While writing the songs on this record, I found myself thinking an awful lot about my father and how he encouraged me to do everything I could to pursue a creative life. He rode a Harley Davidson chopper, sang along to Jerry Lee Lewis records and didn't take anything from anyone. The only job he ever enjoyed was driving a tow truck, but he couldn't support the family on just 85 cents an hour. He was convinced he d finally hit the jackpot when he got a job throwing 100 pound bags of starch into boxcars for $1.85 an hour. 30 years later he retired with a worn out back, a bad shoulder and a cheap certificate in a cardboard frame. He once told me they were his, Souvenirs Of A Misspent Youth.