We recently connected with Miles Orion Butler and have shared our conversation below.

Miles Orion, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The Kensington Storefront bloomed in the shell of an old electronics store nestled in a busy and chaotic stretch of Kensington Ave, the heart of Philadelphia’s opioid/drug crisis and epidemic. The Storefront was a force for art as harm reduction and safe, compassionate healing through honest, raw connections in a place far too often scoffed off as zombieland. The Storefront was a place that saved lives through creative expression and where healing was an everyday exchange.

In mid-2017, Poet, Singer, and Activist, Ursula Rucker reached out to me after our meeting during a songwriting workshop I was bringing to a maximum security prison outside Philadelphia with the organization Songs in the Key of Free. Ursula asked me to help produce and co-facilitate an open mic and poetry-writing workshop with her and her partner and artist Anthony Molden, called “Voices of Kensington.” The series was to be sponsored and funded by the Mural Arts Program, the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, along with several other partners over the next few years until The Storefront’s forced closure in 2021. Beyond our workshops, there was daily, weekly, and monthly programming focusing on creative expression and art as a healing force. From finger-weaving to collage making, painting to acting, The Storefront was a lifeboat in a raging sea of addiction, pain, neglect, and willful ignorance to this all too pervasive social blunder and collective trauma.

It’s hard to put into words how the workshops would unfold. Each week, Ursula, Anthony, and I along with a half dozen other volunteers and support staff would create a space with notebooks and instruments strewn across tables, an area for snacks and coffee, and first aid. Individuals would share on the mic while I offered musical accompaniment made with my looping pedal, guitar, voice, and keyboard. Depending on the genre or style of music each participant desired I would spontaneously create the bed for their honesty to rest. Ursula would host and encourage the folks in the room to write and dig deep all while breathing hope and light into the space. Often we would spin lines into songs and choruses the whole room would sing together – ” Can I get a Little Love…’ or ” Change in Possible…” or “Tomorrow will be a better day…”- we worked to allow space for each person to feel heard, seen, and their story honored. Anthony would live-paint and sculpt while simultaneously working with the rest of the team to ensure the offerings of food and drinks were prepped and anyone needing first aid got support. No workshop was the same and there were times it became deeply intense. As a team, we reversed ODs, handled serious first aid situations, and worked on conflict resolution and crisis mediation both happening in the space and directly outside.

I know that The Storefront was not the beginning or end of art as harm reduction in Kensington or in Philly but its uniqueness served as something deeply impactful. The people who have been impacted by the storefront are likely in the thousands and it was built and supported and enriched people from extremely varied backgrounds though all connected through this crisis. A place where people connected and met in an intersection of constantly colliding worlds. People who are too often forgotten or worse. People like you or me. Human Beings. Individuals who got caught up on a path of addiction in a world against their suffering. People who deserve love and compassion.

I deeply appreciate all of the incredible individuals, organizations, non-profits, entities, businesses, hospitals, and schools who helped to build the storefront into what it was. A simple space with complex stories and powerfully important impact. People who are sick and people who are curious about how they can be a better person through creative community. People passing through. People high. People decades sober. People full of life. People barely holding on. People with great wealth. and Pepole with nothing but the clothes on their backs. People recently home from incarceration. People learning to walk again. People yearning to dream again.

The deep human connections forged through creativity, art, storytelling, and compassion will forever live in our hearts no matter the closure, or pain from lives lost along the way. The incredible team from The Storefront will continue to be the change makers and warriors for the light that we/they are. Art as harm reduction is not going anywhere.

The Storefront was a refuge. A place where lives were saved and souls reminded of their light. I know cause it’s happened to me, Ursula, and Anthony. A place where creativity breathed change. A place where change is possible. A place that will change your life if you let it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

From an early age, I was immersed in a world of music and unconventional experiences within my non-traditional family. Throughout my childhood, I sang and toured with the Keystone State Boy Choir, acted in local productions, and sought out the opportunity to perform live whenever possible. This foundation instilled in me the values of excellence, compassion, sustainability, empathy, and a lifelong curiosity—an ethos that guides both my musical endeavors and entrepreneurial pursuits today.

In recent years, my musical journey has taken me on national tours, both as a solo artist and collaborator with renowned bands and artists such as Ursula Rucker, Karl Blau, The Breaking Yard, and Little Lives. An accomplishment that I hold dear to my heart is co-founding and serving as the music director of Songs in the Key of Free, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the transformative power of songwriting and musicianship to prisons, schools, and communities in the Philly area.

My commitment extends beyond the stage and studio, as I actively work and engage with the community in Kensington, working with individuals caught in addiction—an endeavor that aligns with my belief in the power of art and connection as tools for positive change.

In the realm of entrepreneurship, I am proud to be a co-owner and operations manager of Many Hands Coffee Co., a burgeoning coffee roasting company and coffee truck deeply rooted in community connectivity and committed to profit sharing with local organizations. Additionally, I am a co-founder of Germantown Espresso Bar, a coffee shop driven by the neighborhood and artistry.

What sets me apart is not just the diversity of my creative pursuits but the compass that guides them—Love, Acceptance, and Community. This compass is evident in every cup of coffee brewed by Many Hands Coffee Co. and resonates in the spaces we create, whether it’s on stage, in a local prison, within the heart of a community-driven coffee shop, or on the road across the world.

For potential fans, clients, followers, and supporters, I invite you to join me on this multifaceted journey where passion, purpose, and community intersect. Whether you’re savoring the notes of a freshly roasted strong-hearted coffee or immersing yourself in the transformative power of music, know that at the core of it all is a commitment to excellence, compassion, and the shared experience of love and community.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal in my creative journey is to spread hope and encourage a world with more light. Too often do we shy away from standing up for those who are oppressed or marginalized. Together we have the power to lift our voices and build a more loving world. Whether in lyrics or my music I try to convey emotion and build awareness.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When facilitating workshops and open mic sessions in Kensington with Ursula Rucker we faced daily trauma. Working with folks caught in the throes and hell of addiction and homelessness is a powerful experience and also can be intense and often traumatizing. Quickly, I knew I needed to develop and sustain systems of healing and support. So I focused into my creative expression and had group therapy and occasional counseling. This helped me to uncover and learn tools for healing and growth. Being a survivor of childhood trauma and growing up with a parent who struggled with addiction, I know how nuanced each individual’s journey is. Both my childhood experience as well as working with people who are addicts have taught me we never truly know what someone is fighting just under the surface and to try to meet folks with empathy and patience. Including ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: ManyHandsCoffee.com
• Instagram: @MilesOrion @LittleLivesMusic
• Facebook: Facebook.com/littlelivesband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAvDeQ87EqSM06pbcfRXXJA

Image Credits
Steven CW Taylor, Taypac Photography,