I first met Nora in 2002. She was ready to put out a new album, and for reasons unknown to me, she thought I was the person to produce it although we had never properly met. The first song she brought in that day was What I Want. I did the things I naturally do. The song was catchy and unique, but needed a cut here, beats added there, a modulation, a lyrics tweak, a chord change. What I Want became the roots-tinged, anthemic title track to the only album we released together and the signature song of all of her shows thereafter.

Nora and I hit it off and worked together on many projects and a lot of special music, until she tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2016. That same year we lost Steve Tarshis, Nora’s favorite guitar player, who played on all her material and became the beloved guitar teacher to my son, Jack, who also appears on this album.

After What I Want, Nora kept on coming up with ideas for albums and music theater shows, and we kept recording songs. However, we never actually set about finishing another record, as often Nora was onto the next project before the previous one had fully flowered. When I first met Nora she thought of herself as a song interpreter/mash-up artist first and a songwriter second. I encouraged her to focus more on original material.

This album is made up of mostly original songs:

Amelia was a ‘test’ song for a musical she imagined about Amelia Earhart.

Earliest Memory and Rain Came Down were written for a theatrical musical evening about climate change that we workshopped at the BRIC Arts center in Brooklyn.

We wrote Rome is Burning for a music theater piece titled Jump, about Sarah Bernhardt and the creation of the play Tosca.

Two songs on this album were put together in a single afternoon. All Down Here From Here was a demo for season two of the TV series Klimaweschel that Nora’s dear friend Doris Dörrie had written and directed. Rainstorm in June was expanded from the theme song we wrote for Klimawschel’s first season.

The album also includes two covers that I think represent Nora at her finest as a song interpreter.
The Prince classic Nothing Compares to U was demoed for another singer to perform. When I went back and listened to this, I decided to put it out just the way we did it that afternoon, with no extra sweetening.

The remainder of the songs were recorded with Nora’s band in my little studio that Nora was never quite happy with. I added some post-production love and I think they have much to offer.

As I edit and mix these tracks, Nora's voice emerges from my speakers, just as present and alive as if she were just now in my vocal room 15 feet away. I miss her.

— Jamie Lawrence, 1/24/2019