YONDER BREAKS

I used to be a big gear head when it came to video. I loved cameras and, whatever was new, I was educated on. It was an exciting world to follow as there was always something better coming out, particularly when it came to making digital video look more like movies. Being big into filmmaking at the time, I couldn't get enough of it. Taken while shooting The Shaolin Monk of Chinatown . Photo by Peter Harmon . But then people starting shooting on DSLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, and it kind of shifted the game. Sure, the camera bodies were changing and updating and upgrading, but what has always affected the look of an image the most is the lens . Take an awesome camera with a crappy lens and it still won't look great. Vice versa would at least be an interesting photo, if not something actually good. Years later, I got into music and started investing in production gear. I would say that with a lot of audio gear, the same can be true, particularly in the world of digita...

I think God can and will speak to us often, likely as often as we ask Him . But there are times when it lands different, like a meteorite just plopped down in front of you in your backyard, and you can't help but stand still, speechless and a little dumbfounded.  One such occasion like this for me happened when I was driving, literally on the interchange between the 10 and 405 freeways in Los Angeles (an aside, but I recently saw this great video about why we put "the" in front of freeways in LA, if you're curious). I was shifting from writing screenplays to writing novels at the time, and while absent-mindedly thinking about my "career," or maybe just dreams and hopes for that endeavor, I felt like God said, "let go of that and I'll show you who you really  are." I regret to say that my first reaction was a swift "no," as writing had been quite a large part of my identity as a creative in Los Angeles; but the word was unmistakable ...

If you've read this blog even infrequently over the years, you probably know I grew up in South Carolina, started trying to make movies for a living around 2008 and moved to Los Angeles, where I put a heavy emphasis on writing. This led to writing books and then I started feeling a pull into music , which is most of what this website is about. Some time ago, I was at a wedding and one of my relatives told me, "I understood the whole movie thing, but I just don't get why you got into music. Why music ?" I didn't really know what to say or how to explain all of the things that had led me there, especially in a brief conversation on the way out of a wedding reception. There had been several events that brought me to the point of making music production my main focus, and so I'll write them here, partly for anyone wondering (which is probably much of my family!), but also partly for me, to recollect, remember and write down for future reference. My first instrum...

It's been about a year since Golden Coast Summertime was released to the public (folks who purchased my book, All Roads Lead to Dockweiler , were given an early release download of the album), my first full-length album. It was such a pleasure to produce these songs alongside the written material, and I've already been working on the next book/album combo! I wanted to highlight a song from Golden Coast Summertime , as it has a little story to it. "Let Go (Abandon)" was written after an encounter of hearing God's voice while absent-mindedly driving on the 10-to-405 freeway interchange after work one evening. If I remember correctly, I was ruminating about writing novels (my main endeavor at the time) and, out of nowhere, felt like God said something along the lines of, "If you let that go, I'll show you who you really  are."  I regret to tell you that I immediately rejected the notion, as writing had been quite a bit of my identity up until that poi...

The other day my daughter took a photo of me, pseudo punching towards the camera. I found an AI button on my phone (which I hadn't used before) and told it to make me look like a kung fu master. Here is what it spit out: For reference, here's the original: My first thought? Man, I look cool. Maybe I need to get back into karate... Then I thought how amazingly real that photo looks. If I sent that to ten friends I think at least nine of them would assume I was going to a costume party dressed as a Shaolin monk and made a commitment in hairstyle for the role. But my next  thought was, Wow, my daughters are going to grow up in a world where nothing is true... We've all seen or heard photos and videos of famous people saying things they never really said, all generated by Artificial Intelligence. But the farther along it goes, the less fake they appear to be. Now imagine the digital Wild West that we're heading into where nothing you read or see or take in can be trusted a...

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)   Way back in high school, when I first started trying to follow Jesus, I was really open about my faith. I wrote songs about God and watched Christian TV (even though most of the programming was geared towards old folks). Everyone kind of knew where I stood with Jesus, which I think was a good thing. However, as I got into college I realized that a lot of people around me, some really close to me, withheld parts of themselves because of my faith. They wouldn't tell me certain things or swear around me; ultimately, they didn't want to "disappoint me" if they weren't living the way I did. It was a rude awakening when I found this out, as I asked myself if I even really knew these friends and family members around me... A teenage me at our local skatepark in my "Got Christ?" beanie. And so, when I became an adult...

I haven't been skating much lately, as I've been spending much of that time rebuilding my backyard mini-ramp . I've also been trying to get into surfing more lately so I don't feel like such a poser, having written  a book about surfing  and all... Anyway, after getting home from a bike ride and then a surf, my friend Shawn asked if I wanted to skate that day. Three sports? Why not, and so I headed out the door for a noon session. Here is Shawn doing a sweet layback from an earlier session. It was pretty relaxed, cruising around the bowl with him and another middle-aged skater. I don't think any of us was feeling particularly gnarly that day, though I did learn to roll-in to the mini-bowl frontside (I usually go backside ), which is kind of scary. But as we skated, I threw a few flip tricks ( kickflips , varial flips , etc.), and they were working. Now, this is fairly rare, as the energy it takes to flip your board over from flat ground far outweighs the ener...

This might be just for me, but I am going to write it out in case it speaks to someone else also... Sometimes when you read the Bible a verse will seem highlighted to you, as if it demands your focus. The other day I was reading in Romans and that was the case for this verse: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God" (Romans 1:1) And sometimes the verse that feels like it's being pointed out by the Holy Spirit doesn't really make a lot of sense! This is a simple introduction, but as I sat with it and let it ruminate, I think God was pointing out something. Notice Paul's title and self-description here: servant and apostle . There are a lot of things Paul could have written: Jew-turned-Christ-Follower , Pharisee , tent maker . But he chose first off a servant of Christ Jesus, and then his calling as an apostle who is set apart to spread the gospel of God. It got me thinking: what would my introduction be? In ...

Okay, this one is a little silly... Years ago, on a small-surf but sunny day at Dockweiler State Beach , my wife took this cheesy photo of me standing with my Wavestorm : Photo by Katie and not Mitchel (though he thinks he took it) I've mentioned before that I used to write for StoreYourBoard.com, and did a piece on the Wavestorm  as a good beginner board. There's also a chapter in All Roads Lead to Dockweiler about it, also using this photo.  Well, fast forward many years and one day my friend Aaron sent me a link to a guy offering surf lessons on Facebook who was using my photo for marketing, asking if it was me.  Nope. And then a few months after that, he noticed it had popped up on Craigslist as a print: I couldn't believe it! Someone was selling my likeness as "original" art. Well, he wasn't the only one, as Aaron also found this one about a year later: Apparently, this image needs to be out in the world! And so, I am launching the first OFFICIAL Rick-a...

About twenty years ago I was driving back from taking a friend to the airport. It was a sort of rainy, cloudy day, but as I drove home I remember seeing the sun rising behind the clouds in a beautiful display of creation. Just a day or so prior, my Dad had also left on an out-of-state trip and I remember feeling pretty down about people leaving, even if for short periods of time. It struck me that, even in sadness, just as in a cloudy day, beauty can be found; and this beauty is even more glorious, as the clouds create a contrast that accents the sunlight, just as despairing times are when we grow the most and become more dependent on God, seeing His goodness in fuller ways.  And so, being the songwriter I am, I went home and wrote "Clouds." "Clouds" Have you ever seen the moonlight in the morning When all the while you are mourning Because a loved one has gone away? And did you notice how the moon behind the clouds is shining Around the darkness, there's a lini...

I'll write more some more in-depth content on this in the coming days and weeks, but for now I wanted to share that my first full-length album (or LP) is out now! There is a YouTube playlist with every song you can find here: And of course you can listen on Spotify , Apple Music , Amazon Music , Pandora and pretty much anywhere else music is found! If you've been keeping up, you'll know that this album has been available for download to those who purchased my book, All Roads Lead to Dockweiler . You'll still get a digital download with the book, but now the music is out in the world for all to hear! Please share it with your friends and check back in for more on these songs that have meant so much to me! Thank you for your support!

I was reading in John the other day and an idea struck me: Could it be a good thing that this world, and particularly America, is so divided? Let me explain... In the account of John , the last thing Jesus prays over His disciples is for their unity. Not only the twelve disciples, but future believers also: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,   that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.   I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:20-23) As I read this the other day, it occurred to me that, if God can bring together a people who believe so many different things (and sometimes...