Streetlight Smile is my 6th solo album, and my first one in 8 years. The music was written from 2008 - 2011, and recorded from 2011-2014. AS usual, I play most of the guitar, all of the bass, and a drum track. There are 6 different guest singers, 1 guest guitarist, 2 guest drummers and 1 guest saxplayer, as well as 2009 outtake/jam from one of my past bands.

Streetlight Smile refers to the smile traffic lights and streetlights tend to make at night due to the perspective. The traffic lights look like the eyes, while the roadside streetlights appearing to get narrower the farther away they are look like a sort of smile. The idea came to me while driving home after a night of concert-going at a certain intersection I always drive through. The song became a name dropper of local band and venues at the time, as I wanted to describe my favorite local Cleveland bands to see and places to go see them at.

A few milestones happened while making this album. I turned 40 in early 2014. I also lost my mother in mid 2013 and then my father in mid 2014. The inside tray photo is from my parents 25th wedding anniversary. I was 19 years old at the time, and it's a great photo of the three of us. The promo photo for the album was shot at my dads old studio in downtown Cleveland which is now up for sale. Dad had taken all my promo photos going back to my first EP in 1993, so I thought since he can't do it anymore at least the building can be used.