We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Chris McDaniel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Chris below.

Dr. Chris, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is a documentary I made called MUSIC CITY USA. I lived the first 7 years of my life in a tiny little town in South Central Kentucky called Park City. Sure, sure, Utah gets the fame, but Park City is pretty great too, It actually used to be called Glasgow Junction because of a train stop there, but my grandfather owned a show cave tourist attraction and felt that our little town was the gateway to the neighboring Mammoth Cave National Park, so Park City was born. Anyway, when you live in a town of 520 people, you have to go to the big city for everything; airports, shopping malls, nice restaurants, concerts and even new shoes. Nashville was our big city. It was like a second home, so when I heard about the devastating Nashville flood of 2010, I wanted to bring some awareness to the city I loved so much, Music City. I was visiting my grandmother back home, wound up at the Grand Ole Opry, sitting on the front row with my family, and saw videos of the devastation and the amazing rebuilding of the commercial and residential areas, including the Opry and the very mall we used to do that big city shopping in. I got back to Arizona, got on the phone and started lining up interviews with anyone that would talk to me about the rebuilding. It didn’t take long to realize that music was the reason they rebuilt so fast. The art and creativity that connected that city, also made it one big neighborly neighborhood. Country music stars held benefit concerts, musicians went to people’s homes and repaired drywall, music instruments were donated from all over the world to replace the equipment that was damaged in the flood, it was just an amazing sight to see, and it had to be documented, I lucked out with an amazing list of interviews to help tell my story, Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, Zac Brown, Kenny Rogers, The Oak Ridge Boys, Naomi Judd, Charlie Daniels and a couple dozen more. It was a passion project that was near and dear to my heart, and anyone who’s ever visited NashVegas, knows it is an amazing place full of heart, warmth and togetherness, oh, and some of the most talented people on the planet.

Dr. Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About me…well I’m a wild card. Tell me I can’t do something and it only pushes me harder. “A Chiropractor cant be a movie producer,” “A filmmaker won’t have time to keep a regular job,” or my favorite “You failed Organic Chemistry, so let’s have the ‘what if you don’t become a doctor’ chat.”

Here’s the deal. I may not get there on the path that someone else would take, and I definitely wont get there on the safe and recommended path, but I’ll get there.

I told my parents at a young age, I wanted to be a doctor. After a car accident and amazing care, I decided Chiropractic had great potential as my top choice. When I went thru a medical careers course and watched a little old lady die on my first day in the respiratory rotation at the hospital, I KNEW Chiropractic was the right choice. So, pathway to doctor it was. I also always loved the idea of making a living with creative arts, but my mom always said I could do both, Help people, and do creative stuff in my free time. To be honest, here’s how it went. Of course she always wanted her son to have fancy initials on his name, so what she ACTUALLY said was, “a doctor is a great profession, and music, film and writing sure would make great HOBBIES. Emphasis on hobby.

Once I was in private practice, the creative stuff had to get out. Published some poetry, wrote some children’s books, started my novel, but I loved movies. I LOVED movies.

When the opportunity to produce a film came along back in 2009, I jumped on it. Did some fundraising, learned the ins and outs of the filmmaking process, got an idea for my own gig, and went for it.

Since then, I’ve directed some documentaries, worked on some great feature films with some amazing people, and won dozens of film festivals. I love splitting time between patients and movie stars, and try not to neglect either one of them.

It’s also important to add, I did finally pass Organic Chemistry.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my creative endeavors, is when you find out that something you did has touched someone in a personal or emotional way.

I think the greatest connection in the world is the connection between art and the human soul. A song that can trigger a memory and put you right back there, like a time machine. A scene from a movie that you can relate so closely to that you wonder if you were the inspiration for the script. A painting that you can stare at for hours, entranced, content, longing. I can’t lie, I even cry at commercials sometime, so trust me, I know about this connection.

I’ve done Q and A’s after film festivals where people tell me that I helped them forget about their problems fo r2 hours and they are grateful for the escape. I’ve had people tell me that I transported them back to a time when they were the happiest they’d ever been in their lives, I’ve had people tell me that I told a story they didn’t even know existed and now they want to research on their own and learn even more.

Knowing that something I thought up on the front row of a concert, or sitting in my favorite booth at Boston’s pizza, not only made it to the big screen, but put smiles on faces, and ignited a thirst for knowledge, is THE most rewarding part of sharing your story with people you may not have ever known otherwise.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think the biggest struggle people have with my particular journey, is that they feel I should just pick a profession. I tell a complete stranger what I do and they give me a look like I’m crazy. Many times, I’ll be interviewing a celebrity of some kind and they’ll say, wait, you’re a chiropractor? It happens a lot. I’m just confusing I guess.

I only see patients 3 days a week, so patient’s who work 9-5 jobs, or traditional desk jobs, or other jobs that confine them to one main profession, sometimes give me a little grief about not being there for them. Which I understand completely. Sometimes, I leave town a month at a time for a shoot on location somewhere, and they just LOVE that, but they’ve become pretty supportive and forgiving, especially with the crazy COVID hours.

But here’s the way I see it. We ALL have several hats we wear. I’ve got a patient that’s a bus driver, and he’s also a father, and a brother, and an uncle and a husband. He keeps his yard looking nice, and he’s on a bowling league. We all do lots of things, but people have strong opinions on what should be considered a profession and what should be considered a pastime. I say, to each their own.

For a long time, I wasn’t a husband or a father, or on a bowling league, so it just made sense to me to allow my creative outlets to explode, even though I had a day job.

No, I’m not on a bowling league :)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.McSpine.com
• Instagram: @drchrismcdaniel
• Facebook: @drchrismcdaniel
• Linkedin: /drchrismcdaniel
• Twitter: @drchrismcdaniel
• Yelp: /mcspine
• Other: vimeo/semirebellious