A leather bound journal with an ornate tree engraved on the cover.

The inscription said, “To Jake, with the confidence that you have something to say. Love, Aunt Gertrude”

Although it would be years before I realized how much that gift changed my life, I knew at that moment that this was something special.

Up until this moment, I had dreamed of being a songwriter but feared I lacked talent, creativity, or… something to say.

With this simple inscription, I felt like I had permission to write, to be my unfiltered self, and to become an artist.

At first, I would stay up all night writing and then wake up feeling ashamed of it all. 

I imagined someone finding my journal and reading my infant attempts at song lyrics and my raw emotional words.

This silent film style music video was filmed in Austin, Tx with my wife and my good friends in a greek bar called Opa!

Click here to get the audio file

Sometimes I would even rip the pages out and tear them into pieces and throw them in the trash.

Who was I to be writing these things and exploring these emotions?

Over 15 years later, my closet is full of old journals with every page filled up.

I write everyday because my journal is the one place I can be 100% myself without any filters.

What begins as emotion, thought, desire, and frustration eventually transforms into ideas, songs, and expression.