In Scotland over many years we have cultivated through our justice system what I hope can be described as a 'culture of compassion.' On the other hand there still exists in many parts of the U.S. if not nationally an attitude towards the concept of justice which can only be described as a 'culture of vengeance.'

We assume that we've come so far as compassionate citizens of the world if we do choose to read the news yet the attitude towards life can be one where we put blinders on and forget that there are civil wars going on. It's easy to forget that there are so many people starving to death every single day.

For me music is a vehicle to bring our pain to the surface getting it back to that humble and tender spot where with luck it can lose its anger and become compassion again.

Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.