In the fall of 2020 I got a call I never expected.

Mia Dyson had just had a heart attack and, after being successfully resuscitated, was recovering in the hospital. An earthquake had struck Los Angeles and given her system a jolt that an undiagnosed heart condition was unable to bear - going from a deep sleep to very wide awake.

Brendan Willing James’ ‘In the Colors’ is out now on our label Echo Magic.

This is an album of firsts.

Looking back through photos from that time I’m reminded that my wife and I were still parents of our first and only child. That's the big first.

It was also the first session I got to do with Mikael Jorgensen from Wilco on keys.

I spent most of 2020 taking a year off from the music business. It became clear as we locked down and closed up that I would be fighting an upstream battle to try to force the music business to come to me and after 20 years at it, a break was well-earned.

Much as it was for me growing up inside the music business, they too are seeing the possibility of a life in and around art -- sometimes asking me questions that make us laugh - like if I know Bob (Marley) or John (Lennon) - but filling me with pride that they see knowing those two legends of music as much a plausible possibility as anything else.Much as it was for me growing up inside the music business, my kids too are seeing the possibility of a life in and around art -- sometimes asking me questions that make us laugh - like if I know Bob (Marley) or John (Lennon) - but filling me with pride that they see knowing those two legends of music as much a plausible possibility as anything else.