My Story - Part 4: Dry Spell & New Hope

Well, life had a few more plot twists in store.

My wife and I bought a house, full of potential… and, of course, a leaky roof. What is it with me and leaky roofs? (Seriously!)
Anyway, we didn’t have the money to hire anyone, so we rolled up our sleeves and did all the work ourselves. Every floor board, every wall, every ceiling - we were in deep. Puzzle For Peace was on hold.

All the physical labour started to take its toll. I developed a muscle and nerve inflammation in my shoulder, and it became clear I had to step back from performing. That hurt, more than I cared to admit. But music never really leaves you. It just finds another way to show up again.

So, I shifted gears. I took on more teaching, expanded my days, and began developing a full syllabus for guitar, piano, music theory, and composition, tailored for music schools. It became a new kind of creativity: building musical foundations for others while trying to stay grounded myself.

Then came the rest of the house. More refurbishment, more doing it all ourselves. And just when things were starting to settle, COVID hit.

During lockdown, I fell playing football with my daughter — right on my already damaged shoulder. What began as an injury evolved into a full-blown frozen shoulder. To make matters worse, my body didn’t react well to the COVID vaccinations. Physically and emotionally, I spiraled. I found myself in a deep hole I didn’t know how to climb out of.

But I kept teaching. It became my lifeline. I started consulting with music schools on how to survive the pandemic — helping them adapt, digitise, and keep their communities together. Out of that, a new idea formed: I started my own business - Art Inspire Music - with the long-term vision of creating an app to support music schools and students. It gave me purpose, even if I wasn’t in the best place personally.

In September 2024, something shifted. A good friend, Lorcan Falls, asked if I’d play a pub cover gig with him. I hesitated — my shoulder still ached from time to time, but I said yes. Something told me I needed it.

That one gig changed everything.

We formed an acoustic duo, TerraSonic2, and started playing regular pub shows. And just like that, I felt a spark again. My shoulder had improved. My energy returned. I felt... alive.

Before my injury, I used to go on multi-day hiking trips through Ireland and the Alps. I’d always taken photos and video, capturing the beauty and stillness of those places. One day, I started looking through the old footage and something inside me stirred. That’s when the inspiration hit: I created my 'Why Wall'. It was like watching a version of myself I’d almost forgotten. The Wall revealed one important answer I was searching for all that time:

I didn’t just want to play covers, I needed to write again. To express. To create something that was mine.

In March 2025 I started composing again, and a new piece of music was born: 'Panoramic Preview', my first personal release in years. It went live in early June 2025.

And with it, everything changed again.

...to be continued...