About Me,...

So how exactly does one go about describing themselves to others? Well, the banner on my home page claims I'm a Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, Artist, & Author, which is true, but it fails to mention Master Wood Worker, Renowned East Coast Surf Fisherman, or any of the professional skills I picked up along the way to becoming VP of Operations of an Electronics Manufacturing Company prior to retiring. To use some well worn metaphors, I’ve worn a lot of hats and traveled down many roads, but through it all, the process of creation has always been the glue that has bound my life together and given it it’s meaning and purpose.

PROCESS & CREATION

Those two words would best define who I am, and what I am about. That and FAMILY.

PROCESS

The pathway, the long journey, the development and growth that results by staying the course, the attainment of knowledge.

PROCESS is a concept that gets lost in the instant gratification world we live in today. As much as I love the many benefits that technology affords us, it is starting to get out in front of us, and the downside to this, is that it’s short circuiting Process as a whole. You have people who aren’t artists using AI programs to make “art”, or non-musicians using AI software to “write” songs. It’s an unfortunate paradigm shift from learning, to the equivalent of downloading the cheats, and the sad part is that it completely eliminates any sense of accomplishment simply because the result aren’t earned, they're manufactured.

It’s not the destination, it’s enjoying the ride that matters.

I'm all about PROCESS

PROCESS

I have loved every step I’ve ever taken, down whatever path I’ve chosen to follow. Every new thing I learn brings me joy. My only regrets are that I don’t have enough money, time, and energy to explore all the things I’ve yet to stick my nose into, and that science hasn’t perfected and approved human cloning yet.

CREATION noun: the action or process of bringing something into existence.

CREATION

It’s what I do, and I can’t say for sure that it’s not an affliction. Whether it’s been performing or composing music, writing stories, building custom furniture, art, intarsia, etc, it’s been a lifetime of late hours, lack of sleep, money spent on “tools of the trade”, at times copious amounts of alcohol and drugs, and later on in life, the support of a patient wife. But bringing forth something from nothing, guided only by a vision in your mind, well I ask you, does it get any better than that?

I'm all about CREATION

CREATION

It’s those moments in time. It’s the notes of my solo flowing effortlessly and without thought during an improv session, or words streaming unimpeded, from my mind, through the keyboard, and onto the screen, while working on a story. It’s all the parts of an orchestral tone poem I’m composing, congealing in my mind faster than I can write the individual instrument parts down, or the endless hours spent in a near meditative state, standing at my bandsaw, cutting exotic woods from around the world into shapes that fit together to produce a work of intarsia.
It’s those moments who define who I am.

The PROCESS of CREATION

So please feel free to take a look around, maybe listen to a few excerpts of some of the many styles of music I have composed and / or performed. Perhaps you might even like to listen to an audio story or two that I have written, or check out some of my artwork. And if by chance you happen to be a fisherman you’ll love my youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@richtroxler