1. I wrote the title track “How Do You Feel” in Colorado during a time when I wondered if those closest to me would pick me up if I fell apart. Ever wonder who would be there if you really needed help? If people would still be there even when you deal with the same stuff over and over again? The song says “will you take me as i am/will you pick me up from the ground/will you let me fall/

2. “Give Me Something More” came to me a few years ago when I realized the only thing holding me back from my dreams was me, myself and I. It was a realization that time keeps passing by and the only way to make the most of it is to be strong, courageous and never stop longing for beauty, joy, peace, love and grace. The song says /don’t be afraid/of all that is around you/you can let it go/you can’t let if fall/so don’t be afraid. Best part of the song? Playing the accordion! Thank you Mary!

3. Perhaps my favorite song on the album is “Just A Few More Hours”. It’s a song about waiting, about taking a deep breath and going on. I literally heard a voice say “just a few more hours” during a time when I kept asking “how long will this last?” Ever been there? I often wonder if the answer we long for is not time, dollars and cents but the simple truth that LOVE will lead you home. The song says “when you’re feeling tired/my love, my love/wait another hour/my love, my love/. Something fun on the song, I used a 1960’s Sears guitar that my neighbor Donna gave me back in Colorado. Thank you Donna!

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4. The first song I wrote on the CD was “Don’t Cry Alone” and it has a very moving story. I wrote it during Easter while getting my haircut (funny place to write a song!). I’d known the girl cutting my hair on 2nd street in Long Beach, CA for a while but that weekend she was feeling down. She told me her ex-husband had her two children in Florida that weekend and she felt really sad. I asked what she was going to do for Easter and she said “I’m going to go home, put on my pj’s, eat chocolate, watch sad movies and cry alone.” I wrote the song as a way for me to say I can’t do much about that, no one really can, but I can offer you myself, my presence as you cut my hair and I want to tell you “don’t cry alone”, I’m crying with you. The song says “i wanna do something that says to you/dont cry alone/life has been changing/i can’t seem to slow it down/don’t turn around/i wanna do something/that says to you/don’t cry alone.

5. The last track on the CD is “I’ve Said It All This Time” and for me it’s my most intimate song. It starts with a unique intro as a musical tribute to my Nicaraguan/Spanish/Latino roots. The song came out of nowhere, I was literally in the basement of our house in Colorado on a cold winter night under my famous red blanket (Cary Sowers!). I was almost done with another song I was writing when suddenly, out of nowhere, this song came out. It was one of those moments when the song felt it had already been written somewhere else and I just wrote it down. The part that moves me the most is where it says “there are somethings/that’ve never been said/i must say/where were you/where were you/look at what it’s done/look at what you’ve done/ Every time I sing that it gives me goose bumps, it’s just an honest song during a time of doubt.