I don't consider myself to be a dismal person, nor would I call myself “toxically positive.” These days I find a good degree of peace through gratitude and human connection. That said, my heart has been heavy as of late with the advent of AI-generated music and "art" in general. I don't want to go on a tirade about that now, though, not that it wouldn't be warranted. Yes, society is becoming increasingly schizoid, and humans are increasingly disconnected from one another, and AI “art” would seem to be a manifestation of this in its most virulent form. That said, I find my hope in the smaller pockets of daily interactions I have with others, as well as the connections and bonds we form, so rather than focusing on why misused AI is a danger to an already degraded society, I want to focus on why human connection is not just important to art, but can serve as the very foundation of it.

I have been relatively open about having been on a very long hiatus from music and writing until two years ago. Early trauma played a heavy role in the dissociation that made songwriting feel like pushing a spherical boulder up a mountain, not in the sense that I wasn't creative, but in the sense it just didn't seem to matter anymore, and the fatigue and episodic memory loss I experienced was, for many years, a seemingly insurmountable force to me.

Thankfully, over the past few years I unexpectedly made major headway in my troubles thanks to a combination of psychiatry and human connection. I never had expected a recovery, but here it was. As a result, waves of new music sprang out of me like some kind of uncontainable force. For the first time since my youth, creation was fueling me and I was not fueling it, with the little energy I had. There was another component, though, very possibly the most important one: Along the way I was forging new friendships and bonds that were as meaningful and deep as any I had forged over the course of the many years before. Some of these would be transient and passing, and some would become longer term connections, but they all mattered. Years before this, my music was an act and result of creative isolation: I'd listen to music, pore over literature, history and poetry, and write songs from these spaces as if looking through a glass darkly. There is nothing wrong with this per se. I still write my songs largely in isolation and am still heavily inspired by all the things listed above, but now I have the energy and purpose I didn't have before. Also, my recent music tends to be more nuanced, human, and far less pretentious than the songs of my younger years. Why is this? In part, because I am older and don't concern myself with perception nearly as much as I used to. But the larger component is the role others have played in my journey. I am part of an ecosystem rather than egosystem. Performing live music was something I had avoided before. Now, it is absolutely foundational and possibly what energizes me the most. In being less of a hermit and actually performing my music alongside and for others, I have found an incredible amount of community support that I couldn't have done this without. Many of these people are fellow musicians who became inspirations, mentors and guides, or those I would find myself growing alongside on mutual journeys. In most cases, it is a combination: We are all influencing, inspiring, and revitalizing one another to varying degrees.

Then there are fellow bar patrons, bartenders, music and art lovers, people even on social media who have become my dear friends and supporters. It just keeps cascading unexpectedly in beautiful ways. It’s possible that music is only half the reason I do this anymore. Human connection is a self-sustaining fuel source for me and, in some cases, even direct inspiration for my work. As it continues, I am realizing this isn't about my music or art as a means to an end. It isn't solely my music because it wouldn't have ever been possible without everyone else, not to mention the artists who inspired me so much and continue to inspire me to this day. I am not reinventing the wheel here, nor trying to do something musically profound that no one has ever heard. I am just living out loud, and making friends along the way.

The point of this? Even in the era of AI, social media, mass dehumanization, and willful division, human connection can still be found. Art plays a special role in this through its ability to transmute human emotion into something tangible for others, but also (especially in live music) it has a special ability to bring us together into a sort of spiritual circuit: The musicians and listeners interface in a cosmic dance where neither of their roles are more important than the other's. It is a positive and beautiful feedback loop.

This very well may be one of the most daunting times for artists, but art is more crucial now than ever. It continues to revitalize me and I have no intention of stopping as long as I draw breath. For you other artists and music lovers, don't lose hope. I have to remind myself that daily, but you all inspire me to keep moving forward with this wild and wonderful journey of mutual discovery.

I hope you all have a beautiful week (genuinely).

-R