Nick Swatson

What if you're destined for greatness?

What if you're stronger than you think you are?

What if you have nothing to worry about?

What if you make your dreams come true?

What if...?

"What If?" is the name of my first full album featuring ten unique songs that I wrote, recorded, and produced with no outside assistance. It is designed to be listened to in order. I didn't plan anything about the album in advance - it all just happened spontaneously as I went. It is meant to be a collection of tracks that document the rollercoaster of emotions people feel in young adulthood: discovering who you are and what you truly believe, realizing what you are passionate about, falling in and out of love, attempting to make sense of what you should and would be willing to devote your time and energy to in this life.

Around your mid-twenties, you start to realize that the world that was promised to you as a child is not typically the reality. That your ambitions of becoming a professional athlete, famous actor, accomplished astronaut, or President of the United States are not, in fact, destined to come true. That you probably won't become a millionaire with a mansion and a yacht by the time you hit 30. And most of us abandon our lofty goals as soon as we are provided a practical and stable future. We watch as an elite few of us ascend to the top in one of the athletic, entertainment, or corporate fields we care about and assume those people are simply blessed with either divine talent or immense luck.

I've found that dreaming big is always encouraged when we are kids. But for some reason, that stops when we reach an age where we are expected to live and behave a certain way. "You can do anything you set your mind to" becomes "you need to be realistic." No one pushes for us to take a chance. We are told to ignore or suspend our passions so that we can support a lifestyle that we don't really want anyway.

This album is for those of us who refuse to be "normal." Who want to make a life for ourselves that revolves around the people and activities that make us feel truly alive. We all receive a limited time on this earth, and the last thing we should want is to look back on our life and realize we never accomplished any of the incredible feats that we were destined for, but too afraid to try.

Open that business. Audition for that role. Ask that person out. Start finally practicing that hobby that interests you. Find something that makes you beam with excitement about waking up in the morning because you can't wait to do it. We all have greatness inside of us. It's just a matter of unleashing it.

Take a chance. Leave a legacy.

- Nick Swatson -