Musically this song was inspired by a Christmas gift of a harmonium. The harmonium is an Indian/middle eastern instrument that acts as the drowning force in the song. I'm certain that this song wouldn't have turned out the way it did if I wrote it on guitar or piano. The simply nature of not having any chord changes really forced me to write a melody that told the entire story. That Harmonium is so cool!

From a content standpoint, "The Stars & Glitter" was inspired in large part to a conversation I had with Ani DiFranco. Ani said to me that as a songwriter it's imperative to write the songs that "NEED to be sung." I've always just written what I want to write but never looked at my craft in that way before. That one conversation really re-navigated my writing this year. The inspiration to write this particular song came from a walk around Washington D.C. while I was spending a bunch of time there and I finished the song in Ellis Paul's kitchen a few weeks later.

Washington D.C. really confused me because the hardships in the country that I saw on tour where not the hardships being discussed in Washington. It was like walking into a dense haze of myopia. I would travel the country and see hard working families lose their home, jobs, pride and then I'd visit Washington D.C. and see someone pay $80 for a shrimp. It made me react with this song.