I joined the military and got a Dear John letter from my fiancé, Kate. When she left me, I started searching for something deeper than myself. In a moment, my life was devastated. She was everything to me. Thoughts of her and our future together provided the strength I needed to get through the day and when she was gone, I was all alone. In the weeks leading up to my deployment in Iraq, I met a woman that changed my life, Tina. Her pictures and letters comforted me and gave me the strength to carry on.

Losing the only person I ever loved and going to war in love with a stranger inspired me to write very powerful songs that traversed the boundaries of my emotions. Whether I was writing about coming home to a daughter who didn’t know my name, writing about my ex, or the warmth I felt staring at Tina’s picture, these songs reproduce the feelings of tragedy and love. Angel was a song that enabled me to share my deepest feelings with Tina, from 7,000 miles away. First recorded in an M113 on a tape recorder, it has served as a constant reminder of who we are, where we were, and what we have made it through. Knowing that she is at my side reminds me that I can do anything.

My best friend, Brendan Smith, breathed life into my music with his magical voice. He helped bring each song to life when I came back from Iraq and recorded. He is as vital to each song as my guitar and without him, I could have never done any of this.