I'd Love To Be Able To Be

A Few Years Ago, When I Was Writing Songs For My First Album, I Was Staying With Michael Feinstein As I Often Did. I Was Working On A Pilot. My Grandma Was Very Sick At The Time. She Died Of Complications From Alcoholism. She Always Used To Say [in His Grandma's Voice], "red Wine Is Good For My Heart. That's What My Doctor Said." And We'd Say, "yeah, But Not For Breakfast." Unfortunately, It Was The Thing That Killed Her. I Felt Inspired To Write A Song About Her And What That Meant For Her Life And For All Of Us. I Was Writing It In Michael's House.

People May Have Said, "the Dude's Gay; How Are We Going To Market This?" But It's Not An Issue For Me, Because Being Out Is Very Freeing.

I'm A Broadway Baby, Through And Through. It's My First Love, And It's What Brought Me To New York In The First Place.

I'm Definitely Drawn To Things That Are New, So Something Specifically For Me Would Have Been Fun.

Michael, From 'six Dance Lessons...' He Was Somebody Who Had A Lot Of Self-loathing; Being A Gay Man Who Lost His Family And Felt Ostracized. It Was An Interesting Character To Play. He Was So Bitter And Jaded About Life. Even Though I'm Not Like That Personally, Everybody Has A Side Of Themselves That Tends To Look At The Negative Side Of Things. He Was An Interesting Character To Play.