Behind the 3rd single: “Christmas in California” (dropping 12/23/25)

Although it’s the holiday time, it definitely not the best time of the year for a lot of people, including me. So much happened over the years, during the holidays, that it’s more of a burden than a blessing. And, if there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that I’m not alone in how I feel around this time.

So, I decided to release a very different holiday song, than most are used to hearing during the holidays. A song I wrote while living in Venice Beach, California (circa 2001) as I witnessed a pretty horrific thing. Something that, growing up on the east coast, never quite felt like the holidays.

It was hard to look at.

I wound up walking down an alley, to go play guitar on the strip in Venice Beach, and noticed a quadriplegic man on a skateboard, screaming obscenities and flailing around like a fish. Unsure whether it was even safe to approach him, he eventually hobbled away on this skateboard murmuring random things under his breathe.

Although I witnessed this, first hand, the story itself unfolded in a completely different way than I had originally thought (as I put pen to paper). Mostly, to make a point that I myself was struggling with at that time.

And that’s where the story begins:

“I met an elf wearing a Santa suit in California. He stood 3 feet tall, painted pictures outside a wall of faces, of all places he could be, he stood there right in front of me.”

The main point?

Working in advertising and marketing for over a decade, we’re somehow taught that only during the holiday is the time to celebrate and be grateful for all the things we have.

And, for me, it took seeing someone have it a LOT worse than me, to realize that we don’t have to wait for Christmas or any holiday, (for that matter), to celebrate.

It’s not to say we’re not entitled to feel bad, frustrated, or mad. We are. Even despite the fact that we have it better than some. It’s that, “we don’t need to wait for that December 25th date,” to celebrate all we do have.

So that’s where this story ends:

“I met an elf wearing a Santa suit in California. He stood 3 feet tall, painted pictures outside a wall of faces, of all places he could be, I still wonder, what if that was you? And I still wonder, what if that was me?”

I hope you like it.