge (the part that goes “while I’m contemplating consequences…”)! I built the verses around that melody. Colin Boyd helped me finish it.

Valerie is about my friend, the late Valerie Bullitt, who was awesome and will always be fondly remembered.

What Did I Do? This song is a fun, bluegrassy tune about a friendship that may have wandered off course.

Twenty Years to Life is sung from a prison cell by a victim of domestic violence who fights back and murders her husband. I like to think of it as a more realistic “Goodbye Earl”– one where the criminal justice system works and where the survivor struggles with guilt and grief for her loss. Monte Warden and I wrote this one together.

Learn You Like a Book Another Colin Boyd co-write, is about taking the time to get to know one’s partner, layer by layer.

Girlfriend of the Band is probably my most autobiographical song. While people often misconstrue it to be written with a sarcastic tone about groupies of band members, it’s actually an ironic love song, about how hard it is to be the supportive one in a relationship.

I Wonder What You See, is about the complicated moment when you realize that someone is attracted to you, and you hope that will last as they get to know you better. Guys tend to dismiss this song; beautiful women tend to “get it.”

Crybaby is a lighthearted look at being blown off by someone you really like. It’s also about how showing feelings can be seen as weak, when in reality it takes a lot of courage.

Lilly’s Verses this song is about my mother’s late aunt, who I heard and wondered about as a child. Her life was portrayed as tragic, and I will always be curious about how it felt from her perspective.

Never Say ‘I Do’ I got the idea for this song when I was at an Emmylou Harris concert. Maybe she’ll record it someday! You know all of those songs about guys who can’t be tied down, like “Free Bird” or “Ramblin’ Man?” I wanted to write one from a woman’s perspective. Another Monte Warden co-write.