There were a lot of things which lead to 'The Words that Brought Us Here.' There was the failed grunge band that was so bad my Grandmother asked for a refund on her CD purchase. There were countless 4-track recordings of failed ideas & songs. There was the year I engineered at a recording studio. There was the tour with the pop-punk band where I was their acting manager. There were numerous breaks from music, a few side projects, and a couple of short-lived rock bands. There were numerous shows where I hammered out my songs for less than 10 people. There was a friend's reaction to my talk of hiring someone to record my new songs, which lead me to purchase equipment and record myself.