Sometimes songs just take awhile. Case in point:”Welcome Back (to the Land of the Living),” the title track from the new record.

Here’s the backstory: Years ago, I had a good pal who would occasionally “go dark” (his words) and not respond to phone, text, email for weeks and weeks at a time. He later told me in confidence that he suffered from bouts of depression, and he’d resurface when all was better. It’s how he dealt with it. I came up with that title – and a song – that never went anywhere, so I shelved it.

Fast forward to the golden years of the Covid pandemic. I had a couple of songs (“Day Drinking Days,” “See You On the Other Side”) that talked about the early days, but I wanted a tune to celebrate when the thing finally subsided. I brought out that title and wrote this “Welcome Back,” anthem-like piece. Fun fact: I wrote this in late 2020, because everything was going to be fine. Of course, that was premature, so I figured “maybe in 2021….er…maybe 2022?” I finally released it on the new record this past spring.

The tune also goes over well live. People can relate.