Peace Love & Happiness

On the road in January 2022, I met a woman named Bernadette. She asked if I would write her a song for her son. I agreed, thinking that I would be writing something to lift his spirits, or maybe to reassure him of her love in a creative and less conventional way. She then explained to me that her son had died of a fentanyl overdose the summer before.

One of my best friends had lost her brother to an overdose just two months before I met Bernadette, so the issue of drug abuse and misuse and the impact that an addict's behavior has on the addict themselves and on the people who love them was already hitting very close to home.

Bernadette told me all about her son Anthony, his struggles, his successes, his love of humor and his desire to make the world around him a better place. She told me about the stigma surrounding the issue of drug abuse, her fears, her frustrations, the way he made her laugh, and her love for him as a mother. The song took shape, and when it was done, I recorded it and sent it to her. As soon as she heard it, she told me that it was exactly what she had envisioned.. and that, cathartic as it was for her to hear, it was not going to be enough. She wanted to make a whole album so that she could raise money for drug abuse awareness and rehabilitation. She established a nonprofit called "Foundation Joy" to help channel funds to rehab centers and to help those unfamiliar or unaware of the prevalence of these issues understand the dangers of drug abuse on a personal level. The album was born.