Here it is the middle of May and I'm finally getting back to my page.  It has been an eventful several months but unfortunately it has stolen all my time from my Myspace page.  The biggest news is that this first time granddad's grandson, Caleb was born in January.  Little Caleb and his parents moved back in with us and to say that we've been a bit busy is an understatement.  Love them all dearly and thankful we have room for them while they try to get their feet back under themselves. 

I've been spending some time with my music as well.  I feel certain that (God willing) this is the year that I will put out at least one cd.  The first one I'm planning is called For God So Loved and will have the songs from this page (redone of course) :)  along with a few others I still need to send off and have the backings done on.  Anyway, I'll post when more details are done.  Once I have all the songs I want for the CD, I'll need to get it mastered and then get the CDs cut.  I am still a little shocked that in 2009 this is something that many independant artists are able to do.  It does cost a bit but way less than I would have imagined and it can be done a little at a time so that all helps :).

The other CDs that I have in mind to follow at some point are an all country one (which is where I cut my songwriting teeth) and one that is a bit different that I'm tentatively calling "Out of the Box".  This one is mostly NOT country but I've been having a great time writing and recording.  I probably will only mention them on my other (Country) page at http://www.myspace.com/seabilly.  The songs currently up on that page will probably be some that will be on those CD, and if it sounds uncountry, it is probably going on "Out of the Box". :) 

Well, sorry for the long blog entry, but it has been so long I wanted to share a bit more than normal.

Love to you all,

Billy

I've always been interested in the stories behind the songs so thought I'd talk about some of my songs here.

YOU DRIVE - inspired by two very different things.  The first was the designated driver program, and the other was by the phrase "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats."  Going for the dead to self idea. :)

I WILL FOLLOW YOU - inspired by a lecture series at Green Valley Church here in San Diego given by our pastor, Doug Kyle.  It started with the story of the rich young ruler and lead to a discussion the various things we let get in the way.  Our "great riches" like the young ruler, worries about health, worries and jobs, and anything that gets in the way.  There is a more pop version (with a bridge added) on my songwriter demo page (sung my Nigel Cuff).

IF JESUS WALKED WITH ME - I can't take a lot of credit here as I only wrote the music.  The fantastic lyrics were written by Kerry Goulder and we wrote it as part of the 2008 February Album Writing Month (FAWM.ORG) songwriting challenge.  The idea is to write 14 songs during the month of February.  You get kinda creative when the inspiration is gone and you force yourself to write.

I WILL SOAR - I wrote this one for the 2008 FAWM.ORG challenge inspired by some verses in Isaiah. (35.8, 40:31)

FOR GOD SO LOVED - Another one I wrote for the 2008 FAWM.ORG challenge.  I took John 3:16 and made it personal in the chorus.  Instead of "For God so love the world..." modified to "For God so loved me".  The verses tell the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

I KNOW SOMEONE - Again, written during 2008 FAWM.ORG challenge (you'd think I only write songs in February, lol).  Inspired by John 15:13-14.

FROM A BOTTLE TO A BIBLE - Not totally autobiographical but close enough.  This song was written during 2008 FAWM.ORG and is dedicated to my bride of 29 years and to all wives and mothers who are prayer warriors who trust God with all their heart no matter what their eyes show them.

Nigel Cuff did an awesome job with the demo for this song.  His contact info is at the end of this blog entry.

The story behind What Matter’s Most is really pretty simple.  San Diego has been through two major fire scares over the past 6 years or so.  This song was written after the first one.  While my family and I were evacuated the last fire, we were not during the first one. 

Right after the first major fire our church got involved in the community outreach program helping people clean up.  The first time we went out, we were taken to a trailer park which had been destroyed.  We were sifting throuh the ash with the owners trying to find anything that had survived.  In some cases it would just be a coffee cup or something small.  In other cases, the fire had created a bit of art by melting various objects together.  What struck me the  most is that we were trying to help out people who had lost everything and they seemed to be doing better than we were.  They were cheerful and over and over the story was "my family and I surived, that is what was important". 

But there was a loss of life in that firestorm and while the early part of the song says that we survived and that is important, it is also worth noting that no one gets out of THIS life alive and the important thing is to survive the eternal fire by being in heaven.

I think the line about if God would ask those that had died what they thought was inspired by Billy Graham’s comments at the 9-11 memorial service when he said that it was sad that so many people had lost their lives, but that they were in a better place and given the choice of Heaven with Jesus and coming back to earth, they would gladly stay in Heaven.

Hope you liked the song. 
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Words and Music (c) 2004 William J. Crowe Jr
Demo and vocals by Nigel Cuff. Check him out at http://www.nigelcuffmusic.com/demopage.htm