In our Season 2 finale, we sit with D.K. Lyons, a singer-songwriter whose artistic journey has been shaped by personal tragedy, unwavering advocacy, and a fierce commitment to using music as a tool for both healing and social change.

Born in Massachusetts, D.K. began writing songs as a way to process profound loss, discovering that music could hold what ordinary language couldn't carry. But his artistry has evolved far beyond personal expression into something that actively engages with the world's injustices and possibilities.

His upcoming EP Darling Kiss Louder represents an ambitious fusion of influences — drawing inspiration from classical literature while critiquing contemporary digital culture, centering women's voices while tackling systemic issues, creating art that's both deeply personal and broadly political.

This conversation explores how tragedy can become a catalyst for advocacy, how artistry and activism intersect, and what it means to create with both vulnerability and purpose. It's a fitting close to our second season and a powerful reminder that healing work is never just individual — it's always connected to the larger project of creating a more just and beautiful world.

What We Talk About:

• Balancing artistic vision with authentic emotional experience
• The responsibility that comes with having a platform
• Using creativity as a tool for both personal and social transformation
• The ongoing choice to remain engaged with life's full emotional spectrum

Resources:

• Connect with D.K. Lyons and his music HERE
• Support the show: Not Today Media
• Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

A Note from JD: D.K.'s conversation felt like the perfect way to close our second season because it embodies everything this show aspires to be: deeply personal yet broadly relevant, artistically ambitious yet emotionally honest, individual yet collective in its vision.

His commitment to using his platform for advocacy reminds us that creativity isn't separate from consciousness, that healing isn't separate from justice, that the work of becoming fully human necessarily involves working for a world where others can do the same.

If you're an artist wrestling with how to balance personal expression with social responsibility, or anyone trying to figure out how to stay engaged with the world's pain without being crushed by it, I hope D.K.'s story offers both inspiration and practical wisdom.

Come Back To Earth exists to explore these intersections between creativity, healing, and social change. Thank you for being part of this community, for supporting these conversations, and for doing your own work of creating meaning from difficulty.

Season 3 will bring new voices, new stories, and new explorations of what it means to be human in complex times. Until then, keep creating, keep caring, keep coming back to whatever grounds you in hope.

Your voice matters. Your story matters. The work continues.

In this episode, we sit with Jody Cooper, a D.I.Y. artist and full-time father whose music emerges from the intersection of creative necessity and lived experience. Jody's story isn't about chasing musical success in traditional terms — it's about using songwriting as a tool for processing mental health struggles, pandemic reflections, and the complex realities of modern parenthood.

The conversation explores how the pandemic served as a catalyst for deeper reflection on mental health, creativity, and resilience. We discuss the particular challenges of being an independent artist while managing family responsibilities, and how music can serve as both personal therapy and a bridge to others navigating similar experiences.

Jody's approach to creativity is refreshingly honest — he creates not from a place of having answers, but from a need to explore questions. His music reflects the raw, unpolished reality of someone working through life's complexities in real time, without pretense or easy solutions.

What We Talk About:

• How the pandemic forced a reckoning with mental health and creative purpose
• Balancing independent artistry with full-time parenting responsibilities
• Using music as a tool for processing difficult emotions and experiences
• The role of vulnerability and honesty in authentic songwriting
• Finding resilience through creative expression during uncertain times
• The intersection of mental health awareness and artistic practice
• Creating meaningful art outside traditional industry structures

Resources:

• Listen to Jody Cooper's music HERE
• Support the show: Not Today Media

A Note from J.D.: Jody's conversation reminded me why I'm drawn to artists who create from necessity rather than ambition. There's something deeply honest about musicians who use their craft primarily as a tool for understanding and processing their own experience, and who share that work not because they think they have answers, but because they know others might be asking similar questions.

If you're an artist trying to balance creativity with other responsibilities, or someone using creative expression to work through mental health challenges, I hope Jody's story offers you both permission and encouragement. The most necessary art often comes from the least glamorous places — from the daily work of showing up, processing, and choosing to keep creating even when the path isn't clear.

Come Back To Earth exists to honor these kinds of authentic creative journeys and the profound humanity they reveal. If these conversations resonate with you, consider supporting the show.

Your struggles are valid. Your voice matters. Keep creating from wherever you are.

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

In this episode, we sit with James Snelling, a neurodivergent singer-songwriter whose journey into music began not in youth but in midlife, after losing his job and facing the kind of life upheaval that forces you to reconsider everything you thought you knew about yourself.

James's story challenges conventional narratives about when and how artistic careers begin. His path to sharing his music publicly came through loss and transformation, proving that creativity doesn't follow standard timelines and that some of the most authentic art emerges from life's disruptions rather than its certainties.

We explore how neurodivergence shapes his songwriting, the unique perspective that comes from feeling like an outsider, and the courage required to share vulnerable art when the world has already signaled that you don't quite fit its expectations.

What We Talk About:

• Finding music as a voice for neurodivergent experience and feeling different
• Beginning an artistic practice in midlife after career upheaval
• Writing about mental health, addiction, and social justice from lived experience
• The relationship between neurodivergence and creativity
• Creating art that refuses to be palatable or easily categorized
• The courage required to share vulnerable, honest songwriting
• How difference can become artistic strength rather than limitation

Resources:

• Listen to James Snelling's music
• Support the show: Not Today Media

A Note from J.D.: James's conversation reminded me that some of the most necessary voices in music are those that have been waiting the longest to be heard. His willingness to begin sharing his art in midlife, after experiencing significant life disruption, speaks to something beautiful about human resilience and the way creativity can emerge from unexpected places.

If you've ever felt like you don't fit the traditional mold of what an artist should be — too old, too different, too late to the game — I hope James's story offers you permission to begin anyway. The world needs the songs that only you can write, the perspective that only you can offer.

Come Back To Earth exists to celebrate these kinds of unconventional artistic journeys and the profound humanity they reveal. If these conversations resonate with you, consider supporting the show.

Your difference is not a deficit. Your timing is your own. Your voice matters.

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish