- Coming up on Ocean State Sessions, - Reasons - Bill Bartholomew and Big Lux - Told us we could see the world through the lens of a rifle sight.

They hit us with boom, we - One memory's not one.

Memory's not good, one memory's not.

My memory's fine.

Okay, my memory's fine.

My memory's not good, my memory's fine.

- It all clicked at this place called Potion Cafe, which was located in the buildings that I was living in where I was throwing these loft shows and living with literally nine people in a loft space in a doghouse, essentially paying for things with quarters, working temp jobs.

Ocean Cafe was this unbelievable place that had no lights most of the time.

No food, no, it was just a space, a small space.

And it attracted this wide net of people from all over the, all over the world.

Experimental artists, hip hop performers, storytellers.

There were conversations on a political level.

I learned about physics.

There was a girl who claimed she had developed a time machine in the building.

There was almost an anarcho sinus type of mentality where people, if you were hungry, somebody was gonna feed you.

If you didn't have money, somebody was gonna find you a couch to stay on.

Something about potion that was very important was, it was not displacing the quote unquote preexisting neighborhood.

People from the neighborhood came the New York Times, found out about it, came out and wrote an article that ended up on the front page that positioned it as really, and I'm paraphrasing, oh good.

This neighborhood, this building is now safe for gentrification.

These artists came through, they quote unquote cleared it out.

Go ahead and invest in your fancy cafe.

Go ahead and open up your hummus shop.

Let's turn these into luxury lofts.

We're all set.

And the New York Times basically ended it with that article.

That was the turning point.

I transitioned out of the solo thing into a a band with my partner for a little while and we were on tour and we were playing in New Haven and I saw there was a car with Rhode Island plates and there were these guys playing Frisbee in the parking lot of the venue.

And I was like, yo, guys, what's going on?

You guys from Providence?

And they were like, Providence, no, we're from Newport.

And I was like, Newport, Rhode Island.

There's a music scene in Newport.

And sure enough we went and checked it out and within a very short amount of time, we were like, we gotta leave New York and go to Newport.

Much like what happened in Brooklyn.

Lo and behold, a bunch of artists come in, a bunch of activity starts to happen, venues pop up places, start having music and cool stuff and vintage shops and coffee shops and all that.

And then it becomes appealing for the developer class to swoop in.

And in the case of Newport, really turned it into just a giant Airbnb, finding this loft space here, which serves as my home, as my studio, as my gym, whatever.

It's a natural fit.

Elmwood Songwriters Club is a monthly series.

It's the second Saturday of every month.

It's eight artists and people play their songs and it's a shared community experience and it's authentic.

But it's really one of the most important things to me right now.

Because as an artist, it continues to challenge me in the way that the potion Brooklyn scene challenged me.

Burt Crenca once told me who is the founder of AS220, to not have guilt about gentrification as an artist because the artist class is the last stop before gentrification.

And that's something I wrestle with here in Elmwood.

You know, I have family that grew up here in Elmwood and I've been here my whole life essentially.

But if it's going to continue to change, I don't wanna be the one who is turning it into what other parts of Providence have become.

I want to be the one who is the last, last person standing there pushing back against that turn to the unnatural gentrification.

There's something important to me about that.

This is not intended to make Elmwood into Hipsterdom.

It's intended to make Elmwood Elmwood - To - Recreate - When - And into the I became.

I became.

It is cruel land.

It is sober, but you won't try it.

Open and close as fast as you drive.

And every moment isn't a reason why.

A why a reason why wake me up.

Reason why - This is looking for Aven on a Wednesday evening.

This is looking for Sun Sha on Wednesday.

This is looking for sunshine.

This is sunshine on Wednesday and a little bit of sunshine.

Friday gets warm, warm with some rain.

Rain.

This is looking for sunshine.

Sunshine on Friday gets real warm.

Warm with some rain.

This is looking for sunshine.

This is looking for sunshine - What you going to do will be rocking the bluegrass.

You throw my crew, you be showing your whole ass.

You've got that ish backwards.

We called asshole.

You step on the wrong toes, you get what you pay for.

I never race stock.

It did no bomb burning.

I'll protect my plot.

You find out in the hurry my beat trip like the old man spit, going straight to your ear with the sound of the bidder like Made a goal that I want the devil cook that some bitch up like a stew.

And the keto handle anyone who think they ready for action.

Demand satisfaction.

I'll do with the passion running circles around you while you grasp for answers like you smoke to many packs and I come with a cancer running circles around you while you grasp for ants like you smoke too many packs.

And I come with a cancer now I'm never covered.

What?

Another man has two sides of the fence.

Both have the same grasp.

I can't help if your girl keeps looking rumor downtown, that's a good home cookie.

Do you want that action?

Nah, look in your face says no.

But I'm right over here and I'm ready to go.

What's like, hi.

Do you want that action?

Nah, I thought y'all should know I settled my scores with the strings and a bow.

Do you want that action, man?

Y'all don't want that action.

Come on, I'm gonna be out here on the dance floor getting it.

I'll never cover what another man has.

Two sides of the fence, both have the same grass.

I can't help it.

If your girl keeps looking rumor downtown, that's some good home cook here.

How do you want that action?

Nah, I look on your face, says no, but I'm right over here.

I'm ready to go.

It's like, ha, I thought y'all should know I settled my scores with the strings and a bow ha shit.

Or do you want that action man?

You don't want that action.

Or do you want that action man?

You want that actually.

Come on man.

I, well, I'll tell you that there's always like one or two girls in the front row that, I dunno.

4, 3, 2, let's go.

But when that rocking it, rolling it, killing it.

All of my skills is so damn deliberate.

If I chose this life, then y'all is just witness this.

But life chose us.

So together we live in it.

Stomping and clap is the original boom bat.

We bring a full circle when we're rocking in bluegrass.

No one in this industry is stopping me.

Get out the way you join the team.

Please believe My name is Big Luxe.

I am a town counselor in Westerly, Rhode Island.

I'm also a hip hop violinist.

I am also a law student.

And I think that's enough.

Everything that I do in my life now is to kind of bring those three things together and just prove that the power of connection can, can win.

I really had the great fortune that both of my parents are musicians.

They asked me when I was young, what I wanted to do and I told 'em I wanted to play the violin.

And I became fluent in music from seven years old to 17 years old.

I was taking lessons.

I don't know a hundred percent where the switch flipped, but I, I do know that it was just kind of wanting to have a bigger life and a bigger adventure out of everything I applied to and was accepted to West Point.

And that was the start.

Sophomore year of West Point, I went to my next class, which is economics.

And we watched the second plane, hit the second tower, and then we watched both of those buildings come down.

We knew it was real, we knew it was serious and we knew that we were likely gonna end up in combat.

After we graduated, My unit got orders to deploy to Baghdad.

The objectives that we had were really, really hard to pin down and the danger was really, really high.

And so when you have those two factors it, it really makes you think like, not doing this 'cause nine 11 anymore.

Like what am I?

What am I here for?

And at the end of the day, you just come back to, I'm here to help protect my fellow soldiers and to help get them home.

And that is one of the things that I am most proud of in my life is that all of my soldiers did in fact come home during my time in Iraq.

I brought my violin.

I did not play it very much.

When I left Baghdad, I thought it was gonna be the happiest day of my life.

- You say - It's really confusing.

You can't switch everything off.

You can't switch that feeling of danger off.

You can't feel completely safe.

- Nice.

Paul.

The letters from, - I was spending a lot of time watching sports, going to Applebee's.

There was just like a lot of different events at the Applebee's.

Most important for me was karaoke.

And I would play fiddle with the karaoke guests and I was getting my improv chops up.

I was getting my country music chops up.

I was just able to be exposed to that before I headed to Korea.

Korea, the country is amazing.

They love to watch music.

Musicians, they love singing, dancing.

So it becomes really a, a place that as a developing artist, you're gonna find an audience for what you do.

I came back to Rhode Island in 2019, you know, things start to move along slowly and in 2020 the entire world comes to a screeching halt.

- No, we no justice that, no we - Beast.

The week where George Floyd and ah, Maud Arbery Breonna Taylor were killed was just a galvanizing call for the community.

We decided that the most impactful action that we could take was running for, for office ourselves.

Politics at the local level are so, so important.

I really want everybody to stay involved in their communities and and see what's going on and hold your leaders accountable.

At the end of the day, I just want a society that values everybody equally.

And that's where I hope we're headed.

- You say world.

In 2006, world - Platoon leader in - Baghdad - Charged 25 men every day.

It was our job to go out and look for - Bombs.

The letters from just, - This is our - Story dear - Mom, just got back from patrol.

Be rolling down the road looking for bombs set to explode.

Sitting in the desert, bit of love of civil war to fatten she's wallet and to Bush's score.

Relevant intelligence.

Damn shouldn't even be here.

But I got this mission now and somehow I'm the leader.

I know that I'm a dead man and I know that I can't show it, but I got these killers with me so I know we better own it while we roll this out.

The streets and our sand colored vehicles that thaw around.

We just hope we ain't meet him though.

If he at the source, we got the source.

He at the source.

We got the source.

We meet him.

We force the invaders.

Men staring with a naked hostility leading us to judge.

But once has the ability to prime the milians.

Dig diges shape charges, put the bombs under Baghdad.

That'll hit us the hardest light.

- Go ahead.

Go on chasing bombs, save our kids.

And mom, you are now.

We'll be here for all you.

We just want you home.

- Depending on these letters, they be killing off emotions.

Not feeling.

Makes it better.

Chasing bombs by day, chasing sleep by night told us we could see the world through the lens of a rifle sight.

They hit us with the boom.

We bail out in the street rounds and fires.

They cook off in the desert heat.

Then we dragged that burn out truck back to wherever our base is.

Next morning we come back out to find these bombs.

We chase it, go fight they bus.

We bust, they bust, we bust, they bust.

We bust, they bust.

The streets are filled with blood and dust.

Memorial services for fellow spas departed.

I played my violin to take my mind off the carnage.

Two sergeants got shot last week.

They target in our leaders.

My soldiers volunteer to swap snipers.

Know where our see this bull killers are trying to die.

We'll never despite hearts.

That's purple we y'all come home to wonder go y'all.

What's the meeting man?

- Go on Tracy.

- Never forget it out.

- Save our kids.

The aunt moms.

You are not alone.

We'll be here.

Are you?

You say you don't know.

I say please don't tell me - Him.

Right folk, get him.

Machine gun.

Get him.

It's a war of attrition.

AKs hit him.

Snipers hit him.

RBGs hit him.

It's a war with the rhythm.

'cause if they at the source, we got the swords.

How?

'cause if they add the source, we got the swords.

Get 'em.

- Go.

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