TrueLife - Adam Lopez: Future Blues - The Last Outlaw of Sound

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USThe Lila Code: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4612-3942🚨🚨Curious about the future of psychedelics? Imagine if Alan Watts started a secret society with Ram Dass and Hunter S. Thompson… now open the door. Use Promocode TRUELIFE for Get 25% off monthly or 30% off the annual plan For the first yearhttps://www.district216.com/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 handsand 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.https://adamlopezmusic.com/homehttps://www.instagram.com/adamlopezmusic?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==https://www.facebook.com/AdamLopezMusicOfficial?mibextid=wwXIfr One on One Video call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USCheck out our YouTube:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPzfOaFtA1hF8UhnuvOQnTgKcIYPI9Ni9&si=Jgg9ATGwzhzdmjkg

Darkness struck, a gut-punched theft, sun ripped away, her health bereft. I roar at the void. This ain't just fate, a cosmic scam I spit my hate. The games rigged tight, shadows deal, blood on their hands, I'll never kneel. Yet in the rage, a crack ignites, occulted sparks cut through the nights. The scars my key, hermetic and stark. To see, to rise, I hunt in the dark. fumbling, furious through ruins maze, lights my war cry, born from the blaze.

The poem is Angels with Rifles, The track, I Am Sorrow, I Am Lust by Codex Serafini. Check out the entire song at the end of the cast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Life podcast. I 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.

25 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 Hendricks 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 and 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 joined you for a long time, man. Thank you, brother. Yeah, 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, like one of the reasons why I not only love you, but I'm so inspired by you. It's like your commitment and your passion to living a life that's meaningful. Like, 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 because 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, man. Maybe you could tell people about how that got started. I mean, I had family that was. around me making music when I was born.

But I remember just like there was something like internally that I just, it wasn't like I want to do that someday or I want to like be on the radio or 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 it before I could explain what that was on how to communicate. you know i don't know like it's if they if i was ever born to do anything i guess you know that was it i just knew so and it's been it's been way longer than 25 years now i know like i don't 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 40 years uh longer 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 in a guitar. But by the time I was seven, I was taking lessons. Man. Right? So that's well over four years. Yeah.

That is a long time, man. It's why, like, 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 no it wasn't that old like it not the not kind of like 40s or 50s 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 and the ability to get through those tough times. Oh, yeah, yeah. Man, it was about losing people, man. And that struck me because I have had a lot of heartache in my life lately. But 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 had gotten a call from a friend or a text from a friend of 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 place place and he was asking this was just a few like less than two months ago maybe six weeks ago yeah and he was like you know when he 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 know you can't you just got to do them you can't really avoid them if you're especially if you by yourself like it's not like I'm driving I'm not flying and I was like but I'll be back and like I'll be passing through in like three weeks we'll hook up um I'll try to come say hi and all my shows were just too close together with too many miles like date-wise too close together mileage-wise too far apart and so i missed them when i got to

california he had touched base with me and he was like you know when you're coming back through and i told him and um when i got there a mutual friend of ours came to my gig and i was like yeah i'm gonna go i'm gonna try to run up there and see him after this show and i've got to be you know i'm playing in in the next state in like 18 hours i was like 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 he wanted

to ask about uh Tulsa where i lived for years and he wanted some uh suggestions about excuse me about jobs or you know just lay the land and stuff and yeah just wild to wake up to to that well not wake up to that news it was 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 the second person close to me that, you know, took their own life within like six months. So that's two.

That's two in 25 in the year 25. that's wild you know yeah man that is wild shout out what is his name or i don't know if you want to say his name but like uh matt his name is matt more matt more yeah he was up in uh he had a place called a 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 man like that's a 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 right i think i think um well i know i know for 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 the same way anybody else really does that i have have met you know yeah um Um, so I'm not, you know, he's, he's around. I'm not, I'm not, uh, yeah, it's a big, uh, train wrecking, and how it affected me, you know, right. Uh, I'd be more concerned about his mother and, you know, that.

So, yeah, he's around you. I'm, I'm, I talk to him. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I got plenty of them I talk to, man. You call him down whenever you want to. Yeah. What's, he was a good dude. Yeah.

It sounds like it. It's, it's. What's it like to be on the road like that? Like you've been on the road forever, man. Like, you have toured so many different places. You know, and like what, what is that like? 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. Like, what does it like to be on the, 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? I mean, ever since I got a driver's license. Dude, what are we talking, 35 years?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just, 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 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 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 i did that for years you know where i was just always

on a different tour with different people in different configurations so it's different in all those scenarios you know these days it's cool it's extra cool because I've made a conscious effort to like be more social to

like I've always I've never not enjoyed it like or taken advantage of the opportunities to enjoy it like going out to the the museum or the movies or you know like the things that you don't you might not get to do otherwise because you might not ever visit this place on your own if you weren't you know working um so these days like i take advantage of just about everything that there's time to you know and um you know like i love to go out to restaurants by myself dude it's cool you know 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 cool because 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? Or, like, you know, these days I spend more time, and I do this, you know, on purpose is I'll book gigs and places. where there's outdoor activities because that's that's if i'm not playing that's what i'd rather be doing out on a trail so i'm riding my bike or you know running or hiking or whatever so that's been

extra cool because then you're uh you're almost guaranteed to meet people that are more like of your tribe yeah because i think like as a personality like i'm not really a musician like a lot you know 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 being able to tour 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. It's 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. Right, like, you know, I'm not much of a party guy or a drinker, never done drugs, you know, like, so playing in places where it's usually some type of bar or like dance hall, beer joint or whatever. It's fun, but like 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 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 because 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 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 uh the towns and like there's an incredible incredible richness in your voice. And I couldn't help but think, like, this is all of Adams 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 12, let me just put this on. My daughter's 12, 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 can, 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, you know? But like 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 um i guess you know like one of my biggest pet peeves is when visitors don't act like visitors right so when i go to places i want to experience what they experience the way they experience i don't want i don't want them to cater to me the guest right right so um i think that allows you to to pick up some of what they have to offer and it becomes part of your you know your being and so the influence you know it's it's not

really quantifiable and it's hard to describe but it's there i mean um i always i'll go to my grave and say that my time and I spent like 10 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 um like I can't even imagine where I'd be or or who I'd be or what I'd sound like you know it's um not only that but like i can't imagine being qualified to be to play as a musician at the level i've gotten to play at you know because those guys taught me so much and that city taught me so much in the history of the of the city and the culture good and bad like taught me so much um and then texas like you know that's like part of my family's from there and

And when I go there, the people accept me as though I'm one of them, you know. And I spent a lot of years there, too, and it shaped a whole other part of me and my sound and 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, you know, 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 like 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 from me what do you mean like there's certain there's certain cliches that i've heard throughout my life that i realized are um not true you know there's there's 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 who who uses that you know people that 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 um and so like you know as far as like good and bad it's like well i can view this i can view 2025 as good or bad depending on what i want to focus on yeah right like or i can just view it as as 2025 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 and um had um expressed kind of some of the things that you were expressing about like the way that I choose to live and how I choose to like navigate the world right so I can take their loss as like something that's

going to stifle that that which they were supporters of or I can take it as 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 the past about something that I judge as bad, then I'm going to get stuck. You know, and 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. It's right around the corner. It's coming for you too. But, you know, how do you deal with that? I've come to the idea that losing someone you love the most is the greatest inspiration.

you can ever have. I don't know that sounds callous. You're like, what the fuck you're talking about, George? You're going to lose your kid? You're going to lose your wife and think that that's inspiration? 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 did 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. It's like, look at this, man. That was

such a good time with them. I'm so glad I had that time with them. 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 you know anything right it's it's that same connection right what do you think is the connection right there between now how do how does that work for you how do you convey feeling into music is this something that comes through you is there a certain process you have uh it's like going back to i don't even know if the camera was rolling yet we were talking about yeah when i was younger just having there was just like a knowing right whatever like i can't

describe that feeling and you couldn't see it, but I know it because I felt it. Yeah. So whatever that is, always remembering what that felt like and trying to get back to it. But like to answer 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 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 yeah the way i think to and i think about it all

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 or spiritual entities having a human experience. And so with that it made it it made like the light bulb click will that's how i can connect back to what that original feeling was because that like whatever that feeling was wasn't physical and it wasn't it didn't it wasn't from me i know that too yeah right 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 i've been otherwise i chose to to chase it i've

been chasing it the whole time you know so 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 sound like I feel similar let me know your thoughts on this like like the idea of receiving stuff like the idea that's not really yours is that you 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 started writing, and I'm like, dude, I'm not even, just someone else is writing this. Like, this is just coming out of me. It's 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 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 sounds very much like a prisoner's mentality. and the people I know that the people I know that speak that way to me they kind of live that way like prisoners you know but um the flip side is is like if you start really tuning in and

going inward and thinking about these things um 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 because pleasure's kind of a she's you know she's a dangerous one like it's not not the same thing right yeah but like true happiness like what in that moment what about it really spark 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 going to be different but it's going to be it's going to 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 but I access the feeling. And so maybe there's another version of that that's even better, you know? Yeah. You got to go deep on this stuff, George. I'm with you. I do all the time, man.

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 some dark times and 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 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 like that 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 like are you going to try to move your boat through those two rocks nice and safe or are you going to fucking

go for you're going to take that side route over there are you going to chase that dream are you are you afraid to die or are you afraid to live which one is it which one do you want to do and like 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 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 like 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 like where do you draw on when you find yourself in in those troubled waters what's your inspiration to be like this is my life so 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

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 yeah 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 I don't know it's another word for feeling safe 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 is value valuable me 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 if i if i question to myself like what is time

my answer is time's not real right there's no master clock somewhere that's running off you know the solar system that's like actual time it's just a it's a concept we've come up with to measure and organize um and also like what was the other one there's another question I have but 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 what but what i'm doing is like reaching people on a level that's like they find that valuable like because they're not like they're not getting something for me they're getting a feeling

and when i real i when i realized that it changed um how motivated i was to keep doing what i'm doing because 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 yeah in that in that regard how much money I make doesn't dictate if what I'm doing is successful or not. And also, and also, because people, people bring this one up all the time. Like, either, either, what are you doing playing in this little dump out in this little town?

Or, like, you know, what are you going to do when you get older? Right? that's hilarious but I'm exactly I'm very rarely not exactly where I choose to be in one of you right yeah and if our value systems 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 stages these days I don't even know I don't really pay attention.

And that, you know, that opens up a whole other can of worms about what the music business is. Like, I'm not in the music business. I'm in the business of me, right? It just happens to be that people pay me for music, but, like, 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 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 the this is probably a horrible thing for me to say on that being said i don't have the same energy as if it was mine you know unless it's somebody i really love like if it's somebody that i love george can you just absolutely i'm in let's crush this thing together i'm a huge part of it. But if it's, 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 50. Maybe it's getting to the age of 50 and realizing that, you know, society plays this trick on you about value and time. 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 60 hours working every single week. And then all of a sudden, I'm home with my daughter and I'm teaching how to play chess. We're going outside playing baseball. Me and my wife were having financial meetings. I'm cooking some dinners. I'm picking

the kid up from school and I'm like, dude, this is, this is what I've missed. This was that hole that I couldn't fill no matter how much money I made. Yeah. 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 a, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's a, Again, it just comes down to what's valuable for you, right? The person, whoever you are. But if you make routine 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 and whatever that value system is is alive and it changes so if you're paying attention to the signs and what where that's leading you or the options it's giving you to to follow then you make your choices according and my guess is you'll probably continue to peel away layers on something and like continually discover what is valuable to you and it evolves you know it's really it's really important to me to think about these things express them however I choose to

but also make it known like I'm not trying to convince anybody with anything I'm not trying to like it's just my version of how I do things but maybe you know if somebody finds it useful or valuable then there it is you know it's out there. what would you tell like if there's a if there's a young adam in his 20s or a young george in his 20s 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 what what advice would you give to someone in their in their 20s um Well, you know, talking about 50.

It's coming up quick. I'm like six weeks out. Six weeks out. Yeah, yeah. The first thing would be is I used to try to separate the 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 this far with it.

Wherever we are today, right now, any of us, is totally and completely a result of our thoughts and our actions. All of those choices led me right here, right now with you. So musically, there isn't advice for the musician and you. There's only advice for you, who happens to make music. right because i'm not that's the other thing is like we talked about i think earlier before the camera's rolling on this one too is like i don't believe in in labels or identities you know i'm not i'm not a musician's not who i am it's just something i do and so conveying all those things to

like a 20-something that's trying to trying to make their way with their art um i think I think those things are vital, and they're probably not going to take the first time we have that conversation. There's no way. You're going to have to figure out what that really means and how it actually translates to you specifically. You know, because when I look back now, too, like, how much advice did other people give young me that it took 30 years for me to, to grasp and how much of it did I totally and completely dismiss at the time where now I'm like oh shit like it would have been so much easier if I would have but but there's no like there's no regret like it took it took however long it took yeah and here we are and here we are you know like so it's not it's not regret or anything like that it's just an observation but I think those fundamental things of 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 20-something year old me, would be like, have a, have very definitive goals or, or, well, yeah, the definitive goals that you can set into place, and not deviate from those and less 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 and 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 you didn't, 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 in a little, a little squirly, 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 going to stick to it you know

and go hard at it and not be when people ask you what your goals are don't don't try to downplay it and pretend like oh you know i don't really have one or because people are scared to share those things because of judgment from other people like if you come up short on their scale of measure and 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 wish that I'd learn 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 once you get there there's 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. Not at all, man. Now I think we're just starting to get interesting right here, man. I look at, like, I guess the next question is that I think about all the time is, and this is a perfect time to ask it. Like, what does it mean to be 50? You know, I did some, I've been doing some soul searching over the last few years.

And I've come to this idea that, like everything up until a certain age is learning like you don't really know 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 40s and then as those things began to dawn on me I really know I really 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 like their line of bullshit. Like, this is what they believed. This is what you got to do. And I think for me growing up, like 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 50. It's like, holy shit, 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

of the 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, you're 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, shit, it's a giant mirror, man. Yeah, yeah. What are your thoughts, man?

I'm on 50 on things I'm talking about. What do you think? What's amazing? I think for me, well, one, I'm not 50 yet. 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 like four and 10, 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 local car.

verb spot and then I'm you know and then I'm going to pick up my guitar so that's so awesome yeah like literally the same stuff yep um but what I struggled with was not who I wanted to become just how how I was going to do it 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's not 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 um the 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 a good 20 years.

And the more I've pondered it and thought about it, the more I'm seeing that like a mirror, it's not a direct reflection. Sometimes it's flipped, right? Because I've found myself in situations now where, like, there's a relationship with, 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 it well that doesn't mean that i'm 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 gonna sever that that cord between us because I'm still getting my crap together and I'm not ready for that I can't I can't deal with that in the healthy way yet I'm like I'm not there or maybe you know maybe I'm just completely wrong in 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 know, you've 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 what, real quick, that's one of the things like, in learning all this, about all this way of thinking and being is remembering like 20-something-year-old me needed a hard and fast, direct answer. And there's just isn't. 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 and it's a lot easier to move forward 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 I another that's What I'm learning now is that there are no answers, there's only better questions.

Yeah. I mean, 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, there's this, there's, for people listening right now, there's a, 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. Right. 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 really good one for people to go there. night can you i like that i've never heard that before yes it makes total sense in my brain yeah right um yeah and and you know like i have i have i know people in in my sphere that like can remember a time in a different body on this plane yeah right and 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 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. Like 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 other life.

but that on some level that rearranged my ability to live the life I was living maybe 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 as hard as it might be especially for other people to see you that way, like 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 50 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 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 kinsignera 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 know, you start to see with different eyes on some aspects what do 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 it's a good point you're you're the next breath away if you choose to be you see 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 to certain age isn't because of that age it's because that's just how long it took them yeah 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 Lange. 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 Lange. I'll put all her stuff down in the show notes. That's who I was referencing. I was my friend Lila right here.

I'll introduce you. You'll totally love her. She's a super awesome. Oh, 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. Yeah. 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? Like, what do you think that is? Like, 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 conflict? lady in 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 the 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 you just

You know, you have, you still have 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. Okay, so, like, last week and spend it out on a ranch with a bunch of crazy friends. tell everybody tell everybody about this right give it give us a setup on this so a good friend of mine one of my best friends is a guy named lewis eskabar 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 ultramarathon events like on the west coast and so last weekend was one of his events and um it's the most amazing group 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 where what i was originally the point was that there was there was a conversation we had the other night um around a bail of hay and some uno cards and uh you would

you had mentioned something that reminded me of it and 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 um what were you or what were you talking about before 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 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 Monta 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 like a student teacher in there, Mrs. Drum. do you remember her she used to play guitar for the class but imagine that mrs drum playing guitar yeah yeah it was amazing but i the 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 the only lesson i i remember ever was for mrs drum or miss drum and we can 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 this is drum coming with it can you imagine like a little kid 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 I go back to that a lot so like 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 like one of the keys to answer those questions.

Because if I have to do that today, like am I, you know, it's facing the possibility of death is like the fast track to being truthful with yourself. you know and no one no one outruns that no one escapes true yeah it death is the best teacher you know and no one maybe not no one but it's a hard teacher to sit with you know i think as you know you've just you've just had a few classes right there you know last this year you've been getting 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 me too right like you know that's a story with my father yeah like i've been i've been i've made peace with yeah with that day when it comes you know before i was eight years old probably yeah 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 good terms with truth for me. It's heavy, right? And beautiful in a way. Like, you know, if that hadn't happened with your father, like maybe that was the gift of life that allowed you to live a life worth living, you know, maybe it's having that at such a young age, it's something that inspired you, like, this is who I am. I'm going to live my life this way. Like I, you know, a lot of times when people grow up without, 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 you know and it's it's this pivotal mark in their life where they

just went i'm going this way you know it as a gift like holy cow man maybe that person dying is what allowed me to live totally and it 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 so like they don't they don't 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 know what to do this like why why wouldn't i just go do what my inner self is telling me to do

at the risk of what like unhappiness poverty like i grew up in that you know we were we were were pretty poor when i was a kid like like i i already knew how to um how to make peace with pain and in 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 so yeah yeah I mean who knows like if I if if if my family hadn't had gone through all that with my dad and like if we had the means for me to you know go to like a university and do all those normal things I might have just done it because that's what you do.

And not, I wouldn't have had to think about, is that really what you're supposed to do? But all the, all the things that we went through when I was a kid, like, 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, You know, 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 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 99.9% of things we call hereditary are not hereditary. They're taught.

Learned behavior. Right? 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 that'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 a lot of like going back to the 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.

And people don't, like, that's offensive to people a lot of times if you ask them to question those things. Where, to me, it's like, that's the perfect opening to have 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, you know, that my vision is clear, that 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 could 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, like, 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.

Like, that's not just what truth is. It's much broader than that. You know? I do. um yeah 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 yeah 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 a job it can all be changed you just

have to choose to do it you know if somebody 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 I'll probably misremember things that I've read or whatever, but nature doesn't, I'll just say this, like in general, nature doesn't really make mistakes. And a lot of the ones that we think our mistakes are mistakes on our part for what we're actually seeing or experiencing. going back to this moment right now like it's every thought every choice every emotion like i take full responsibility for all that stuff because where i am is is on me and that doesn't

mean where i am on the pay scale or corporate ladder or tax bracket and 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. Mm-hmm. 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, 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, you know, really making the important strides? And I love the point nature doesn't make mistakes. Like it's so, it's so human and so sort of, egotistical to be like look what nature did over here this whole this giant planet that's been around for billion look what look at this mistake that this guy made like you're going to talk that's not a mistake it's just something you don't understand right and that goes back to judging things of this 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 while meanwhile this thing is still happening and we're not dealing with it yeah yeah and 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 my friend clink kiles what's up clink kiles clink kiles has an amazing podcast called the psychedelic christian podcast he's an amazing human being people should check it out clinton says in parenting more is caught than taught as they say beautiful point clint so much so much 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. 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 generational

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 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 are you like who are you really and are your thoughts and decisions really yours hmm 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 40 years go down to the show notes

You can go out of 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, 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 then 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, I don't know, 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 like that's one of the the big misconceptions about in my opinion about art and nature and 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 those are things that help you access this but they're not replacements for the the work that really needs to be done to connect with that right so for me yeah those both those are both access points or portals into that but they're not the thing yeah and so yeah like I would I would without like I without giving it too much thought I would I would assume that that's why both of those aspects of my life are inviting to me you know like 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. Do you ever play a Have you played in Arkansas? Yeah. Yeah, I just played there. I played at the Blues Fest in Eureka Springs, like in March.

Clint, when he comes out there, 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. Ozarks, Northwest Arkansas, I love. What a great way.

what a great way to travel the country and do something you love that sounds that makes me inspired what a great thing to do i mean yeah it's like it's pretty cool like i certainly don't take it for granted you know um and it's you know it's not always it's not always like easy and fun but right 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. But 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 it anyway i mean you know there's shows starting 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 which has gone over really well with audiences and 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 really, I've never done music that I didn't feel or believe in, but I've continued to like push the meter every, every year about like, I really don't get to fuck with 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, 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. So I'm excited to, like, to really get back in there in the woodshed with that. Because it's new. Like, I started working on that, like, in April.

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 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 because i'm still like figuring it out and in just like developing what that recipe and what that sound really is um 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 that is, whatever that is, is exciting to me to see what 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. Like that's a whole other 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 Hendricks and Merle Haggard? No, not really. Is it like Stevie Ray Vaughn't. Not really. It's new. It's novel, man. I think when people go and listen to it, excuse me, everyone's saying. That's right. 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. Adamlopez

Music.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 for reference one is you said listen to suicide doors but if you if you go like on my spotify there's two versions of it and they're it's not an electric version and acoustic version it's like a uh a rewritten version with the same guts of a song through a different filter So like court 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 going to 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 you know with a band and then i go out and tour by myself i cut that i cut that by myself it's live like it wasn't tracked it's it's it's it's me playing and somebody recording it and that's it's it's important to note i do too because Because that's what, like I said, that's what the show is. I think of, I think radical authenticity is a good way to describe it.

You know, 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 Adam Lopez.com that you have up for free right there, that one, 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, 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, it's, I just started working on the idea that's, I just started working on the idea that's.

It'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 into what it's supposed to be.

Like I think that that there's. some aspect there, man. We should chase that thread down. Yeah, like a music, if we're going to have a music conversation, that's like a whole another 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, um, what I would, uh, what was I going to say? I was going to say something. I forgot. Probably how awesome I am or something. Yeah, probably. that's what I was thinking man I forget what I was going to say

we were talking about we were 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 yeah it's it's hard to explain I always like the way Bill Wethers explained how he came up with those classic songs. His response to that was 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, Jha wrote them for me. You know, it just speaks to that idea of transmission, like coming through you. Yeah. And like when people ask me for like, songwriting advice specifically my my answer is usually just get the fuck out of the way you know yeah it's it's it's not a it's not a it's not like a schooled skill

yeah for some people it is but the music that I like it's surely isn't you know guy clark and john prine didn't go to belmont to study songwriting one or one you know they went out and lived 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 we would need way more time that you don't have right now yeah come back let's 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 um look up the song future blues by willie brown 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. 31, 1931. Woo. So there's real quick. Willie Brown, one of the original like country blues guys from like pre-war, was known in the South amongst the people on the plantations.

Only ever made recorded two, you know, back then a record was like a 45, two songs. Okay. So I believe he only. recorded two records, so 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, 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 scary. It's intense. I'm excited to check it out, man. I'm going to 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 Adam Lopezmusic.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. Yeah, come, give you a way, blah, blah, blah, way. You miss me a, oh, yeah, yeah, that's all no, me, do you get. Better know, you're like, you're lying. And then, I know, la la, la, la, you know, and I know, and I know, and I don't know. I'm like you one of all right of my own. I'm going to go.

I'm going to see. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. All of us. I'm going to want to see. I'm going to have a crush. I'm going to go. I'm going to win.

I don't know what you want us. You're going to go. Oh Oh And turn away Go away

I'm Go away Go away I'm not I'm not I'm trying to trust I'm just

I'm going to pay I'm going to say I'm going I'm going a fucking guess I'm

I'm going I'm going I'm not a girl I just think but then you go Oh

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Oh, no, do you know, do that's not, so, that, da, da, da, da, da.