When Hanna was pregnant with Atlas, we sang to her belly and jumped with excitement as Atlas bumped with every note. And as Atlas entered our world, we’ve continued singing to her just to watch her marvel at the majesty of music that we all typically take for granted.

Music has always been an important creative (and mental) outlet for me growing up. Some of my fondest childhood memories with my dad involved him putting on records, teaching me guitar, and letting me wail radio hits as we cruised in our '91 Honda Accord. There’s no question why The Beatles and that entire era of music — my dad’s era — has stayed so close to my heart through the years.

And with Atlas, music has continued to take on new meaning for me. Every grin, grunt, and growl that follows the strum of my guitar warms my heart to no end. The moments we create through music are subtle yet palpable, lasting yet fleeting.

I’m reminded of some sage advice I received to use more than photography to capture these everyday moments. Sure, to capture her endless expressions in photos is priceless, but to relive them with motion and sound pays back in spades for a lifetime.

I’m also reminded often that as a dad, every one of these moments with Atlas are a gift given to me by the strength and dedication of someone who had to work a lot harder than me to make them happen. Quite literally, without Hanna, these moments could not exist. To not share them seems a little unjust.

And so, for Hanna’s first Mother’s Day, I wanted to try to capture a slice of what I’m so grateful for. If not to express my love through lyrics and chords, then to pay tribute to hers through a collaboration that was only made possible with her leadership.

I call this project Songs with Atlas and it’s a small collection of my favorite songs to play with Atlas. If you can look past my imperfect pitch and occasional fumbles, you’ll find the voices of two people who owe my wife everything.

Happy Mother’s Day to Hanna and all the incredible mothers out there. Today and every day, may we celebrate the one who gave us our first stage to sing on.

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