My new album, If Only, is a collection of music that I’ve written throughout the past five years. What makes this album so exciting for me is that it’s my first solo release. In deciding what to name this album I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life experience so far. From time to time I found myself wondering, if only… I know that almost everyone wonders that same thing on occasion. Although we can’t change the past, our best resource for the future is learning from those experiences to form better habits and make wiser decisions. These songs are my most personal expressions of the lows and highs in my life. I hope they lift you to your highest! If Only… Rahn If Only This is one of my favorite songs on the album. The entire song is based around a simple yet beautiful motif. Listen close, as this motif is the first three notes in the melody of the song. All throughout you’ll hear that pattern as it moves and manifests. Ana b’hebbek This song is dedicated to my mother. I owe a lot of my musical talent to her. Not only is she a very gifted musician herself, when I was young she made sure I found time to practice the piano. She understood just how important it would be. To this day I am very grateful. Recently my family discovered that a huge part of our ancestry comes from Lebanon. I can’t think of a better way than to say to my mom, Ana b’hebbek… I Love You! Nahara From a compositional standpoint, this song was the most difficult piece on the album to write. I wanted it to stand out from the others in some way. After three grueling months and almost giving up on it, I finally completed it. While I was writing this song, someone close to me passed away. She loved horses and had many of them. She always came up with clever names for her horses. One name in particular always stood out to me, Nahara, which means, “light.” Like a River I love to spend time outdoors. One of my favorite places in nature is to sit peacefully beside the gentle sounds of a river. Its flow is unchanging, everlasting, always to be expected, that it sounds like a river. Karried Away This song is probably the most significant song on the album. While living in my friend’s basement after moving to Atlanta, I wrote this song. The process was effortless and re-inspired me to start writing music again. In many ways it’s responsible for inspiring me complete this album. I debated whether or not I should change the name of this song. I originally wrote it for my fiancé at the time. Although we have long since departed, this song represents a time in my life that helps define who I am today. All of You I often get asked to play the music for wedding ceremonies. While I was finishing up this song I was preparing the music for a wedding. I decided that the perfect name would be, All of You. Eudaimonia This song actually goes way back. I wrote it during my freshman year in college over 15 years ago. There was a grand piano located in a large room in the center of campus. I used to go there sometimes late at night just to play that piano. It had a very rich sound produced by the room’s natural reverb. Although I wrote several songs during that time, this song in particular has always stood out to me. Forever and Always This song always makes me feel good when I play or listen to it. I hope it does for you too. This was the last song I wrote right before a very difficult breakup. It represents the beginning of a very painful time in my life. The title comes from a poem that was very personal to me. Prelude This is the most recent song on the album. The interesting thing about this song is that I set out to write another song and out came this one instead. When I write music, I like to imagine in my mind what it will sound like. The song it was meant to be is still in my head waiting to come out. But now the vision is clear. This song leads into the one I meant to write, hence the name, Prelude.