September 28, 2023

Volume 157

Marked by the dust of change

Curated by Gio León

Artist, Sojourner, Salt Shoveler

After 7 years as a touring and session musician in Seattle, my family and I relocated to LA.!

Since 2019, I have worked with the Los Angeles Dream Center to improve the welfare of the city’s most tangibly in need population. In late 2022, I connected with Aaron Redfield and the Windsong Foundation in North County San Diego, and have assisted them in holistically reconnecting artists in the entertainment industry to themselves, their families, and their art.

Through it all, music has been a friend and a confidante, inspiring me to write a collection of tunes meant to meet others the way it has, for so long, met me. I have come to find that in all my areas of life, I exist to be a listening ear and a hand up.

What's been keeping you grounded?

To go somewhere, you need to leave somewhere.

All my life, transition—like Moses—has shepherded me through Red Seas, new lands, and countless invitations to honestly plumb the depths of myself.

While self-discovery isn’t always an adventure I’m psyched to sign away my comforts to embark on, transition is inevitable. And, like death and taxes, it finds us all. But, it is often in closer proximity to intra- and interpersonal health and healing than I realize.

In working with the Transitional Housing Program for Homeless Families at the LA Dream Center and in manning the helm of my first personal music project in 17 years with Psalt, I’m warmly reminded that transition is often a group affair, made better when accompanied by fellow sojourners who are marked by the dust of change.

WHAT IM ROCKIN'

My thought process with clothes is the same as my thought process with musical equipment, what can I get that will stretch the farthest? Thankfully, Imperfects gear is so classic that I can get away with mixing and matching 2 pairs of pants, two tees, and 2 shepherd shirts through the week and still know the fits are choice every time. That being said, I'm in love with my Indigo Stripe Hickory Courier pant. This set was my first foray into Imperfects territory and both the pant and shepherd shirt have become staples of my day-to-day.

Shepherds Shirt in Indigo Hickory Stripe {Deadstock}

Shepherds Shirt in Indigo Hickory Stripe {Deadstock}

$329.00

Poem of the Week

01 WHAT'S KEEPING ME GROUNDED


Community
A friend of mine once said, "like attracts like," and when I feel myself getting sucked into a negative tunnel-vision from the false narrative that I'm alone in the many facets of this journey I'm on, all I need to do is look up and around to see that I'm hemmed in on every side by more amazing family, friends, and community than I ever could have dreamed for myself.

What are you reading?

02 QUOTE OF THE WEEK


“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’ ”
— C.S. Lewis

What are you drinking?

03 WHAT I'M DRINKING


The Nathan Palmer & Swami’s IPA
The Nathan Palmer (cold brew + lemonade) at Highlight Coffee in Pasadena is ruling my days, and Pizza Port's Swami's IPA is my favorite evening brew at the moment.

What are you listening to?

04 WHAT I'M UP TO, HEALTH-WISE


Idle hands are the great adversary of my hopes for the future. So, whether I'm filling them with writing, rehearsing, outreach, or scratch cooking (just like mama taught me), I've learned that purposeful work outweighs passing pleasures.

I've also been experiencing a lot of positive health in purposed personal time in the early mornings. Starting the day with silence, meditation, and prayer sets a contemplative and present tone, not just for my day, but for my life.

Quote of the Week

05 WHAT I'M READING


I am currently toggling between "Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God" by Timothy Keller, and "Where the Waves Turn Back" by Tyson Motsenbocker. It’s proving to be quite a 1-2 punch of reverent theology and honest humanity. 10/10 Would Recommend.

06 WHAT I'M INTO LATELY


Photography
I've found myself in the studio a lot lately making solid progress on the forthcoming record for my personal music project, Psalt. I really believe in these tunes and some of my best friends, who are also among the most in demand players in town, helped in making this record sound as amazing as it does. All that being said, I'm pretty properly stoked on it.
I'm also comforted and encouraged by the realization that my hope for the future is inherently tied to my fidelity to my responsibilities of today. Let tomorrow worry about itself; for today, love well and live well.

07 WHAT I'M LISTENING TO


My playlist, “Roll”
While my musical tastes can kind of go all over the place, Keith Richards' simple statement on the difference between Rock & Roll and Rock ("Excuse me, I prefer the roll") always proves true north for me. Give me the groove of a hot band and the pulse of a killing rhythm section and we're in business.

Listen on Spotify.