Adam Lopez: Future Blues - The Last Outlaw of Sound

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You know what I can’t stand about so much of the music today?

It’s like somebody fed a soul through a paper shredder.

Every chord pre-chewed, every beat a recycled heartbeat,

every voice stitched together like a harmonic Frankenstein…

alive only because the algorithm said so.

Enter Adam Lopez.

A hard-nosed, road-tested veteran with calloused hands

and a spirit carved straight from the American grain.

Twenty-five years in the trenches of sound,

playing not for charts, not for clout,

but because music is the only altar he’s ever bowed to.

He’s carved out his own genre: Future Blues. 

Old soul wired into new circuitry,

a Johnny Cash storm colliding with a Hendrix supernova,

lit by a splash of Merle Haggard gasoline.

He summons sound with the cold certainty of Josey Wales,

and when it lands, it cuts like Charles Bronson in Death Wish…

Quiet, Final, Unforgettable.

So crank it past comfort, past permission, past reason.

This isn’t a show.

It’s a resurrection of the real,

a rebellion against the pre-packaged,

a reminder that music was born wild…

and some souls still are.

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Host

George Monty

My name is George Monty. I am the Owner of TrueLife (Podcast/media/ Channel) I’ve spent the last three in years building from the ground up an independent social media brandy that includes communications, content creation, community engagement, online classes in NLP, Graphic Design, Video Editing, and Content creation. I feel so blessed to have reached the following milestones, over 81K hours of watch time, 5 million views, 8K subscribers, & over 60K downloads on the podcast!

What is TrueLife?

TrueLife is a story-driven documentary podcast that explores the invisible threads connecting us to each other, the world, and the mysteries of life. Every episode uncovers extraordinary journeys, human transformation, and the relationships that shape our stories.

ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the true life podcast hope everybody's having a beautiful day out there you know what i can't stand about so much of the music today it's like somebody fed a soul through a paper shredder every chord pre-chewed every beat recycled heartbeat every voice stitched together like a harmonic frankenstein alive only because the algorithm said so enter adam lopez a hard-nosed road-tested veteran with calloused hands and a spirit carved straight from the American grain. Twenty-five years in the trenches of sound, playing not for charts, not for clout, but because music is the only altar he's ever bowed to. He's carved out his own genre, future blues, old soul wired into new circuitry, a Johnny Cash storm colliding with a Hendrix supernova lit by a splash of Merle Haggard gasoline. He summons sound with the cold certainty of Josie Wales. And when it lands, it cuts like Charles Bronson in Death Wish. Quiet, final, unforgettable. Adam Lopez, thank you for being here today, my friend. How are you? Good, brother. That's quite the intro. That's wild. Man, I love you, man. I'm so stoked to be talking to you today. And you and I have known each other for a long time. Thank you, brother. Yeah. for a long time yeah what i mean single digits right like seven six seven eight years old maybe yeah yeah that's out of control you're one of the only people that i've known that long and like we're still hanging out we're still talking to each other yeah it's interesting it is But more than that, one of the reasons why I not only love you, but I'm so inspired by you is your commitment and your passion to living a life that's meaningful. I think that's so amazing. And sometimes in my darker times, I'm like, fuck, man. how does Adam do it? I should call him and ask him like, what does he do in this situation? But maybe we could just fill in some people with a backstory. Cause I got a lot of new listeners out here and maybe we could just fill in some backstory, man. You have been playing music your whole life. Maybe you could tell people about how that got started. Um, I mean, I had family that, that was around me making music when I was born. Um, but I remember just like, there was something like internally that I, I just, it wasn't like, uh, I want to do that someday, or I want to like be on the radio. I want to be on TV and like, none of that. I just was like, that's something like, that's the way that made sense internally when, before I could explain what that was and how to communicate, you know, I don't know. Like it's, if there, If I was ever born to do anything, I guess that was it. I just knew. And it's been way longer than twenty-five years now. I know. I don't know if you know how old we are now, but we're a little older than we were last time we talked. Probably closer to forty years. Longer. longer like it's been it's been there since birth right so like when i was three four somewhere in that range i had a drum set and a guitar but by the time i was seven i was taking lessons man all right so that's that's that's well over four years yeah that is a long time man it's why like it it doesn't seem like it though like it does and it doesn't at the same time you know Yeah. You know, I, I was watching this video of you yesterday and it was a black and white video of you talking. I'm not that old, dude. It wasn't that old. Like not the, not kind of like, forties or fifties videos. And it was obviously, it was a, I think it was on Instagram and you would shot it in black and white. Okay. But it was talking about life and it being difficult and having the tools and the ability to get through those tough times. Oh yeah. Yeah, man. It was about losing people, man. And I, that struck me because I have had a lot of heartache in my life lately, but it was, it was really heartfelt, man. And you had your guitar right there and It was fucking beautiful, man. Maybe you could talk a little bit about what inspired that video. And I'll put a link to it in the show notes for people that want to check it out. Yeah. I'd gotten a call from a friend or a text from a friend of mine. That was a he's a good friend, but he's also a venue owner. So like when I'm through his town, he always asked me to play his place. And he was asking. This was just a few like less than two months ago, maybe six weeks ago. Yeah. he was like um you know when you coming through like we want to do a show and it's like man i'm really sorry like i just haven't had you know like i've been touring between colorado and california a lot and so he's in arizona and i just i was like dude i just passed by you yesterday i'm really sorry but i just didn't have time like it was a travel day yeah you know and so like When travel days, you just got to do them. You can't really avoid them, especially if you're by yourself. It's not like I'm driving. I'm not flying. And I was like, but I'll be back. And I'll be passing through in three weeks. We'll hook up. I'll try to come say hi. And all my shows were just too close together with too many miles. Date-wise, too close together. Mileage-wise, too far apart. And so I missed him when I got to California. He had touched base with me and he was like, you know, when you coming back through? And I told him. And when I got there, a mutual friend of ours came to my gig and I was like, yeah, I'm going to go. I'm going to try to run up there and see him after this show. And I've got to be, you know, I'm playing in the next state in like eighteen hours. I said, I'm going to do my best. Right. And he's like, I don't know if you heard. And he told me that he had passed away, like they'd found his body. uh in in the venue um it locked himself in the bathroom like i guess the night before and so i just missed him and i had no idea like when he was reaching out a couple weeks prior to that i had no idea that that you know i that he was in that state um he had reached out about uh wanting to move, and he wanted to ask about Tulsa, where I lived for years, and he wanted some suggestions about, excuse me, about jobs or, you know, just lay the land and stuff, and yeah, just wild. Wild to wake up to that, well, not wake up to that news. It was during the day, but like, it feels like you just woke up when somebody tells you that to your face that your friend is gone, you know? by his own hand. It was just, it was just, I don't know. I'm still kind of in shock over it, but that was, that was the second person close to me that, you know, took their own life within like six months. So that's two, that's two and in twenty five in the year twenty five. That's wild. Yeah, man. That is wild. Shout out. What was his name? I don't know if you want to say his name, but like. His name is Matt Moore. Matt Moore. Yeah. He was up in a place called the Wicked City Pub in Jerome, Arizona. And he was a huge, huge supporter of mine, like super fan, you know, but super friend, too. Like it wasn't it wasn't like a business relationship. Yeah. So. man matt we love you man if you're around listening i'm sure he's he's here somewhere man matt we love you we're talking about you yeah he's around like that's the thing like i you know people reached out to me after i made that and i was like it's not i'm not making this for me or like i'm writing i think um well i know i know for a fact like um my view of what life is is is usually different than people i talk to of course and same with death like i i don't i don't uh view what death is um the same way anybody else really does that i have have met you know yeah um so i'm not you know he's he's around i'm not i'm not uh it's not a big uh train wrecking and how it affected me you know right I'd be more concerned about his mother and that kind of thing. Yeah, he's around, dude. I talk to him. Yeah, yeah. I got plenty of them I talk to, man. You call them down whenever you want to. Yeah. He was a good dude. Yeah, it sounds like it. What's it like to be on the road like that? You've been on the road forever, man. You have toured so many different places. What is that like? You're meeting new people, but that also takes a lot of independent spirit to go out there and be like, fuck, I'm going to get a gig over here. I'm going to come over here. I'm going to meet these people. I'm going to play over here. Yeah. what is it like to be on the how long have you how long have you been on the road man first off maybe how long have you been doing it on the road and what is that like um i mean ever since i got a driver's license dude what are we talking thirty five years yeah yeah yeah um yeah it's just um and i've done it in different capacities like now it's like i work by myself for myself which I've always done some version of that, but I've always done that while I was also, um, also carrying my own band from time to time and also playing guitar and usually like a handful of different bands all at the same time. Right. So like I might go out for a couple of days by myself and then meet up with somebody else in another van and park my van and go out with another band and like, did that for years you know where i was just always on a different tour with different people in different configurations um so it's different in all those scenarios you know these days it's cool it's it's extra cool because i've made um a conscious effort to like be more social to um I've never not enjoyed it or taken advantage of the opportunities to enjoy it, like going out to the museum or the movies or the things that you might not get to do otherwise because you might not ever visit this place on your own if you weren't working. So these days, I take advantage of just about everything that there's time to. I love to go out to restaurants by myself. It's cool. where I, when I was younger, I would be like, Oh, I got to find somebody to go with me. I can't, you know? Um, so that like little things like that are, are cool because, um, you can put yourself in situations where, you know, people can find you approachable, you know? And you just like, it's so cool to meet strangers, like weirdos. Like I love it. Yeah. You know? Um, Or these days, I spend more time, and I do this on purpose, is I'll book gigs in places where there's outdoor activities. Because if I'm not playing, that's what I'd rather be doing out on a trail somewhere, riding my bike or running or hiking or whatever. So that's been extra cool, because then you're almost guaranteed to meet people that are more of your tribe. yeah because i think like as a personality like i'm not really a musician like a lot you know like most of my friends are musicians but like when it comes to just hanging out like i'm probably hanging out with like you know van lifers and trail runners and mountain bikers that kind of thing so um being being able to tour um by myself where it's actually financially viable allows me to like spend my downtime kind of, you know, amongst those people, which I love super rad. Yeah. You know, the word novelty comes to mind. And I know that when I have traveled some different places, I'm almost, I'm definitely affected by the environment in which I find myself in. Sometimes it's electric and sometimes it's a little dangerous or whatever. But I'm wondering, as you're going to these different places and checking them out, does that have an effect on you? And if so, does it have an effect on the music you play? Yeah, I think so. I like, you know, I'm not much of a, I'm a party guy or a drinker. I've never done drugs. So playing in places where it's usually some type of bar or dance hall, beer joint or whatever, it's fun. But I'm not trying to hang out in places like that when I'm not working. Right. And usually because of how it makes me feel, right? Like I don't mind, you know, these days it's, it's rare, but in the past, like it's not uncommon for me to drink or whatever, but like, I'm not, again, I'm not trying to live like that. So like at some point it just, it's like it affects the music. Cause you're kind of, especially when you're like a roots musician, you're kind of living, you're kind of living the old songs and writing new versions of those songs from experience. But at a certain point it's like, I've done, I've been there, done that. Like what else is out there? And I think as I get older, especially now it's like, well, I don't need to like put myself in those situations to write songs like that, that are authentic. Like I've put a lot of miles in. Yeah. So like, um it because it affects your your state of being whether it's emotionally or physically or whatever it's got it's there's no way it doesn't affect your art you know yeah it's all connected um so i can still write those kind of songs i just you know it's from past experience more than it is from you know current experience but yeah it's it's it all it's all connected yeah I couldn't agree more I think that like I was listening to the to the new suicide doors the towns and like there's an incredible richness in your voice and I couldn't help but think like this is all of Adam's touring culminating right here like it really seems to me on some level like you can't you know if I listen to My daughter's twelve. Let me just put this out. My daughter's twelve, so I listen to like a lot of pop on the radio, so don't judge me over here, you know? But, you know, I got some Taylor Swift going on over here, and I've got like a lot of these different pop songs, and she's definitely got her own sort of, she likes anime, so we listen to like a lot of like Japanese anime guitar and stuff like that. But it's so studio-enriched and stuff. And then when I get to hear someone like you I feel like I can hear the years on the road. I feel like I can hear the experience. I feel like I can hear, man, I wonder if this got picked up in Tulsa, or I wonder if this is coming from Texas. I wonder if this is one of these Utah joints that he brought this from over here. Maybe you could speak to that idea of how being on the road for so long and having these experiences in these different places has changed the way you see and play music. Well, I guess one of my biggest pet peeves is when visitors don't act like visitors. So when I go to places, I want to experience what they experience the way they experience. I don't want them to cater to me as the guest. Right. Right. So I think that allows you to. to pick up some of what they have to offer. And it becomes part of your being. And so the influence, it's not really quantifiable and it's hard to describe, but it's there. I mean, I always, I'll go to my grave and say that my time, I spent like ten years in Tulsa as a resident, but more years as a musician. But like that time, shaped a part of me personally and musically that was so vital to who I am and how I sound now that without it, I can't even imagine where I'd be or who I'd be or what I'd sound like. Not only that, but I can't imagine being qualified to play as a musician at the level I've gotten to play at. Because those guys taught me so much. And that city taught me so much. And the history of the city and the culture, good and bad, taught me so much. And then Texas, like, you know, it's like part of my family is from there. And when I go there, the people accept me as though I'm one of them. You know, I spent a lot of years there, too. And it shaped it shaped a whole nother. Part of me and my sound and my my personality, you know. But like it's there's so much in there now, it's hard to like separate and figure out what came from where. I think the short answer, though, is like the lessons that you learn breed the confidence that you need to kind of step out and be yourself in the bigger world. Man, that's well said. And I think that translates to regardless of what field you're in, whether you're playing music or whether you're in athletics or whether you're in business, it is those prior experiences that give you the confidence. Maybe even the tragedies, maybe even the worst parts of life is what gives you the strength and the courage to get through the next part of it. I'll go further. I, like, I don't even, I don't even really, I mean, there's obvious exceptions, but in general, like there is no good or bad judgments for me anymore. You know? No, break that down for me. What do you mean? Like there's certain, there's certain cliches that I've heard throughout my life that I realized are not true. You know, there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. Fuck that. That's bullshit. Right? Like, that's not true. But who uses that? You know, people that are probably lazy, people that want to control other people, people that are scared to reveal themselves talk like that, you know? And if you're one of those people, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be... I'm not pointing the finger at you. That's just not how I choose to view things. Yeah. And so, like... You know, as far as like good and bad, it's like, well, I can view this, I can view as good or bad, depending on what I want to focus on. Yeah. Right. Like, or I can just view it as, as just was what it was. And now what do I, how do I want to respond to that? Yeah. And so. you know, I lost a very close friend and I lost a close relative. And they were both very big supporters of my art and had expressed kind of some of the things that you were expressing about the way that I choose to live and how I choose to like navigate the world. So I can take their loss as something that's going to stifle that, that which they were supporters of, or I can take it as some kind of lesson and fuel to keep progressing in how I want to move forward. So it's not really good or bad. It's just, it is what it is. And now, like, what do I do with it? What is the other people around those friend groups and those family groups, what do they choose to do with it? You know, I know it's, it doesn't mean, that doesn't mean that you're, or that I'm avoiding the pain or the struggle with it. But at the end of the day, it's like, everything else, is going to continue on so if i'm not if i'm not honoring that too and i'm stuck in in the past about something that i judge as bad then i'm gonna get stuck you know that's not good for anybody yeah yeah it makes me think of like i think everybody listening to this has been through the process of losing someone you love and if you haven't watch out right around the corner it's coming for you too you know but you know how do you deal with that i i've come to the idea that losing someone you love the most is the greatest inspiration you can ever have i know that sounds callous you're like what the fuck are you talking about george you're gonna lose your kid you're gonna lose your wife and think that that's inspirational what's wrong with you but I don't think there's any other way to look at it. Because I think that instead of taking the time to be sad about people you lose or even a job or anything you lose like you should celebrate it like on some level you got to spend time with that person for as long as you did we could celebrate that like remember them in a way that you would like to be remembered and then that's where the fuel comes from that's where the idea to keep moving forward comes from is like look at this man that was such a good time with him i'm so glad i had that time with him but It's those same feelings and those same deep thoughts for me that music translates into. Because on some level, music allows me to feel at that level again. I think there's something about music that really transcends language. It's that same connection. What do you think is the connection right there between that? How does that work for you? How do you convey feeling into music? Is it something that comes through you? Is there a certain process you have? It's like going back to, I don't even know if the camera was rolling yet. We were talking about when I was younger, just having there was just like a knowing right whatever like i can't describe that feeling and and you couldn't see it but i know it because i felt it yeah so whatever that is getting always remembering what that felt like and trying to get back to it but like to answer that that question or kind of like weigh in on that that whole thing is like for me it goes back to asking yourself questions and also being honest with yourself yeah so like my big my big question that i asked myself to access some of that is like what what what what does it mean to be a human and why are we here Right. And so that's just like a rabbit hole for me and my, the way I think too. And I think about it all the time. And so I think the most common way that I've heard it expressed, even though I think it's way more in depth than just kind of the saying, but like, the idea that we are not humans having a spiritual experience, we're spiritual entities having a human experience. And so with that, it made it, it made like the light bulb click. Well, that's how I can connect back to what that original feeling was. Because whatever that feeling was wasn't physical and it wasn't from me. I know that too. That was somewhere else and it was fleeting and it was like, hey, this is your... It was an opportunity is what it was. It came and it went really quick and I could have chose to ignore it or I can... Otherwise, I chose to chase it. I've been chasing it the whole time. And it's not... And it's not... I'm not chasing it just because it provides the art. That was like a life thing. Yeah. There was something there. It almost sounds like... I feel similar. Let me know your thoughts on this. Like the idea of receiving stuff, like the idea that it's not really yours. It's that you've noticed it and then you receive it and then you amplify it. Like for me, when I write stuff, I feel like if I'm really writing stuff down, when I was writing my book, like I felt like it kind of just came to me. Like there was a point where I just started writing and I'm like, dude, I'm not even, someone else is writing this. Like this is just coming out of me. This is amazing. You know, it's beautiful. It's brilliant. You know, of course it's me saying it about myself, but you know, there's this sort of flow state, but there's, it does feel as if you're tapped into something and you're receiving it. Is that the same? Is that how you feel when you're writing or when you're playing or what are your thoughts on that? Is that too far out there? No, I mean, not to me, it's not too far out there to other people. It might be. Because people are scared of that kind of stuff. You know? And I know people that are scared of that kind of thought. And I understand why. Why? Because it goes back to the hard line, good, bad, right way, wrong way. So if you can live in that, then you can kind of clear a very narrow, direct path to feeling safe in life. Like if I can just get through the gauntlet unscathed, I might not have extraordinary highs and do extraordinary things, but I also might not suffer extraordinary pain. So I can just like, if I can just squeeze through and get, do my time, you know, and it's, it sounds very much like a prisoner's mentality. And the people I know that speak that way, to me, they kind of live that way, like prisoners, you know? But the flip side is like, if you start really tuning in and going inward and thinking about these things, you can start to see correlations between like, how like, like really look at the times when you felt really happy, not pleasure, but like true happiness. Right. Cause pleasure's kind of a, she's, you know, she's a dangerous one. Like it's not, it's not the same thing. Right. Yeah. But like true happiness, like what in that moment, what about it really sparked that feeling? Not, not the physical or the, the thing but like internally what was it about you were what you were feeling that resonated with true happiness and then you know everybody's answer is probably gonna be different but it's gonna be it's gonna be a real answer if you're really honest with yourself because i bet you there's there's a lot of people that would that could do that and then realize like oh wait maybe that's not what i thought it was there's but I accessed the feeling. And so maybe there's another version of that that's even better, you know? Yeah. You gotta go deep on this stuff, George. I'm with you. I do all the time, man. I do. You know, one that gets me is like, Like I've taken some pretty big chances and I've lost a lot. And there's times like when I was fired from UPS, when I lost my house, like those are some dark times, man. It's like, holy shit, what am I doing? Even though, you know, it's like you try to hold these two things in your hands. Like one is I have the most incredible sense of liberation. This is the fucking best thing that's ever happened to me. Holy shit, my life's crumbling over here. Those are two real feelings to have and to hold at the same time. And it feels like you're going crazy. But it speaks to that same idea that you were talking about. Are you going to try to... Move your boat through those two rocks nice and safe. Or are you going to fucking go for it? Are you going to take that side route over there? Are you going to chase that dream? Are you afraid to die or are you afraid to live? Which one is it? Which one do you want to do? And there is that call to the safe harbor. Like, what if I can just be safe? What if I can just get that nine to five? What if I could just get that record late? You know, like there's a real pool for that to happen to people. And I'm not mad at the people that choose it. Like, I get it, man. It's a tricky decision, especially if you have people in your life that depend on you. It's a real easy way to be like, And we all have people that depend on us, but there's always a reason to play it safe on that aspect. I'm sure in your life, and I'm sure you've had tons of opportunities to take a different route instead of doing the route you're doing. Where do you draw on when you find yourself in those troubled waters? What's your inspiration to be like, this is my life. This is how I'm living. This is who I am. I guess it's just the... The... the realization that people, whether it's a couple of thousand or a couple of million, which I don't think it is, but just the realization that people value what I do. Somebody values what I do. And that's important. Like, I mean, I think about it all the time, right? Like, man, maybe I should find like a different job or like, maybe I, And every time I start thinking that way, something like knocks on the door, I'll get an email. I'll get a text every time, every time. Yeah. And I'm like, man, it's like, I could, I could bail out because it feels safer and it feels like, you know, what's, what's the, um, what's the word I'm looking for? Um, don't know it's another word for feeling safe um succumb to fear yeah it's like i could do that but like part of the part of the equation is is those questions i ask myself like what is what does value valuable mean what is value i ask that to most people they're going to say well whatever their answer is going to be is going to have something to do with money or the accumulation of things yes If I question to myself, what is time? My answer is time's not real. There's no master clock somewhere that's running off the solar system that's actual time. It's a concept we've come up with to measure and organize. Also, What was the other one? There's another question I have, but, um, anyway, like it all comes back to like those questions that I asked myself and then realizing like, if, if time isn't real and value does not equate to things or money, then But what I'm doing is reaching people on a level that they find that valuable. Because they're not getting something from me. They're getting a feeling. And when I realized that, it changed how motivated I was to keep doing what I'm doing. Cause otherwise it would be like, you know, just go find like a steady paycheck somewhere. But like, you know, money's not, it's not really real, right? Like, like real truth and real value is, is nature in life and your connection and your relationship with it. That's what, that's what value. And that's what, you know, that's what matters. In that regard, how much money I make doesn't dictate if what I'm doing is successful or not. People bring this one up all the time. Either what are you doing playing in this little dump out in this little town or what are you going to do when you get older? That's hilarious. But I'm exactly, I'm very rarely not exactly where I choose to be in one of them. Right. Yeah. And if our value systems are, are not the same, then I don't expect you to understand the answer to my question. If you're asking me why I'm here playing this music for you in this place, because a lot of people are like, you know, you should be playing whatever, whatever, you know, whatever the big stage is these days. I don't even know. I don't really pay attention. And that opens up a whole other can of worms about what the music business is. I'm not in the music business. I'm in the business of me. It just happens to be that people pay me for music, but they're not paying me because I'm part of this industry. It's a whole different thing. Yeah. There's something strange about, there's a weird perversion that happens when you give something you love up to money. I'm not saying it can't be done. And I'm not saying people aren't successful at it. But it seems to me, like when I'm offered, if people want me to, produce a podcast forum, or if they want me to do something that is about influence or doing and they offer me money on some level, it almost always loses This is probably a horrible thing for me to say. That being said, I don't have the same energy as if it was mine. Unless it's somebody I really love. If it's somebody that I love, George, absolutely, I'm in. Let's crush this thing together. I'm a huge part of it. But if I'm only doing it because of the money, that's a better way to say it. If I'm only doing something because the money's a factor of it, it's not my all. You know, it's somebody else's vision and dream and it doesn't translate as well. So I can see that aspect of it. And I, I don't know, I feel on some level. maybe it's being fifty, maybe it's getting to the age of fifty and realizing that society plays this trick on you about value and time and identity. And if you've given so much of your time, like you're committed, like you have this sort of idea that you have to have this much in order to be this person. But I'll give you an example. When I left a career, I became a father for the first time. I became a husband someone would love to have. I spent like sixty hours working every single week and then all of a sudden I'm home with my daughter and I'm teaching her how to play chess. We're going outside playing baseball. Me and my wife are having financial meetings. I'm cooking some dinners. I'm picking the kid up from school and I'm like, dude, this is what I've missed. It was that hole that I couldn't fill no matter how much money I made. I don't know. I see it on some level as a is a detriment to so many people's lives. You know, it's, it's interesting to think, man, what are your thoughts? I mean, it's, uh, again, it just comes down to what's valuable for you. Yeah. Right. The person, whoever you are. But if you, if you make routine decisions, check-ins with yourself. You routinely either go in the cave and close your eyes and meet with yourself, or you go in the mirror and stare yourself down. If you're doing that on a regular basis, if you're open-minded and you are in pursuit of knowledge, then whatever that value system is, is alive and it changes. So if you're paying attention to the signs and where that's leading you or the options it's giving you to follow, then you make your choices accordingly. And my guess is you'll probably continue to peel away layers on something and continually discover what is valuable to you. And it evolves. It's really important to me to think about these things, express them however I choose to, but also make it known. I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything. I'm not trying to. It's just my version of how I do things. But maybe if somebody finds it useful or valuable, then there it is. It's out there. What would you tell if there's a young Adam in his twenties or a young George in his twenties out there? as someone who's had your experiences as a musician, as someone who is not in the music industry, but people pay you for your artwork and there's someone out there chasing their dream. Well, what advice would you give to someone in their, in their twenties? Um, well, you know, talking about it's coming up quick, like six weeks, six weeks. Yeah. Yeah. Um, The first thing would be is I used to try to separate musician me or the songwriter me or whatever from like regular me. And that's dishonest, because it's not true. Right? Like, everything I do, like, and I'll say this, I'll go I'll go this far. Wherever we are today, right now, any of us is totally and completely a result of our thoughts and our actions. All of that, all of those choices led me right here, right now with you. Musically, there isn't advice for the musician in you. There's only advice for you who happens to make music. That's the other thing is like we talked about, I think earlier before the cameras rolling on this one too is like, I don't believe in labels or identities. A musician is not who I am. It's just something I do. Conveying all those things to a twenty-something that's trying to make their way with their art, I think those things are vital. They're probably not going to take first time we have that conversation there's no way you're gonna have to figure out what that really means and how it actually translates to use specifically you know because when i look back now too like how much how much advice did other people give young me that it took me years for me to to to grasp And how much of it did I totally and completely dismiss at the time? Where now I'm like, oh, shit. It would have been so much easier if I would have. But there's no regret. It took however long it took. And here we are. And here we are. So it's not regret or anything like that. It's just an observation. But I think those fundamental things about who you are and what you are and then also what your actual goal is. I think, you know, if we're talking like self-advice, if I could go back to twenty-something year old me would be like, have very definitive goals or, well yeah, definitive goals that you can set into place and not deviate from those unless truth help like how like, not forces you to change course, but dictates that you change course. I don't know if that makes sense. But like, like, I could see where younger me had kind of these loose goals, right? Yeah. In the I think that that was for a couple reasons. One was because you just weren't sure about the world around you and your place in it, so it was hard to make a goal, a specific goal. But I think the real answer is the second reason you wouldn't have a hard and fast goal is because if it's loose and a little squirrely, the fear of failing at it is a little softer. you know so you can't be if you're scared to fail then your goals are going to be a little flimsy yeah so like if you if if i was as good at going inward then as i am now i would have went inward and said all right this is exactly what i i may not know when it's going to happen or what it's going to look like but this is what i this is what i want and i'm gonna stick to it And go hard at it. When people ask you what your goals are, don't try to downplay it and pretend like, oh, I don't really have one. Because people are scared to share those things because of judgment from other people. If you come up short on their scale of measure, then it makes you feel a certain way. But the reality is you feel how you feel because that's how you chose to feel. You know? it's hard. It's hard to have that confidence when you're that young. But that's what it takes. Yeah, it's well said. And also, there's no finish line. So I could I could I could wish that I'd learned this sooner. But all that would mean is now I would be looking for the next I would have to define the next goal. And so You know, as soon as you, they're just like little markers. Once you get there, there's going to be more. It never ends. And if it does, that means you're not here anymore. You've died. Your body's gone. I don't know if I'm answering your questions at all. No, without a doubt. Without a doubt. I might be getting a little too out there for it for us. Not at all, man. I think we're just starting to get interesting right here, man. I guess the next question is that I think about all the time, and this is a perfect time to ask it. What does it mean to be fifty? I've been doing some soul searching over the last few years, and I've come to this idea that everything up until a certain age is learning. Like you don't really know who you are until you're, I don't think so. For me, I can't speak to anybody else, but for me, I didn't really know what I was capable of. I didn't really know what I truly loved. I didn't really know what I truly wanted until like in my forties. And then as those things began to dawn on me, I realized all this other stuff I'm doing doesn't matter. It matters in the aspect of society's idea to provide. It matters in the ideas of the people that I love because I want them to be proud of me. It matters in the ideas of what I was taught in school and all these people, these authority figures that I thought – had it figured out. But then you get to a certain age and you realize no one has it figured out. There's people who are just really good at their line of bullshit. This is what they believed. This is what you got to do. And I think for me growing up, I really cared. And I still really care about people and making the world better. And more than that, I came to the realization the only way you can make the world better is by making yourself better. yes that's what it comes down to right i think that for me was one of the crux of becoming fifty is like holy all these changes and you know what another good one is too adam i'm curious to get your thoughts on this is that like i've come to this realization that everything you see is a mirror all the relationships you have all the things you think about other people like if you don't like this other person that's something you don't like about yourself if you see something in someone like that's so beautiful you recognize it because you have that beautiful thing inside of you but you're being reflected back to you like that was a banger for me like oh this is a giant mirror man yeah yeah what are your thoughts man on fifty on things i'm talking about what do you think What's it mean? I think for me, well, one, I'm not fifty yet. So you're so close. But like one of the things for me is like I feel like I pretty much always knew who I was, because if you look at my life between the ages of four and ten. I'm pretty much the same person doing the same exact things. Right. Like I want to go out and ride my bike and then I'm going to go ride my skateboard at the at the local curb spot. And then, you know, and then I'm going to pick up my guitar. So that's so awesome. Yeah. Like literally the same stuff. Yep. But what I struggled with was not who I wanted to become, just how how I was going to do it. Yeah. So how do I take this in this inner knowing and then bring it out to the outside with all the people telling me like, you can't do that. That's not a real job. Like that's, you know, that's not, that's not important. That's not real life. That's not important. That kind of crap. And so that was my struggle. Um, what was the other one you were saying at the very end there? about will be in a mirror. Yes. Okay, so that one, I agree with. But I don't think I've been hearing that one for, you know, good, twenty years. And the more I've pondered it and thought about it, okay. The more I'm seeing that, like a mirror, it's not a direct reflection. Sometimes it's flipped. Right? because i found myself in situations now where like there's a relationship of whatever type you know and if somebody is behaving in a way that doesn't jive with my my way of being it's conflicting and i say you know I make a judgment call on what you're doing and, and it's not okay with me. Well, that doesn't mean that I, that it should be okay with me. And I'm just resistant because I'm scared to look at that part of myself. It could also mean that like, at a certain point, that that reflection is backwards, because I've already been there and gone through that. And now I'm, I'm smart enough to know that there's not a place for you in my world right now. Not because I'm right and you're wrong. But I'm smart enough to know what's healthy for me and what's not. Yeah. So I could be completely wrong, too. But I'm still going to sever that that cord between us because I'm still getting my crap together and I'm not ready for that. I can't deal with that in a healthy way yet. I'm like, I'm not there. Or maybe I'm just completely wrong and a total a-hole and you should remove yourself from my sphere or vice versa. But either way, it's not about right or wrong. It's just you got to trust your instincts. Yeah. But you know, that's, you also have to maintain and develop your instincts. And they should always, if you're doing that, again, they're always in motion, it's fluid. So that's going to look like a different thing on a different day for different people. that's one of the things that's real quick that's one of the things like in learning all this about all this way of thinking and being is remembering like twenty something year old me needed a hard and fast direct answer and there just isn't there's all these there's all these like theories that they're they're in motion at all times and so If you can accept that, then it's a lot easier to move forward. But if you can't and you need an answer to that question before you can ask the next one, you're not going to get as many questions in. Yeah. That's what I'm learning now is that there are no answers. There's only better questions. Yeah. If you want a good answer, ask a better question. And you still might not get it. Yeah, of course. Of course. I've been talking to, there's this, for people listening right now, there's this, I have a friend from Moscow. And she wrote this paper called The Lila Code. and it just talks about the idea of remembering. If you just think about that word remember, a lot of the times when you say you remember something, you're going back and you're replaying a memory. But if you also think about that word remembering, it's like you're putting yourself back together, like you're remembering yourself. And I want people to, anybody listening to me right now, whenever you say remember, think about putting yourself back together in a new way, like you're remembering yourself. And I think that's a big part of getting older too, is you have the opportunity to go back and relive experiences in your past and rearrange them so that they make sense instead of bringing up like these old patterns or this, maybe it's shame or guilt, or maybe it's something that happened. Like you can remember that into a constructive way that helps you become the person that you're supposed to be. So this idea of remembering, I think is a, is a really good one for people to go there. And I, Can you put your thoughts on that? I like that. I've never heard that before. Yes. It makes total sense in my brain. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And I know people in my sphere that can remember a time in a different body on this plane. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And all of them swear up and down that we all have that capability. They're not special. It's just that they've gotten to a place where they've opened themselves up to be able to remember that part of them. Yeah, so there's so much more that we're, we have access to individually, like we don't need to get that from somebody else. We just have to learn how to do it ourselves. Yeah. For me, LSD is the best way to do that. LSD are like giant doses of mushrooms. That's some ways in which I've had some profound remembrance where I was able to see not only who I am, But I've had some deep experiences where I was able to envision myself in multiple different lives and not only like remember those lives, but experience them. And I remember coming out of some of these just incredible times and being like, holy shit, I just lived a whole nother life. But on some level, that rearranged my ability to live the life I was living. And I don't think you have to do it through drugs. I think you can do it through breath work. I think you can be out in nature. I think you can find something passionate you love and remember it that way. But I think there's something to be said about having the courage to see yourself radically different. as silly as it might be, as ridiculous as you might think it is, as hard as it might be, especially for other people to see you that way. If you can, if you can see yourself radically different, then you can move towards that difference right there. That's another part I think about being fifty is that you have a real opportunity about how you want to play the back nine. Okay, you've played the front. Are you going to continue to play like that? Are there some things you like, just some things you didn't like? And what do you want to change there? Because I almost feel like it's a rite of passage. You know what I mean? Like there's not a whole, at least in the Western world, there's not a whole lot of opportunities or rituals. You know, when you're young, like you see some girls have like a quinceanera or some boys have like a bar mitzvah where they get this chance to become a new person. I think the same thing happens later in life, like sort of this, you know, next phase of adolescence. Like you get an opportunity now, like you've put in the hard work. Now you have an opportunity to become the person, the very best person that you want to be. Maybe you have that opportunity all through your life, but it seems when you get older, time might be kind of winding down or you start to see with different eyes on some aspects. What are your thoughts on that? What do you got on that one, Adam? Well, if time doesn't exist, then you can become who you want to be at any moment. That's a good point. You're the next breath away. If you if you choose to be you just have to choose yeah yeah i mean that's it's really it's really that simple and also not that simple you know and i feel like the reason that people start feeling that way at a certain age isn't because of that age it's because that's just how long it took them yeah to realize it and some people don't man some people just never do yeah um it's it's it's always it's always been there we just have to choose to take advantage of it yeah I got to give my shout out to my friend Lila Lang right here. Lila, I'm so stoked you're here. Everybody listening right now, I'm going to put a link in the notes down there for my friend Lila Lang. She has written some incredible stuff about remembering and the observer versus the field. And it really ties into kind of what we're talking about today too. But if you're listening right now, check out Lila Lang. I'll put all her stuff down in the show notes. That's who I was referencing. That was my friend Lila right here. I'll introduce you. You'll totally love her. She's a super awesome person. Hi, Lila. Yeah, and... It just, it really, she had some really deep aspects too about what we're talking about, about you as an individual being the observer and then reality being a field. And when you as the observer come into contact with the field, like you start seeing all of these things happening around you, much like you just said earlier, when you start thinking about like, maybe I should do this other thing, you get an email, you get a phone call, the world comes and knocks on your door like, Adam, no, over here, over here, knucklehead, we're not thinking about that, we're doing this. And that's the thing too. If you are thinking about it, you're wasting your energy on it. Because it's energy that could be put more into where you're supposed to be. What is that, Adam? What do you think that is? That's obviously something bigger than the both of us trying to get your attention. Like, hey, don't waste your time on that. Or is that me just conflating and making that up? What do you think that is? um you know uh it's this is always the slippery slope um it's it's god whatever that is for you that's what it is right to me god is nature it's not a it's not a person or a being right um it's nature like nature runs like a finely tuned clock if we let it yeah right and the only only time it ever doesn't is because of us our intervention um and so like whatever that that thing is that is directing you is is nature it's natural it's it's truth you just you know you have you still choices and the ability to shape and mold it so that it suits you but like at its core there's not a whole lot you can you can't you can't outrun the truth there's no way nope it's impossible i i we okay so like last week and spend it out on a ranch with a bunch of crazy friends um Tell me, tell everybody, tell everybody about this, right? Give it, give us a setup on this. So, um, a good friend of mine, one of my best friends, um, this guy named Lewis Escobar, and he's a, like a world-class photographer. And he's also a, um, uh, ultra marathon, like legend. And, um, he is one of the characters in a book called born to run. And these days he's mainly putting on, um, ultra marathon events like on the West coast. And so last weekend was one of his events and, um, it's the most amazing group of, of people. It's, it's like people from all walks of life that go out and challenge themselves to kind of crack the code on all the stuff you and I've been talking about, like how, you know, they, they, they find their way into this through that. Yeah. um but um i forgot what i was originally the point was that there was there was a conversation we had the other night um around a bale of hay and some uno cards and uh you would you had mentioned something that reminded me of it i can't remember what it was now it'll compete yeah um shoot there was a there was a there was a point to it What were you talking about before that? We were talking about the, like, what is that? What is that force that comes to you when you start thinking about things and then reality knocks back on the door? Like, hey, think over here. And you were like, you're wasting your time. Like, you're wasting your time if you're giving energy to that other thing. Yeah, yeah. That's it. So one of our conversations led me to tell them tell my friends that i was with i think it was in third or fourth grade what school did you go to where were you at that time what school i was at mona vista okay same same so i think it was fourth grade mrs stafford's class oh mrs stafford shout out to mrs stafford okay she had a like a student teacher in there mrs drum you remember her she used to play guitar for the class Imagine that, Mrs. Drum playing guitar. Yeah, yeah. It was amazing. But the one and only thing I remember, at least from what happened in front of the classroom, I remember a bunch of the stuff we did as kids. But the only lesson I remember ever was for Mrs. Drum or Miss Drum. And we got in, her and I, like little seven-year-old me got into one of these types of conversations, like in front of the whole class. And she says, well, just remember this. The only thing you ever have to do in life is die. Whoa. Whoa. Mrs. Drum coming with it. Can you imagine like a little kid It's like, wow, boom, like blew my mind right there. And so that's like, I've taken that with me this whole time. It's been right there, right? So when it comes to like what's important, what's valuable, how am I spending my time and energy? I go back to that a lot. So am I really doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I really spending my energy and time the way I'm supposed to spend it? That realization that she taught me is one of the keys to answer those questions. Because if I have to do that today, it's facing the possibility of death is a is like the fast track to being truthful with yourself you know and no one no one outruns that no one escapes truth yeah death is the best teacher you know and no one maybe not no one but it's a hard teacher to sit with And I think, as you know, you've just had a few classes right there. This year, you've been having some real one-on-ones with the teacher right there. Yeah, and I mean, I've been sitting with it since I was seven or eight. You know the story with my father. Yeah, I've made peace with that day when it comes before I was eight years old, probably. You had to like have to revisit it constantly. So, you know, you want to make sure I want to make sure, and not just in that regard, but in general, that like, I'm always revisiting myself in that I'm on, I'm on good terms with truth for me. It's heavy, right? And beautiful in a way. If that hadn't happened with your father, maybe that was the gift of life that allowed you to live a life worth living. Maybe having that at such a young age was something that inspired you. This is who I am. I'm going to live my life this way. A lot of times when people grow up without that, They don't have that fire. Every great biography I read of people, it's always like, when I was young, my mom had cancer. When I was young, this happened to me. It's this pivotal mark in their life where they just went, I'm going this way. It's a gift like, holy cow, man, maybe that person dying is what allowed me to live. Totally. And that wasn't, it wasn't a conscious decision at the time, but later I realized like, right, right. Like, you know, people are, I see friends and family, like coming home from work and they're miserable. They have things that like, they, they don't, they don't enjoy, they don't have, they don't enjoy the reason that they have to wake up every morning. And then, um, yep. And then seeing, you know, like my father go through all that stuff. It's like, well, what do I really have to lose? You want to do this? Why wouldn't I just go do what my inner self is telling me to do at the risk of what? Unhappiness? Poverty? I grew up in that. We were pretty poor when I was a kid. I already knew how to... how to make peace with pain and, and struggle. And like, we were already friends, you know what I mean? Like I was already friends with those people, with those things. So like the risk wasn't really that great to me to go out and just do, do life how I wanted to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, who knows? If my family hadn't gone through all that with my dad and if we had the means for me to go to a university and do all those normal things, I might have just done it because that's what you do. I wouldn't have had to think about is that really what you're supposed to do. But all the things that we went through when I was a kid allowed me to question or forced me to question what was important and what was real and all that stuff. It all comes from that. Do you see it as – I've been seeing this pattern in my life and lots of people that I speak to, but – this idea of intergenerational trauma and breaking that cycle. It sounds to me like that's exactly what you've done. I see. I mean, I got parallels in my life too. And what is your thoughts on that intergenerational trauma and breaking free from those cycles? It's real for sure. One of the things like I'll get into these, like these conversations with certain people and they, they will swear up and down that I'm wrong, but like, because i have experienced those things i've gone inward to find my own truth one of the things i swear i will swear up and down that like ninety nine point nine percent of things we call hereditary are not hereditary they're taught learned behavior right um And a lot of it is taught unconsciously because we, I don't know that most people get to a point in their development where they stop and go, okay, wait a minute. These are all the things I'm being shown and told. Is that really true? Is that really what life is and how it's supposed to be lived? And I, I went through that gauntlet where I was sitting with myself when I was a little kid, like closing my eyes and think like it's how I drift off to sleep a lot of times. And I don't know – I know a lot of adults that don't do that now and never have. So like a lot of what – like going back to the right and wrongs and life being black and white, a lot of what people put into those categories as this is right and this is wrong and whatever, this is good, this is bad, they've never really stopped to think if that's really what they believe or just what they were taught. people don't like it that's offensive to people a lot of times if you ask them to question those things where where to me it's like that's the perfect opening to a conversation like you and i are having yeah yeah i love it i love that stuff me too because it's another it's another time to go back in the cave and like really sort things out and make sure that my vision is clear, I have clarity. I think it's too painful for a lot of people. I think it's too painful to go back and revisit these ideas for a lot of people. But it's the only way. And that's probably where death comes in, too, because when death comes, you have no choice but to go back and revisit. I mean, you can put it back in the jar and put it back on the shelf, but death kind of cracks open that jar and allows you to really revisit it. Yeah. Like I said, no one outruns the truth, man. Truth isn't just about this happened this way and you're either lying or you're not. That's not just what truth is. It's much broader than that. You know? I do. Um, it's everybody, everybody has their, their own path, but none of us are stuck. Yeah. You know, we're not doomed to anything. So like if you feel that you are, you can choose to change it. Yep. You know, if you don't, um, You know, whether it's how you look and feel physically, how you think, whatever. You know, like your job. It can all be changed. You just have to choose to do it. You know? If somebody, you know, diagnoses you with something that's hereditary, that doesn't mean that you're doomed. You know, in most cases. Like, I think... I don't know. I don't want to get into statistics, because I'll probably misquote or misremember things that I've read or whatever. But nature doesn't. I'll just say this. In general, nature doesn't really make mistakes. And a lot of the ones that we think are mistakes are mistakes on our part for what we're actually seeing or experiencing. Going back to this moment right now, it's every thought, every choice, every emotion. I take full responsibility for all that stuff because where I am is on me. And that doesn't mean where I am on the pay scale or corporate ladder or tax bracket. That's not what I'm talking about. I think that's what it is. I think it's self-responsibility. You know what? Another word for self-responsibility is self-love, right? Self-love. Like, do you love yourself enough to be honest with yourself? And a lot of the times these titles or these sort of accolades can be fancy ways for you to get away from doing the work. Like if you have all these things, you know, and in society, you're told if you have all these things, you're worthy of listening to. If you have all these things, then you've done a good job. But I don't know, if you are not capable of self-love, are you capable of loving anything in your life? Are you capable of having a loving relationship, capable of really making the important strides? And I love the point, nature doesn't make mistakes. Like, it's so human and so sort of egotistical to be like, look what nature did over here. This giant planet that's been around for billions. Look at this mistake that this guy made. Like, you're not talking about a mistake. It's just something you don't understand. Right. And that goes back to judging things as right and wrong, good and bad. Yeah. You know? Like we spend too much time focusing on that and then we get into conflict over that. Well, meanwhile, this thing is still happening and we're not dealing with it. Yeah. And for most of us, this thing is happening and we're not dealing with it. Here and here, you know. Yeah. It's a good point. friend clint kiles what's up clint kiles clint kiles has an amazing podcast called the psychedelic christian podcast he's an amazing human being people should check it out clint says in parenting more is caught than taught as they say beautiful point clint so much so much of of what happens is It's more than words. I would say the majority of communication is more than words. It's that side glance. It's the inflection in your voice. It's the way you do something. It's the actions that you have. Like so much more of that is language than just the words that people put out there. Well, think about going back to your. observation on like general generational trauma. Yeah. So if, if we're simply living a life that we think is made upon our decisions and our viewpoints, but it's really us, our version of what we were taught and who we were taught from was it was a victim of, of a trauma that they didn't take responsibility for. And theirs was the same and back and back and further back you go. it's compounded up into you then who who are you like who are you really and are your thoughts and decisions really yours speaking of avoiding the truth i think i need to make a restroom break yeah handle it man do it all right do it i'm gonna take these off yeah If you're hanging out with us right now, Adam Lopez has been on the road for like, forty years. Go down to the show notes. You can go down to the link right here and go to Adam Lopez Music. And he's got like, this whole genre of music he's doing called Future Blues. I think it's amazing. And I think if you go down and you check out all of his music out there, I think you'd be blown away by it. To me, it's... There's something so authentic about a singer songwriter, someone that not only plays music, but like writes the music and feels the music and all of their music comes from lived experience. And I feel like on so much of the world today, A lot of the music that we listen to or a lot of music that's played on the radio is this kind of music that's been in a studio and been sampled and been cut. And you have someone that comes in and plays this and another person plays that instrument. And then one person sings and they're not even really friends. They're just different artists that come in and kind of collab together. But when I listen to Adam's music, I see someone who has built a life of meaning. And I think that conveys not only in our conversation, but in all the different music he's been playing today. Or not today, but throughout his life. We're just kind of filling people in on a little bit of our relationship and music. and what's going on. Do you feel the same way in nature that you do when you're playing music? It sounds to me the way you've spoken about both of them as an art form and drawing inspiration from them. Do you get the same feeling when you're doing both of them? Yeah, because it's about the connection with yourself and the world around you. It's not about the thing you're doing. Right. That's one of the big misconceptions about, in my opinion, about art and um nature and not like athletics people a lot of because especially now with like social media people are trying to sell you stuff yeah to make those things more accessible or easier as though that's better yeah um But those aren't fixes for the truth here. Those are things that help you access this. But they're not replacements for the work that really needs to be done to connect with that. So for me, yeah, those are both access points or portals into that. But they're not the thing. And so, yeah, without giving it too much thought, I would assume that that's why both of those aspects of my life are inviting to me. I want to do those things. I need to do those things. Clint asks, is that Hank Williams on a skateboard? Yeah, my buddy Mike, that's drawn on the skateboard with a Sharpie. No way. That's Willie on that one. I don't know if you can see it. Nice, nice. Yeah, the Hank Williams one, dude, hand-drawn with a Sharpie. It's amazing. Have you played in Arkansas before? Yeah. I played at the Blues Fest in Eureka Springs in March. Clint, when he comes out there, you got to go check him out, Clint. Mind-blowing. You'll love him. Nice. I spend a lot of time there. I love Arkansas. Northwest Arkansas, I love. What a great way to travel the country and do something you love. That makes me inspired. What a great thing to do. I mean, yeah, it's pretty cool. I certainly don't take it for granted. And it's not always easy and fun, but big picture, like when you factor in everything, it's pretty cool. It's super cool. That's awesome. Adam Lopez, I had to go pick up my daughter from school, man. I love you, brother. I'm super stoked to get to hang out and talk to you on live. I love talking to you in person too and on the phone, but I'm grateful for your time today, man, to get to come here and hang out with you and pick your brain on a few things I've been curious about. As we're kind of winding down here, though, man, I was hopeful that you could tell people where they could find you, what you have coming up, and what you're excited about. Well, first of all, I love you too. That's important. Um, and, um, right now, dude, I'm, I'm on a break through the holidays, um, writing and recording and, and just preparing for like what the next thing is. And, um, I don't know. I mean, you know, there's shows starting to, to, to get put on my calendar for next year, but, um, right now what I'm excited about is like, I've got these kind of two things happening with like the, the singer songwriter, acoustic me. And then the new thing that I've been doing with the electric sounds and the drum beats, um, which has gone over really well with audiences. And I, I didn't expect, no, I didn't know what to expect on that one. I thought it might be, I might be pushing it a little bit, but, um, Because I've never done music that I didn't feel or believe in. But I've continued to push the meter every year about, I really don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about this. This is what I'm going to do. It just so happens that people like it. And when I started doing that thing, I was like, oh no, this might, this, you know, and this happens all the time, like every couple of years, I'm like, this might be the one that like just drives my audience away. But it turns out that like people. It's the one that drives them to you. Like people have really been digging it. Um, so I'm excited to like, to really get back in there in the woodshed with that. Cause it's, it's new. Like I started working on that like in April. Um, and I started doing shows with it, like in June, and then I took a little break and then I went back and did some shows on the road, like in the last couple of months. But like, it's not, it's like in its infancy, as far as what it's going to be, I think, you know, cause I'm still like figuring it out and, and just like developing what that recipe and what that sound really is. And that's pretty exciting because, you know, I don't I don't think I invented a new genre, but you do. I do. And whatever whatever that is, whatever that is, is exciting to me to see what is is is in that well, because like I barely scratched the surface of it. I know you wouldn't say that, but I challenge everybody listening to this to go and listen to Suicide Doors or the new The Towns right there. That's a whole nother sound, man. And I can't help but also think that everything we were talking about I think it shows an evolution. I think we're in the midst of an evolution of awareness right now. And this whole conversation leading up to the concept of what it's called future blues. Is that, am I saying it correctly? That's what I call it, but I mean, yeah, it's whatever it is. It is. It's totally different. It's, it's, There's not even really words to describe it. I was like, okay, is it Hendrix and Merle Haggard? No, not really. Is it like Stevie Ray Vaughan? Not really. It's new. It's novel, man. I think when people go and listen to it, excuse me for one second. I think when people start listening to it, they're going to be like, what is this? What is this right now? Polar Nights. My friend Polar Nights coming all the way in from Scandinavia. Polar Nights. Go check out my friend Adam Lopez Music. Tell me it's unlike. Tell me it's like something you've ever heard before. He's got a whole new genre, Polar Nights. Check him out. AdamLopezMusic.com. Thanks for being here. I cut you off right there, Adam. Go ahead. No, I was going to say, I'll say two things about it. Yeah, let's hear it. For reference. One is you said listen to Suicide Doors, but if you go like on my Spotify, there's two versions of it. It's not an electric version, an acoustic version. It's like a rewritten version with the same guts of a song through a different filter. So chord substitutions and melody alterations that you might do in a jazz tune is really the difference between the two. And if you're a music nerd, you kind of understand what I'm saying. Otherwise, it's just probably going to sound like two different songs with the same words. But the other thing is those recordings are the live show. That's what I sound like by myself with my setup. So you're not gonna, like if you see me advertising a future blues show, that's exactly what it sounds like. It's not, I didn't cut that with a band and then I go out and tour by myself. I cut that by myself, it's live. Like it wasn't tracked. It's me playing and somebody recording it and that's it. I think that's important to note. I do too. Because that's what, like I said, that's what the show is. I think radical authenticity is a good way to describe it. And it's such a break from the ideas of what people think you want to hear. I think we've just been inundated with these ideas of what people think is good and then it's played to the masses. But when I hear something like that... Especially the vocals on the towns. The new one that's on the AdamLopez.com that you have up for free right there. That one. Mm-hmm. Like the vocals on that. I'm like, how did you get these vocals so clear like that? I don't know if it's your voice that resonates, if it's the clarity of the recording, or if it's all those things put together with the music. But it's, man, it's addicting. It's kind of got its own virality to it. It's like contagious in a way. And that's what I mean when I say it's unlike anything I've heard. Like it's hard to really describe when you try to, even right now when you're like, it's the jazz set over here and it's got the different melodies, you know, like it's, It's novel, man. I think it is a new genre. I mean, I'll take it. Yeah. I'll take that. Yeah. But, yeah, that's exciting to me because it's – whatever it is, and people are already liking it, but it's not – I just started working on the idea that's, like, in here. So to see what that becomes – because it's a – you know, I don't plan these things out. It's like I'm following – I'm trying to follow the breadcrumbs. And so it's as much a surprise to me as it is to you as far as what it becomes. So that's exciting. Maybe it goes all the way back to the. towards the middle of our conversation when like maybe you're remembering it you know what i mean maybe it's everything and you're remembering it like i think that that there's some aspect there man we should chase that thread down yeah like a music if we're gonna have a music conversation that's like a whole nother podcast because you're i know you'll be picking up your daughter from from high school graduation instead of like we'll talk forever but i will what i would uh what was i gonna say i'm just gonna say something i forgot probably how awesome i am or something yeah probably that's what i was thinking oh man i forget what i was gonna say we're talking about we're talking about remembering and putting things back together and then you were talking about how it's still sort of breadcrumbs and coming to you yeah I don't remember what my point was going to be, but yeah, that's all true. Like it's, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to explain. I always liked the way Bill Withers explained how he came up with those classic songs was his, his response to that was something, sometimes something just crosses your mind. That's it. Yeah. I like Bob Marley when they asked him, how did you write all your songs? Because I didn't write any of my songs. He's like, Ja wrote them for me. It just speaks to that idea of transmission coming through you. Yeah. When people ask me for songwriting advice specifically, my answer is usually just get the fuck out of the way. You know? Yeah. It's not a... It's not like a schooled skill. For some people it is, but the music that I like, it surely isn't. Guy Clark and John Prine didn't go to Belmont to study songwriting one-on-one. They went out and lived life and then wrote about it. Yeah. Yeah, just get the fuck out of the way. I love it. Yeah. That's good advice, man. But yeah, we could certainly have a music conversation. Let's do that. Yeah. We would need way more time that you don't have right now. Yeah. Well, we'll come back. Let's get another one on the books, man. And we'll come back and we'll get into the idea of future blues, music, inspirations. That's what I was going to say. That's what I was going to say. Look up the song Future Blues by Willie Brown. Okay. Okay. I don't remember what year that record came out, but it's like, oh, I don't know. Early thirties. It's at the, it's like at the dawn of recorded music. Okay. Let me see if I can find it. Thirty one, nineteen thirty one. So there's real quick. Willie Brown, one of the original like country blues guys from like pre-war era. was known in the South amongst the people on the plantations. Only ever made recorded to, you know, back then a record was like a forty five, two songs. OK, so I believe he only recorded two records of four songs ever. And of those four, only two are known to exist. And that's one of them. Wow. But if that is not the dawn of like pre like robert johnson gets a lot of credit for like originating rock and roll with his blues but listen to that willie brown thing and tell me that's not like led zeppelin before led zeppelin like it's heavy it's heavy and it's scary it's intense i'm excited to check it out man i'm gonna listen to it on the way right on all right brother Ladies and gentlemen, if you're within the sound of my voice, go to adamlopezmusic.com. There's plenty of links over there. Reach out to him. I highly recommend checking out all his albums. Check out the new music he's got coming out. I think it's a whole new genre. I think people already love it. I think more people are going to love it. And that's all we got for today, ladies and gentlemen. Have a beautiful day. Aloha.