I have written songs for most of my life but never really finished any until I got into my Christian song writing phase around 2,008. That is what got me going. I have written a number of Christian songs and from there I started writing all kinds of songs in different genre's. I like a little bit of everything. I probably lean more towards a country sound but I have written songs that are rap, bluegrass, folk, rock, blues and other things. A few years back, I started going to a local Song Writers Night Open Mic in Fargo, ND, hosted by Mike Holtz. That was a big step for me. You had to do original songs and could do up to three while on stage. I was surrounded by a lot of talented songwriters and that provided me with a lot of inspiration. I wrote a lot of songs during the time this Open Mic was going on. I think most of us artists did, as it was always a lot of fun to debut a new song and hear new songs from the other artists. I got inspiration from a lot of songwriters but one artist Darrin Wentz a great songwriter, had a lot of influence on my writing. One of his songs that inspired me was"Paris Island', a tribute song to honor a marine veteran. He would often times ask if there was any veterans in the room before he would sing it. There never was but perhaps one time. I just thought that was very cool for Darin to do this and have written such a song. I liked that so much that I had to write a military song of my own called"I'm an American Soldier". When I wrote that song it got me thinking about Vietnam. Vietnam was raging when I was in high school and I thought at the time there might be a good chance that I might end up there. I turned 18 in December of 1972 just as Nam was wrapping up. The draft went out the next month, January of 1973. I have looked at a lot of Vietnam war videos, testimonials and talked to a lot of Vietnam Vets. Doing so spurred me to write more songs about Vietnam to honor those who served that war. I have sang songs at Vietnam events around the area. My song"19 Years Old" was read on the Floor of the United States Senate in Washington DC in July of 2,015, March 19th, 2016 I will be at the ground breaking for a new Vietnam Wall Memorial in Gilbert, AZ. I will be singing my song"19 Years Old" and reading a poem I wrote"The Wall' (my song"The Wall" with out the chorus lines). That will be a great honor to be there performing before a lot of Veterans and others. My goal is to one day sing at the Vietnam Wall in DC. This EP"Vietnam' is my tribute to those who served in that war, not just the soldiers but to all those involved. My heart goes out to all you men and women who were involved in someway or another and may you hear that in this music. Welcome home, and I salute you for your service!