Throughout the process of writing If I Could Go, I have thought about a lot of things: the story, the music, the production challenges. What I didn't anticipate was how much my kids would become part of the journey and how much that would matter to me.
My children are curious and musical, and somewhere along the way, they started listening to my songs. Not because I pushed them to, but because the music was in the house. And then, without any prompting from me, they started singing it. A melody here, a lyric there—sometimes perfectly, sometimes hilariously wrong with made up lyrics. But always genuine.
Those moments, hearing them unconsciously hum a tune from the second act or catching them singing a chorus while playing, asking me to play one of the songs in the car, or passionately scream-singing the title song, have given me something I didn't expect to find in this process: pure joy as a father. It's a reminder that art isn't just about the audience you'll eventually reach. Sometimes the most rewarding moment is right in front of you, in your own home, in a child's voice discovering a melody for the first time.
And, I hope, being proud of their Daddy!