When my wife and I came back from New Mexico, we were thrilled to see friends and family again. Nothing against New Mexico. Even though I earned my engineering degrees there, had a ton of friends in Albuquerque, and had a lot of fun rockin' out in college, it wasn't home for the both of us.
My wife and I are a team. We go through things together. So, when it was time to come back to Pensacola, it was time to come back to Pensacola, you know?
The stars aligned, and bingo! Within a few months, we found a nice beach cottage fixer upper, and moved in.
I knew after a few months of settling in, it was time to start getting back into music. This time more seriously. It came to me that I should write an album. The first time ever.
So, writing an entire album, mixing and mastering it, learning how to sing better, play guitar better, playing all of the instruments, (including ukulele) was very challenging. I often say if it weren't for Phil Thomas Katt, there would be nothing worth listening to. I mean it.
But it started with the songs. I wanted to say to Pensacola Beach, which has always been home for my wife and I, "Man, did I miss you." I missed everything about this place. Yes, even the humidity. Matter of fact, I still miss playing out in the club circuit. Maybe one day.
And that's how the title of the song, "U Dunno Whut U Got" popped into my head. I used to have a lot of fun around here. And I missed it. So, that song was the first one I wrote, even though it's at the bottom half of the album. But, the thing was I couldn't write a song simply about coming back home.
So, I switched the meaning of the song to financial education and Wall Street, and how they create conditions to pollute everything they touch including our beach. Remember the Horizon incident, and how much oil washed up on our beach? All about money, my friend. Some of my family lost their shirts on that deal.
And from there, I knew the album was going to be personal. Pensacola Beach belongs to us all. If we want it to stay open, we must take care of it.
My wife did the cover art. And gave me advice on what to do in certain areas where I got stuck musically. And because she's an artist, she has instincts about things. If it weren't for her, many of the songs would fall flat.
And that's the rest of the story. My wife and I do things together, and everything always comes out better than if we did things alone.