In 2007, a man who was a major influence on my professional life, my writing, my musical growth — Doug Riley — passed away at the age of 62. He received the Order of Canada in recognition of the tremendous influence he had on the Canadian music scene.

In my mourning, a song came to me in the early morning hours, three days after his death. It nearly wrote itself. The song took on a life of its own, and within three weeks — 43 singers and a 12 piece band — went into Phase One Recording Studios and recorded this song entitled “Song For the Doctor” (Doug was known to many of us as Doctor Music).