We recently connected with Michael DeLalla and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Hi, it’s great to chat again with CanvasRebel. Earlier this year my second book was published, Interestingly, Encounters with the Cosmic Messenger isn’t a music book per se. With a title like that, I better offer some context.

Encounters with the Cosmic Messenger is a collection of essays drawn from my years of tour journals, blogs and essays. So yes, there is a music connection. But the idea goes back much further. I’ve thought for a long time that one can live a satisfying life, pursuing any endeavor, if one makes a practice of seeking Beauty, Insight and (hopefully) a little Wisdom—every single day. The Cosmic Messenger is a character I made up to represent these encounters with random strangers, friends, nature. The point is there is Wisdom to be found every day, if we open ourselves to it.

For years, when traveling on tour, I would get out of the car and just walk around, whether to stretch my legs in some previously unknown town, or a park, or a hiking trail. And for reasons I still don’t comprehend, people seem comfortable approaching me, a stranger, and engaging in really insightful conversations. I began to refer to these encounters as meet-ups with The Cosmic Messenger. I then began to use these stories as long introductions to a piece I almost always perform in concert, a composition of mine called “Wear a Tie So I’ll Know You,” from my first solo album, And Then…Or Somewhat Later. The title is a playful riff on an old Marx Brothers bit, but the idea is that if the Cosmic Messenger would just identify itself, perhaps, wear a tie, we might be more open to the wisdom they have to offer.

Michael, 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?

I’m perhaps best known as a guitarist, composer and touring/performing artist. I’ve performed in 44 of the 50 states (deep South, I’m waiting on you), and several countries. I often joke from the stage that I’m “Classically trained, but in recovery.” What I really mean is that while I value my conservatory background, I also value world and folk traditions that rely more on oral transmission than notes on a score. And improvisation, also found in many world traditions, is an important component of my creative process.

I also teach those principles, in workshops, clinics and private lessons. So writing grew out of that, with my first book, The Mindful Guitarist. While that book is heavy on guitar concepts, it also asks the reader to take a more wholistic approach to their music. In a lot of ways, it was the natural precursor to Encounters with the Cosmic Messenger.

When “Encounters” came out, I was faced with a bit of problem: How do I promote this? Do I suspend concerts to do a book tour? Or is there a way to combine the two to illustrate the whole picture of my creative process? Naturally for me, I chose the middle ground. I’ve done book reading/discussion events, but with a twist. I try to immerse the attendees by asking them to share, on the spot, a recent ‘Cosmic Messenger’ event in their lives. It’s conversational. It’s improvisational. And I’ve tried to insert a short reading or two during a concert as well. So far, all of these strategies seem to be working.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

It’s pretty simple, really. I’ve always felt I was ‘poly-creative.’ I’m a guitar player; I’m also a composer. And an author. And a teacher/mentor. Any one of these is its own fulltime career. But I can’t think of any I would wish to give up. I used to think it was because I believed in the principle of diversifying your income streams. In recent years, I’ve come to view all of them as vital components of my creative output–they inform each other on a daily basis.

I’ll take it a step further–non-artistic endeavors greatly inform my creative process. Biking–no earbuds, just the rhythm of the tires and derailleur…all of it. Cooking is a passion. I approach it very compositionally, believe it or not.

I guess to sum it all up, I strive to adhere to three very basic artistic principles, whether performing, composing, listening, writing or teaching: 1) Tension vs. Release, 2) Unity vs. Contrast, 3) Development. It’s not just in music. Dancers know this. Architects know this. If I can ‘prove’ this thesis on a daily basis, in all my creative activities, then I’m forwarding that mission.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Ha, this is a bit of a trick question. Because I believe every one of us is a creative. I have receipts: so many attendees to a book event reaching out to me later and saying: “I can’t believe it, you were right! I just started paying attention…and then I started journaling about what I was paying attention to. I don’t know if I’m a writer, but I know I made this.”

Bingo. And you can plug in “guitar student” or “improvisation workshop participant.” Some people think of being a creative as something that requires years of training and practice. It certainly can. But on its most basic human level, we all create, every day. If you engage in a conversation with no script in hand, you’re improvising, using information you’ve practiced for a long time. Vocabulary. Grammar. Syntax. But we create those thoughts out of nothingness. Wherever you fall on the spiritual spectrum, the act of creating is profound. If you believe it’s ‘God-given,’ fine. If you believe that the energy of the universe is there to be tapped, also fine. But I highly recommend having an awareness of that moment when Nothing becomes Something.

There’s more, of course. If you define ‘creative’ as someone who draws a paycheck from their creating, then I recommend a basic business class. Better yet, seek out your local arts council and see if there are offerings specifically about the business of being a creative. Where I live in Colorado. the Boulder County Arts Commission offers such seminars. It’s a good way to keep your eye on the ball. At the local college, I teach an online Music Business class. Their final project is to craft a 3-5 year business plan.

Finally, in the end, you simply begin. Watch how a toddler develops language skills. I didn’t tell my daughters before they could talk, “This is a noun, and this is a verb, and this is a modifier. They heard sounds. They imitated those sounds, then started putting those sounds together. As they grew and learned a few things, they crafted that output. But from the beginning, they were, in their way, conveying Meaning. It’s exactly how I teach guitar. Oh, you’ll learn the notes and fretboard. But first, you will have already created music.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.delalla
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fallmtn
• Other: Instagram: @michaeldelalla_guitarist

  Substack: @michaeldelalla