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This is the first in a series of videos I will be uploading under the category of "Who Got Me Here". This is in anticipation of the release of my first album, coming out in the Spring. These will be videos of songs written by some great songwriters who have been influential in my writing, guitar playing, and storytelling.

This one is David LaMotte's "Hard Earned Smile". I first heard David's music pouring out of a small boombox in the kitchen of the camp I had worked for a few years prior, Bluestone Camp and Retreat (www.blustonecamp.com). He was invited to the Camp's 50 year Celebration to perform, and I was instantly taken by his songwriting and his performance. When I got a chance to talk to him, I was even more impressed by his generous heart and down-to-earth attitude. We got to hang out a little and play guitars on the front porch of the lodge that weekend by the fireplace, and I must say, it was a real special experience. I started following his career, including his abrupt hiatus from performing to move to Australia to pursue a degree in Peacemaking. He's now back to performing, but more important, he's doing his part to change hearts and minds in a traveling series of seminars and round table discussions. He also is the author of the award winning book, "White Flour", about the "Coup Klutz Clowns", the true story of a group of peaceful protesters who disrupted a KKK Rally with "Flour Power". You can read about him and his projects here: www.davidlamotte.com

David's ability to tell a story, his ability to write a song and most important, his ability to humble himself and be a decent human being is why he's on my list of "Who Got Me Here".

Hard Earned Smile:

If faces tell stories, and I think they do
There have been some hard chapters in the story of you
There's some dark and some lonely in the lines 'round your eyes
A thousand nights' tears, promises and lies

So we sit at the diner and talk until dawn
Lay it all on the table 'til the coffee's all gone
All the hard people you've known and you've been
Wounded and healed and opened again

And you said it best when you played your guitar
"From where you come isn't what you are"
I can hear the song ringing out over the miles
And there's nothing so true as the hope in a hard earned smile

We all have our trials and our lessons to learn
If your dreams are on fire then your heart might get burned
But to choose to be strong and have courage to heal
Lends truth to your song and the hope that I feel

And you said it best when you played your guitar
"From where you come isn't what you are"
I can hear the song ringing out over the miles
And there's nothing so true as the hope in a hard earned smile