I just uploaded a video of Through the Valley live from the Old Church with the story behind the song to my YouTube channel.

There’s 8 minutes of talking before I start playing…

I realize that I don’t always share the story of the song but in this place and on that night, I felt comfortable to go all in.

On my last post with the photo of a picture my wife got made for me, I mentioned that my family owned restaurants in the Chicago area where I grew up.

A couple folks commented regarding “oh that’s how you made it, your family owned restaurants” or “yeah makes sense since it takes money to make money, I see how you got your start”.

At first I was a bit offended but then I realized I haven’t shared a lot on how I grew up and how would they know…even if they’re presuming some things that aren’t true.

My family owned one restaurant at a time.
They worked their asses off, spent most of their time there and us kids also grew up with a vast amount of time in that environment.
These weren’t the nicest places but also not the worst.
It was a simple family owned local fast food place. The spot in Chicago was in a rougher neighborhood but we made it work.

While there, we were around prostitution, homelessness, gang violence, gun violence and a lot more.

I was also singing in gospel churches as well as being apart of a choir and practicing opera at the same time.
These different elements of singing were the foundations of how I became the vocalist I am today.
It was also an escape from reality and an emotional release for me throughout hard times growing up.

I never possessed loads of money to get me to where I am nor did I have financial help or any industry connections.
That’s not to say other folks haven’t helped me out in other ways along the way and been with me through various stages of this journey.
You truly can’t do it alone in the end.

I started releasing my own music and busking on the streets of Fayetteville, Arkansas when I was 25 years old about 10 years ago.

That led to more and more opportunities, playing with musicians, forming a band, touring, etc, and it all snowballed from there.

I don’t share this seeking validation or praise.
I share this because I want those kids and whoever else out there that don’t feel like they could ever achieve their dreams to know that’s it’s completely possible to get what you want in your life.

Of course it’s not gonna be easy, but that’s just life in general.
Sacrifices will have to be made in a lot of ways and you’ll have to learn to deal and hopefully enjoy the struggle of it all but you can do it.

As always, I deeply appreciate and am so grateful for all of your support out there.

I’m looking forward to sharing more stories with you all as time goes on.

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