AMD Life Update 8/2020

Hey Friends,

I am writing to just update you on a few things going on with me. This pandemic time has been challenging as I am sure it has been for many of you. Some of the good God has brought out of it for me personally is a slowing down of life and travel and events and commitments. I had already sensed from God that this year for me would be one of “staying home”, but I had no idea how extreme that would be :). I didn’t know I needed that, but boy did I.

MUSIC UPDATE: I have finished releasing the Moonshine Album and I am so happy with what we created. There is one more video coming out soon that tells some of the story of the making of the whole project that I am excited for you to see. Evan Reece has been the videographer for much of this album and I gave him free rein in creating it so I haven’t even seen it yet. I’m excited to see it myself! It’s called “Making Moonshine” (ha ha) and we should be releasing it sometime in the next few weeks. If you haven’t listened to the Moonshine album you can for free on my site and if you haven’t seen the videos, please check them out on YouTube.

LIFE UPDATE: I have been sensing a very strong call from God over the last months to slow down and really focus on my own life. What this means is a real focus on my own physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It also means an increasing investment into my wife and three sons. As I follow Jesus into this calling I am spending less time on social media and more time cultivating my own life. I have been feeling stuck in a rut in some ways and this shift has really started to bring a freshness and joy back to my heart. I am starting to write poetry again and draw just for the fun of it. The simplifying and reorienting are bringing me life.

WHAT’S NEXT: It seems like I am always thinking about what’s next, but this season feels to be more about what is now for me. I don’t know what is next in terms of music or art but it feels like a season of less output. I have spent the last three years working hard on getting a lot of poetry and videos out into the world, and I think it is time for the ground to rest. I appreciate each of you and your support of me. I was invited to Emcee the Global Missions Health Conference again this coming November, and that is pretty much all I have on the calendar at this point. It feels good to be unencumbered and to have the freedom to focus on the life and people around me. I hope that God has more music for me to make in the future, and I suspect that He does; but if I don’t take care of my own heart and life, then I won’t have anything to say :). If He does open up something new, then you guys will be the first to know!

Thank you again for being a friend to me. Thank you for all your support that made these albums and videos happen. I am genuinely thankful to God for each of you.

Much love,

Artist M.D.

team amd

People say it takes a village to raise a child. Well it also takes a village to make music. I want to introduce you to the creative crew that has made and is making all of this possible.

PRODUCER

Andrew Blooms (Athens, GA) https://www.andrewblooms.com/bloomsounds

• “Genius” is the best word I can think of for Andrew. He basically composes all the music and plays all the instruments you hear on these tracks. He is super easy to work with and has this ability to create the music that matches the emotion each of my poems. If you are a musician or lyricist and need someone to take you to the next level, he is your guy.

MUSICIANS/SINGERS

Gabby Case (Atlanta, GA) Instagram: @gabbycase

• Voice from heaven. Guitar Skills. Soul, Soul, Soul. And a pure heart for worship. Gabby’s vocals were essential for The History Project being what it was.

Gabby Li (Portland, OR) Instagram: @gabrielleli1

• A gift for melodies. Vocals that are so powerful and clear. Prayers that are even more powerful. Gabby personally prayed us through a major creative block and her prophetic prayers became some of my favorite lines in The History Project.

Solomon Grimes (Fort Wayne, IN) Instagram:@solomon.grimes

• It is hard to encapsulate in words all that Sol brings to AMD. Encouragement, life, inspiration, motivation, beats, and a whole lot of fun. He helps me in major ways to shoulder the load of all of this. If you need a life-coach, encourager, or inspirational leader then check him out.

Kirsten Boss (Athens, GA) @kirstennboss

• To say she is amazing at the cello is an understatement. She came in on a couple tracks on The History Project, played it by ear, improvised, and just KILLED it. If you need a string specialist, look her up.

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY

Evan Reece (Athens, GA) https://www.evanreecemedia.com

• A master at capturing in video what it feels like to be in a room. When you watch his videos you get the feeling like you are actually there. Amazing. His heart is also amazing and I just wished he lived in Tulsa! His video credits include The History Project Restoration video from 2018, the Moonshine Recap Video from 2019, and the Moonshine and Artist M.D. music videos that are yet to be released.

Timothy DeBruyn (Tulsa, OK) IG: @timothyjvisuals

• I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have found T.J. He is super talented and I love hanging out with him! He is shooting most of the videos from the new album as well as some live events. If you need photo/video help, look him up.

WEB DESIGN

Casey Needham https://caseyneedham.com

• He is so good and so easy to work with. Great design ideas, clear communication, and integrity. If you have a dream for a website or design project then let him help you out!

WIFE

Katie

• She is not on social media but by far the most important person to me on this team. Without her none of this would have happened. She continually pushed me to follow this calling and share my gifts with the world. Thank you, Katie!

amd origin story

The short version of this story is that in 2017 I kept hearing a voice inside telling me that I was an artist. It came to me as though it was a name or identity like “Artist” not just a description. Ironically, I had never thought of myself as an artist. I studied pre-medicine, went to medical school and then medical residency and was a practicing doctor when I was hearing all this.

At first I really resisted this calling and identity because it just felt audacious and also because somewhere along the way I picked up a negative connotation about being an artist, probably in part from my family culture of high performance and financial success. To be clear, I have always loved art and when I look back almost all of my best friends were artists, musicians, DJs, etc. I personally held artists in very high esteem. I just didn’t think it was ok for ME to be an artist. Like somehow I would be letting the world down. I was a doctor and that is what I was most useful to the world doing, or so I thought.

My resistance lasted until I went to this personal healing weekend where out of nowhere a woman I had never met came up to me and said, “I think God wants me to tell you that you have the soul of an artist.” Wow. It was the most impactful moment of the weekend and happened in just some random moment that had nothing to do with the weekend’s programming. I sat with that and then finally surrendered.

I told God I was “in” for accepting myself as an artist and that I would go wherever He led. And man, He did not waste any time. He orchestrated a series of events that started with me writing my first commissioned spoken word for a conference two weeks later, led to attending United Pursuit’s School of Worship 2 months after that where I wrote a sketch of what would end up being The History Project EP, and culminated in the studio recording of the actual EP in Jan of 2018 (less than a year from when I first heard “Artist”).

I am still a practicing doctor, hence the “M.D.” And I am still following Him…