Touch Grass: Expanding Beyond Just Music 🌿🍄

This is a place where I can share my thoughts, ideas, and general content that doesn't quite fit elsewhere. This welcome post I'm going to go a little more in depth as to why Slightly Shroomy is expanding beyond just the music and shows.

---

🌲 The Outdoors Was Always Home

I grew up being more of an outside kid than an inside one. For my entire childhood, I was always outdoors — from family trips to summer camps. I spent my first 18 years in the Boy Scouts, eventually earning the rank of Eagle. Through those years and countless adventures, I developed a deep love and appreciation for the natural world around me.

Boy Scouts taught me to respect the world I was adventuring in — from Leave No Trace principles to hands-on restoration projects that gave me a sense of responsibility for the spaces I explored. I got to experience places I never would have imagined: 12 days in Philmont, New Mexico without a signal but more connected than I’ve ever felt; the raging rivers of West Virginia; the beautifully challenging trails of the Smokies; and the coldest mountain tops in Colorado. Each trip built not only memories, but a deep understanding that these places deserve care, not just admiration.

I quickly realized that outside was the one place I was never judged. I could walk through creeks, slip down a mountainside, fall face-first into the mud — and not a single tree or creature would care. Nature simply allows you to exist within it.

Philmont Scout Ranch 2014

---

🌎 The Music Industry Footprint We Don’t Always See

As much as nature has shaped my life, I can’t ignore the fact that even my own career adds to the strain on the very places I care about.

The reality is: the music industry leaves a footprint. Touring means long drives, planes, and fuel. Festivals — even the ones that feel like home — generate mountains of trash, exhaust, and strain on local ecosystems. Merch printing, shipping, and the digital infrastructure behind streaming platforms all quietly burn resources we don’t always think about.

I’ve spent a lot of time sitting with that tension. The same rivers, forests, and mountains that inspire my music are the ones being impacted by the industry that allows me to create it. I’m not here pretending I have the full solution — but I also can’t act like I don’t see it.

That’s where Touch Grass really started to make sense for me. If I'm going to pull from nature for my art, I want to start finding ways to give something back — even if it's small. Cleanups, restoration, education — they may not erase every footprint, but they create ripples. And those ripples matter.

---

So Shroomy, What Is All This About?

That’s a great question — and honestly, one I’ve asked myself a lot while building this.

This new branch of my website is the start of me actually doing something for the spaces that inspire me. The music I make, the shows I play, the visuals I design — they’re all influenced by the wild places I’ve wandered through. And yet, it makes no sense for me (or any of us) to destroy the very thing that inspires us just to have fun.

My goal with Touch Grass is simple: to build a space that inspires others — not just fellow hikers or nature nerds, but artists, crews, fans, and anyone involved in the creative world. The music we make, the festivals we attend, the merch we create — all of it has an impact on the environments that inspire us.

This isn’t about perfection or guilt. It's about taking a moment to slow down, learn how our actions affect the world around us, and find small, meaningful ways to give back — whether that’s picking up trash after a show, supporting native plant restoration, or simply learning to notice the ecosystems we move through.

If Touch Grass helps even one person pause and ask, "How can I care for the places that inspire me?" — then it’s doing its job.

Thank you for listening,

Slightly Shroomy