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When writing with others I will often bring an idea that I have been working on and they help
me flush out the song more fully.

The other process is that I might talk with Chris about what type of songs I am looking for (ie
New Orleans funk, blues-rock song) or I will play him some songs I love. Then he works on
creating a demo track that is in that vein. We keep making changes until we get it right and then
I will write a melody and lyrics to it. The song writing collaborations have been really great and
this time around British keyboard player, songwriter and producer, Danny Schogger was a part
of this process for three songs on the album as well.

LL: Let’s talk about your new release “Backbone”. What was your concept and vision for
the songs and the album?

DC: I had been
gathering ideas and
written a handful of
new songs but was
not clear what I
wanted to do with
them. In the summer
of 2021, I began
getting together with
Chris Arms who I
have written with
before and who had
produced 3 of my CD’s
previously. He helped
me write the bridge
for the song ‘Rogue”
that I had written and
also to complete the
song ‘What I’m
Workin With’. We
discussed ideas for
other songs and he and Danny Schogger, who he often writes with, came up with a handful of
tracks that they shared with me. I wrote the melody and lyrics to three of these songs and another
that Chris and Alan Glass, another British songwriter producer had written. I wrote ‘A Few New
Ticks’ with guitarist Allen James, Chris and I finished a few other songs together and then I
finished a few that I had been writing by myself as well. I chose two covers that fit in well with
the material including Percy Mayfield’s ‘Danger Zone’ and Sean Costello’s ‘Anytime You Want’.

When we started really working on these songs, we had been dealing with the worldwide
pandemic for almost a year as well as political and social justice uprisings here in the United
States. The songwriting reflects the feelings that were coming up given the intense impact of
these world events over a few years and explore themes of uncertainty, vulnerability, being
comfortable with and showing up for oneself, taking a stand, polarization in beliefs, freedom and
letting go. I think the idea of being comfortable with who you are and showing up for yourself
and your beliefs is a core philosophy on this album. Sometimes this means letting go of what’s
not working and this idea shows up on the record as well. I wanted to end the album on a positive
note about love and connection prevailing despite all the challenges that life might bring.