Josh is a writer and a scholar currently studying PhD in English Literature at University of Southern California. We have been friends for quite a long time and even got to work together on my personal project, Tales of the Forgotten. (You can Google it, essentially he wrote the novel which I wrote a soundtrack for)

Josh and I have been having very meaningful conversations around our mental health and our difficulties navigating the modern life. So I thought, why not record one of these and share it with others?

This is rather a vulnerable yet personal and intimate conversation that I will remember for a long time and I hope you will too.

Follow Josh: https://www.instagram.com/joshbeckelhimer/

Our Website: https://billhemstapat.com/between-the-gap-podcast
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/btgp.podcast/
Buzzsprout: https://betweenthegap.buzzsprout.com/

Today’s guest is a trumpet player, composer, a college professor and another one of my long time friends, Michael Dudley.

He’s performed and collaborated with some of the biggest names in Jazz such as Maria Schneider, John Daversa, Brian Lynch, and Donny McCaslin to name a few. He’s also currently an assistant professor of Jazz Studies at Crane School of Music in New York.

We get to talk about his struggles during our time in college together, his complicated relationship with trumpet and composition, and lastly answering the big question whether it’s still worth it to go to college for music.

Lastly, we touched on something Michael said to me a long time ago that has stuck with me since. He said something along the line of :

"I feel like I'm obviously not white from the color of my skin, but black people don't see me as being black enough either. So I sort of belong nowhere"

This really resonates with the concept of our podcast, being between the gap so to speak. I feel like I finally understand what that really means and I get to learn more about how Michael has come to terms with this in his young adult life.

Follow Michael:
https://www.michaelrdudley.site
https://www.instagram.com/mr_dudley.mp3

Our Website: https://billhemstapat.com/between-the-gap-podcast
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/btgp.podcast/
Buzzsprout: https://betweenthegap.buzzsprout.com/

Contrary to our normal format, I got to sit down with Chad Cannon in his backyard and talk about a topic we are both really passionate about - diversity in music.

Having been a part of a multi-cultural projects ourselves such as Ghost of Tsushima, Mulan (Live Action), Thai Cave Rescue - we're untangling our thoughts on the state of "Hollywood Music" today. Further more in the episode, we get to explore a little bit of Chad's background and his religious roots, the reason why he's not currently active in the LDS church, and his ancestral connection with New Orleans that connects to his current project.

There were a lot of great discussion points for me and I hope that this sparks some conversation for you to   continue exploring culture, history and diversity even further.

Follow Chad:
https://www.chadcannonmusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/chadwickcannon/

Chad's Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6uWCfedtEI8DXT7DVwCxj2?si=3S7NO1ptQa27SP_-c-WsMg

Our Website: https://billhemstapat.com/between-the-gap-podcast
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/btgp.podcast/
Buzzsprout: https://betweenthegap.buzzsprout.com/