For a variety of reasons, Don Cash's band Mars Slingshot never achieved the potential that Rick Koster saw in them when he wrote

an article for The Day more than 20 years ago. Cash, a prolific songwriter, persevered through the death of his longtime bandmate and best friend Art Falconi. He recorded several new songs during the pandemic, and takes us through the creation of one of them. "Mask of Love" started out as a jazzy take on the politics of mask wearing, but became a more pop-oriented love song.