“Another Step”, by the Martin Lechner Band, with two lyrics that I wrote

"Another Step", the new album by singer Martin Lechner's band with Dave Feusi on tenor saxophone, Roland Köppel on piano, Patrick Sommer on bass, and Andreas Schnyder on drums, begins with two songs that Martin and I wrote together: "Black Bird" and "Magpies". In each case, two older eight-line poems of mine caught Martin's attention, and he began to set them to music. But then he wanted more lyrics, so I had to find my way back into two poems that had long since seemed finished to me. But I managed to write more than he needed, and then he picked out parts he liked and put them in the songs. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 16 May 2024)