Talking River is behind the house where I lived in New Hampshire with my friend, Natty.  It wasn't always called that, though.

Natty and I worked together in the theatre in 1998.  The house, which belonged to her mother, is nestled at the edge of a wood.  Late at night, after rehearsal, we'd sit with our few closest castmates in the living room with all the sliders open, listening to the summer brook running full, underscoring all our deep conversations.

This was a period during which I'd put down my guitar and didn't know if I'd ever play or write music again.  Theatre, my other love, was taking its place.  But one night Natty took a deep breath and said, "Don't you just feel your life right now?"  It seemed the river was telling me to pick my instrument up again and write something for my friends.  I did, and called it Talking River, and that was how music returned to me.

The following year the house had to be sold, and Natty and I moved on to the next phases of our lives.  There was one couple in particular whom we liked, and whom we really wanted to take the house.  By then I'd recorded the Talking River album, so in preparation for their second visit to the house with the realtor, I left a CD on the kitchen counter for them, with a note.  It said, "Buy this CD for $(asking price of property...), and get a FREE HOUSE!!"

And you know what?  They did. And they named the house Talking River.

It's come to represent renewal, opening, and the kind of confession among friends that illuminates and inspires.

CD Information Here