In early 2015 I attended a funeral for a man that I had served with for many years. He was a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran, a mentor to many of us in our military unit, and had become an Army Chaplain along the path of his military service. Half way through the funeral service, the pastor revealed that Bill’s death had been a suicide. That revelation hit us like a freight train.

Later that evening I stood around a campfire with some of my dearest friends. One of them (who happened to be a Battalion Commander at the time) looked at me through watery eyes and said, “Zeke, you’ve got to write a song that speaks to the suicide issue among our troops”. His unit had lost two young soldiers to suicide in the previous year in the wake of a deployment to Iraq. 

Thus, began the journey that is this song. It took me two years to write “Restless Heart”. I had to dive into a dark place to try and get my hands around it. The first year ended in a failed attempt and I hit the delete button on everything I had done up to that point; I just didn’t feel like I had done it justice. At the end of the second year, I had reached that same point but for some reason, instead of deleting the song I sent it to a great friend, Scott Mann, (founder of “The Heroes Journey”). Scott called me from where he was working in Washington D.C. and told me that he had listened to the song while on break, looking out over Arlington National Cemetery. He said, “Zeke, you are coming to Tampa to record this in our studio”. 

Scott and his incredible team brought this thing to life. Wes Dearth added an awesome guitar solo and produced the song, alongside Mark Prator on drums and Brian Sutherland on the cello. Then Scott took it to the next level and made an amazing suicide outreach video for Veterans, folding in the story of a brave young Marine named Andrew Einstein 

As hard as this song was to write, I am thankful to have been a part of it. Through the darkness and self-doubt, something emerged that is collectively bigger than any one part of it. And the most important part; it is making a difference for those who are struggling. Several have reached out and connected after hearing this song, allowing us to help them find better ground. That is what makes all of this so worthwhile… 

Thanks to all involved, especially Scott Mann and his foundation, The Heroes Journey, and my dear friend Chad for believing in me enough to even ask…