STAY WITH ME: A Dream 32 Years in the Making

The dream continues in video form when you click or tap the image.

In 1994, as Grunge blew up in Seattle and the Gulf War exploded, I spent nearly all my money and gave all I had to make an independent CD. In the preceding years, after dropping out of university and picking up a guitar, I’d had a band called Oh Yeah—with great players I loved—and written a batch of songs that I hoped would connect with people. My creativity reflected my brain and my soul,

both being packed with big ideas and a blend of spirituality, politics and desire—and a bulging suitcase of neuroses that is to this day only partially unpacked.

Point of neurotic fact: I remain one of the few (maybe the only) lead singers in the annals of rock ’n’ roll history to not get laid over a three-year period as a live performer, touring and having a small fan base. I have no idea what that says about me (or the music), but it does add resonance to the song you’re about to hear: Stay With Me.

Of all the songs, my gut said Stay With Me should be the first single. I produced it to make the poppiest pop I could pop, but still be original and cool.

But when the CD was finally pressed, a crisis of confidence, distraction and neuroses got in the way. More importantly, so did a stunning lack of marketing. Of those four things, only one do I not excel at. I simply didn’t get the CD out to record companies or even media.

I am undeniably a distracted, compulsive, creative soul—but not strategic. I was just then completing my first novel, which would also be published that year, and my brain was filled with new songs. Like a train-hopping vagabond, I had moved on.

All excuses aside, I present to you the video for Stay With Me—the video that should have been made in 1994 but had to wait until the spring of 2026, with a much older me trying to look cooler and less hairy than my back and nose care to admit.

The filmmaker, my dear friend, and dare I say huge fan of my music—the brilliant Gina Chiarelli—demanded I do videos for all of my songs. We’ve called it the Almost Live Sessions. As of today, we have made little movies for 23 of my songs, past and present, this video series flickering on my site. I believe it's worth checking out, even just to witness the late yet ongoing unfolding of another person's dreams, and perhaps remind you to get yours going.

So I give you Stay With Me.

But the power resides with you. Could Stay With Me have been a sleeper hit? A cult classic? A one-hit wonder? A big waste of marketing money? My dreams from 1994 are in your hands…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_sG9-hT1t8

Do You Have a Story in You? Yes is the answer.

Last week was a sweet week for a couple of reasons. I just released two new books on the creative process — 

Hey, Writer. 

And Hey, Songwriter. 

They're creative guides for anyone (experienced or inexperienced) who has a story, a song, or an idea living inside them that hasn't been birthed into the world yet. Who doesn't? Not because the talent or the idea wasn't there — but because nobody told you it can be done. 

It can be done. 

Or maybe life got in the way, as it does. Or fear. Or you're experienced as a writer, but lost the spark and joy somewhere along the way (asking for a friend).

How do I know your idea can come to life? That’s the crux of this post.

Last week when I  launched the books, Understanding Ken — a novel I wrote sometime in the Jurassic period — hit #1 Amazon Bestseller in Hockey. 

I didn't plan that at all. I wish I could.

But it turns out to be perfect. Understanding Ken is the proof of concept behind everything I wrote in the Hey books. In my early twenties, I had no idea there was a novel in me. Or music. Or screenplays. Or films. I was bumbling my way through life (still am). 

Then one day I just... started.

And that's the whole point. In Hey Writer, Anthony Hopkins says this about the artistic process: “Acting to me is a kind of confidence trick. Art and writing are the same. You have to con yourself into doing it and it transmits over the resistance of thought and worry and anxiety. Just do it. And your brain says: good.”

I met Anthony and he told me he loved Facing Ali, a documentary I wrote and directed. So I have to believe him. Of course, what he says is true. Nothing gets a person over the fear of doing more than doing.

If you or you know someone who has a desire to create more, one or both of these books will help a lot.

If you do pick up a copy, a review on Amazon means everything for an independent book — it's how the words find their way to new readers.

Check them out… 

Hey, Writer — https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0H29C9QRV

Hey, Songwriter — https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0H2FCCCY1

Some of you I know well. And I want you to know — if you feel that creative tug, it's real. Your story is worth telling.

Hope to see you down the creative road.

Pete

SHARK! Where? BC! What...?

A 16-foot female Great White shark named ‘Kara’ has been tracked winding its way through British Columbia waters (cue JAWS theme). Cover the pool! Drain the bathtub! Call the kids in!

In honour and awe of her large arrival, I offer a video I recorded for writers and non-writers about the magic of JAWS and the miracle of resilience.

Full disclosure, I was a shark fanatic in the '70s. Childhood fanaticism is a pure joy, hard to find in adulthood. Anyone else fanatical about stuff when you were a kid?

Click on the photo: