The story behind the song.

Just last week we had a local flood in Southern Ohio. Someone told me it happens every ten years or so, one or two feet of water, affects many people who own stores especially. We were warned Saturday to move things off the floor if needed or move to a friend's house. The flood ended up not hitting us specifically, but affected places all along the river from here to Louisville. 

​It's amazing how even something like can shape our lives. Only a few months ago, hurricanes in Texas and Florida were reminding us of how quickly everything can change. The things that happen overnight can leave a long impact. 

But what's even more amazing to me is the fact that people still live in these areas that are plagued by floods and hurricanes. For whatever reason, whether it is that they don't have the resources to leave, don't know where to go, or have other ties, these people survive where they are. On the island where my parents are from, Taiwan, typhoons and earthquakes are a regular occurrence. 

Their resilience is a testimony to all of us. Listen to the song.

We are reminded that when events have seemingly swept away everything we have, there is still something or someone left in us.

It is wise to accept our limitations, but also wise to remember where our strength comes from. We were created in the image of God, with His love, strength, creativity, and resourcefulness. We were also made to be relational like Him. When we have no belongings, we look within at the resources He has put in us. When we have nothing left in us, we look without to the people He has blessed us with. When we don't have them, we are brought back to Him, pushed to re-discover the Source of everything good. 

I hope this song helps us to not forget the trials that our fellow people endure each day and encourages us to not only be there from them, but to also learn to be strong from them and because of them. ​

​Making "Completely" was a landmark experience for me. In the past years, I have never done all the things I knew to do on the same track - I was always just focused on practicing one skill or another. This time, I did it all:

- Getting inspiration from a real life event in the USA
- Brainstorming arrangements
- Identifying and using a reference track
- Working with someone who could partially cover the producer's role
- Tracking
- Editing timing, silence, and fades
- Comping takes
- Adjusting vocals
- Finding a drummer, tracking, and translating his ideas (see credits)
- Finding a violinist, tracking her ideas, and arranging
- Tracking friends to synthesize a choir
- Mixing

And it took so long! The amount of time spent on this track definitely paid off in terms of satisfaction. 

I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all - not just the music, but the entire experience from the events that inspired it to the people whose touch in the music also affected me in a wonderful way. 

You can already listen to the song here under the music tab, but I will be offering it as a download along with the rest of the demos I released in the past few months for all supporters of my Patreon project which is my attempt to make this journey we are all on more of a two way street. 

Please listen and let me know if you can join my creative team as a listener, supporter, influencer, or other through Patreon. ​