Shawn Adam Williams
|
6/17/2021 9:23:34 AM
A Confession of An Troubled Artist
I hear you loud and clear. I appreciate your continuous love. Still going through hard times. Still experienced hardships and adversity. I appreciate your continuous support. Because this confession was made to myself as an artist. All my life, I wrote 30 songs. Some of them playing across the country and the world. I need all my musical colleagues and fans to understand. I was going through meltdowns, depression, anxiety, anger, isolation, and pain.
This confession right here is for me. I'm going through too much over the years in my life and my career. Lord knows I'm not perfect. I just want you to know that, I will center myself and breathe. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! xxxooo Shawn. P.S. Please continue to stand up for me and feel my pain.
|
|
Stoneman
|
6/19/2021 1:51:35 AM
Every Blues man I have known had some troubles. Its sort of a part of the gig. One of my Blues mentors once told me that you cannot play the Blues unless you feel the Blues. He had been feeling the Blues all of his life. Downtrodden and hopeless, he died with a broken heart. Oddly enough, I didn't find out why until he was gone. He never talked about what was making him so Blue. But after he died I found out all kinds of things about him like the fact that his wife and 5 kids had perished in a fire set by the KKK in 50's Georgia. Sometimes I would catch him openly weeping but I didn't know why at the time. I know now that he most certainly had PTSD. I wish I could have helped him. Seemed to me that the only time he actually smiled was when we were on stage. He would step up to the mic and ask: How many people in here know what the Blues is? Then he would say "For those of you that don't know, this is what the Blues is........Then you could hear his guitar wailing throughout the place! Seems like his guitar always had the Blues. That is all he ever played on it. What I am saying is that Blues people having troubles is a time honored tradition. They called it "paying dues" back in the day. When I ventured out on my own with my own band he told me not to come back until I had paid some dues. Basically, that meant that I should not come back until I had been through some hardships and trouble. I remember when I came back from my first tour we sat up laughing and talking all night about all the crazy things I had been through on the "circuit". It was the first time he ever said "You are ready to play the Blues now! So, hang in there my brother. Truth is that trouble and pain are what reminds us that we are alive and vital. I suffered a stroke in 2003 and was paralyzed on my left side. They told me that I may never walk again. However, one day I started having some serious pain in my left leg. Went to the doctor and he told me that it was a sign that my leg was coming back to life. I started walking on it that day and am currently doing 5 miles a day and I am even doing marital arts kicks with it. So, you see, not all pain is a bad thing Sometimes pain is the symptom of underlying issues. Quite often I lean into my pain just so I can fully feel what is going on inside me. I have learned to recognize certain things that I can control. With therapy I have learned many of my triggers and how to avoid them. But, sometimes I just let it be whatever it is inside of me. I face it, accept it and then let it go. I'm probably wasting time telling you all this because I am not sure that any of it will help. But I am making an effort anyway. We all care about you bro. and hope that your issues can someday be resolved or made tolerable. Respect, Stoneman
|
|