In the summer of 2002 a little girl by the name of Samantha Runnion was abducted and murdered in California.  During a memorial service that was telecast on TV, I watched in amazement when her mother got up and spoke. A few minutes later I sat down at my piano and began writing a song. By the next day I had it mostly written but felt like something was missing so I did a search on the net and among other items relating to Samantha and her family, I found a drawing she had done on which she had written in crayon the words, "Be Brave". That made the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I immediately finished the song.

I recorded a simple piano/vocal demo in my home studio and FedExed a copy of it to Erin Runnion, Samantha's mother.  She called me at home in Nashville the next day to tell me how the song had touched the family and to thank me. We've remained in contact and whenever I have the opportunity in my shows I tell people about the Joyful Child Foundation which was started in Samantha's memory.

As far as the creative process goes this experience, and especially hearing from Samantha's mother, was... stunning to me. It was sad and bittersweet and I felt like the song came strictly from somewhere else. From start to finish it seemed like, on a conscious level, I had very little to do with it.