Dreams Die Hard liner notes.

I don't really know where to begin.
2007 was a bad year for me. It began at the end of 2006, actually, when I was hospitalized a couple of times because of a worsening heart condition. I had quit my steady job of 12 years, partially because of my health and partially to start a business with my then partner. In 2007, while I was attempting to recuperate from my illness and medical procedures, the relationship and the business fell apart. Within the the space of a year, I had 4 different jobs, including the business - instead of the steady employment I had known before. Then someone totaled my car. During this time of upheaval, I don't think anyone knew how close I came to throwing in the towel - so to speak.
Thank goodness for my friend Chuck. Maybe he sensed the state I was in. I dunno. He came over with his recording gear and said "let's work on something." You know, just trying to keep my spirits up.
Like I said, thank goodness for him.
So, that's how this recording came about.
I wasn't feeling well at all, especially at the beginning, but we set a casual pace and carried out our sessions in my living room. I had written a few songs in the hospital and while recovering at home. And I had some songs that had been lying about for nearly 30 years. So, we started knocking them out.
I used 4 different guitars on his project. None of them were high quality (to be diplomatic), one was broken, one was a small scale beginner's model and all were borrowed - as I had no acoustic of my own. Somehow it all seemed apropos.
I just wanted to mention that the song "Brothers in Search" was written, in the late 70s, for my friend Tommy. Little did I know that within a couple of years, he would be gone. I think about him almost every day.
One other thing: if you listen closely, you can hear a clock ticking in the background on some of the songs. As I said before, we recorded in my home and we kept forgetting to take the clock off of the wall. That also seems fitting, somehow. Like a heart beating. Like time slipping away.
I'm still trying to adapt to this new reality. I'm not the same person I was just a few years ago. I'm having a hard time, but I'm hanging in there. Thank you Chuck for providing these distractions for me. I don't think my late friend Tommy would have minded me inviting you into our club (B.I.S.).

Jimmi Blue 2008