It was just a little while ago that I was quietly strumming my acoustic guitar in my dimly lit living room at 2am – writing the first few bars to Overwhelmed. My wife Khaili had gone to bed early, and I was up just thinking about how amazing our lives together had been so far. Maybe more on that some other time for those who are interested.
I wasn’t sitting there thinking about how to write a really great love song, I wasn’t thinking about a music video or even a song for an album, but simply about my wife and our lives together from the first day we met.
I would like to say that I slaved over the song, but in all honesty the melody and lyrics came quickly and effortlessly. It’s easy to write a song about someone you’re madly in love with.
I played the song to Khaili the very next morning and I remember her beaming all the way through. What amazes me is that to this day Khaili listens to all of my demos, the songs I scrap and the polished versions of every recording…but still listens to every song with the kind of enthusiasm like it’s the first time she heard me play and sing.
I want those of you who are reading this to know that the song and music video are as real as it gets. The girl in the video – that’s Khaili if you didn’t figure it out yet. Those places in the video are actually places we go together… and yes, we even eat sushi at the place in the video too (and no, I am not telling you where it is!) Of course there is a certain production side that must happen to produce a music video, but I believe the reason so many people connected with the video is because it feels genuine. It feels genuine, because it is genuine. When I watch the video, it’s more like watching a home video then anything.
I’m writing this today just as the Overwhelmed music video surpasses it’s 1,000,000th view on YouTube. It has been amazing to watch the number grow and has greatly surpassed my expectations. More importantly however, it has been simply astonishing how many people have been able to relate to the video in their own relationships.
The comments, emails and support of fans around the world has come in by the thousands and has been extremely humbling.
So, with all that said I believe a few “thank yous” are definitely in order:
Thank you to all of the friends and fans who have purchased the song, sharing it with others and spreading the word as you go …especially to those of you who listen to the song on repeat all day long and force it upon anyone in your path… whether they like the song or not – a special place in my heart is reserved for you, haha.
Thank you to all of you who are now following my music and wrote to me sharing amazing stories of your own – and to all the couples using Overwhelmed as their wedding song. I go to bed each night now happily knowing I can retire from my current career to be a full time wedding singer! I have seriously lost count of the number of requests that have come in.
Thank you to those of you who love the song so much you are making your own covers on YouTube. I think I may have watched every one of them at one point or another, so if you have made one, I’ve seen it!
Thank you to Samuel Adams for using the song in their awesome commercial! Without the exposure from the ad, I don’t think I would be making a post about a million views! Well….maybe not this soon.
Thank you to the radio stations who have played and continue to play the song. As you know, the exposure is so valuable for an indie artist!
Thank you to the fans who were around before Overwhelmed, who are patiently waiting for me to move on to new material 🙂 (which is coming soon by the way!)
Most importantly, thank you to my wife Khaili, who stood by me in the many years of struggle – believing that the days of success would eventually come. You have no idea how much money she let me waste on music gear when we needed it for other things! But we made it girl, it’s finally here 🙂
So many people have written, so many I have lost count, telling me how Overwhelmed has changed their lives. In the end however, I believe that all of you combined have changed my life far greater then my music has changed yours.
Oh…., and I really mean what I said at the end of the video – Love Never Fails.
NEVER give up!
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