My mom was a great piano player before she took on raising four boys full time. When I was very young, my family lived in the town in which both my parents had grown up. They had lots of old friends, and visits after my brothers and I had been put to bed were not uncommon. It was my favorite thing in the world to sit on the stairs (around the corner) and listen to my mom play piano for the visitors. Certainly some of the appeal was the forbidden aspect — there would be a steep price if I got caught — but the different moods, colors, scenery, energy, and brooding that could come from the piano simply amazed me.

She played Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Grieg, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Argentine and Brazilian dances, all live, right there in the next room. Sometimes in the afternoon I could get her to take some time out of her day to play piano for me in person, but with a household of six to tend for, it stands to reason that this didn't happen very often. Still, it was enough to plant the seed for the music on in small hours. I was still young when we moved several states away and my mom didn't play nearly as often.

While I listened to some classical music, it was rock that inspired me most next. In my late teens and early twenties I was studying engineering and playing any gig I could get my hands on- in rock bands, local recording studios, and churches. I'm not sure if I thought music was supposed to support the schooling or schooling was intended to support the music. It was quite the fun time. My bands got to open for Steppenwolf, Blue Oyster Cult, NRBQ, Eddie Money, and, by far the most fun to hang out with, Weird Al Yankovich.

While rock was still the biggest influence, many other styles of music started making their way into the mix- particularly celtic, world music, and folk music. Gradually, I became alot more interested in classical music. I decided to study composition full time with composer John Hilliard. What a great move. During this time and for several years since, I concentrated on classical music composition- like the majority of my favorite composers, Hilliard, Messiaen, Barber, and Berg, writing pretty complex music. Not alot of folks listen to this sort of music, but I love it.

In 2001 I was working in a small software company that was in a slow period, and I was working very little overtime, a rare occurrence in my programming career. During that time I began playing again some of the earliest pieces I had written. Despite their simple forms and melodies, I found that I really cared about them. During this time, I recorded and released first fall night. I was surprised at how well received it was, ranking third on the New Age radio charts, and getting a great deal of play on satellite radio, on airlines' inflight entertainment, and on a loop in a Disneyland exhibit. Most importantly, I received incredible emails from people all over the world to let me know that it had become an important part of their lives! It was encouraging enough that I decided to put together an album of newer and somewhat more challenging pieces.

The slow times on the job didn't last long. The music on in small hours was written two years later, but two years after that I still couldn't play it well enough to record. I was spending most waking hours typing on a computer, and far too little time playing the piano. So, I quit my job to prepare to record it. Even so, it was another year and a half, April 2007, before the recording part was finished.

Once it was recorded, I set it aside and didn't listen for a few months. After working on it intensely for so long, I needed to let it rest for a while to see what it really sounded like.

As I write this, I've been listening again for a few weeks. Sure enough, it is the statement from the heart I had hoped it would be. The more I listen to it, the easier it is to imagine my mom playing these pieces late at night for a room full of entranced friends, with me around the corner secretly sitting and taking it all in. I hope it brings you as much joy as it does me.