In this sense, I have become a Folk writer. I write about and for the people. The stories and songs are everywhere around us. It is my calling to sit up and pay attention to them. These are the same realizations that led me to working with at-risk youth and wilderness therapy programs. If you don't like the way the world is, change it. I tend to focus on the youth. They hold the future. Listen to their stories.

The outdoors has also been a huge inspiration to me and my writing. I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. It seems to me, above all places, that these mountains hold a deep history and wisdom of our American roots. Oh, what stories lay in these majestic hills! I always had a fascination with the West, and somehow came to the conclusion, as many Americans have, that going west had something to do with my spiritual growth. It did! I left the business of music in Nashville to come to the mountains and streams of Idaho. Yellowstone and the Tetons have been sources of inspiration to artists for ages; my writing couldn't have had a better catalyst.

Time would reveal a deeper understanding. All things are circular. Like seasons, everything must come around. If we don't move with these natural patterns, then we live a lie. For me, it comes around to the fact that in western Idaho, not to escape the world, but to make sense of it. If I can't come back to the world with a song, I haven't done my duty. May we all come around. Changes only occur if you evoke them. Good livin'.