My brother, Austin, is (now) a St. Louis-based musician — was in Nashville for the last 18 years and former frontman of Roots of a Rebellion, whose album Shapes of a Soul hit #1 on the Billboard Reggae chart in 2019. He teaches guitar and yoga and writes music that, in his own words, is about spreading peace, love, and tolerance to all who are willing to receive it.
I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. About the courage it takes to follow your purpose when it’s hard. When it’s unpopular. When the people who love you most want something different for you.
He did it anyway and he chose music, truth and love.
And somewhere in that journey he wrote a song called Heaven to Me.
I came across a 2014 email he wrote — passionate, fearless, full of conviction — defending his path and leaning into a quote I first heard from a great friend and mentor:
“Life is short and unpredictable.”
Simple, true and the kind of thing that sounds obvious until you really sit with it.
Good Vibes Keep Me Alive. Five Again. Minding My Time. Memory. Giving Tree. Unconditional Love.
The titles alone tell you everything about how Austin moves through the world — forward, grateful, present.
That’s what Heaven to Me is about. Not someday. Now.
Go listen at austingrimm.com. Start with Heaven to Me. Then whatever pulls you next.