January 25, 2024 • 36 mins
Text Brian & Shawna (Fan Mail)
Have you ever felt like the underdog, chasing dreams that seemed just out of reach? This podcast episode features Damien Horne, a motivational musician and educational entertainer, who transformed his life's toughest battles into a symphony of success. As we usher in the new year at Killer Bee Studios, Damien's story unfolds, revealing his roots in a large blended family, the adversities he faced, and his unwavering pursuit of inspiration through a 20-year journey in the competitive music industry.
From the quiet hum of Hickory, North Carolina, to the bright lights of Los Angeles, Damien's tale is not unlike a melody with complex harmonies and dissonant chords. He paints a raw picture of his leap of faith, periods of homelessness, and the grit needed to navigate the stark realities of Hollywood. Damien's return to the East Coast marks a crescendo in his life, where the internal battle of surrendering to defeat or pushing through became his daily rhythm. Throughout our conversation, listeners will find solace in the familiar refrains of faith and the power of scripture that buoyed him during his darkest moments.
In the final act of our session, the spotlight shines on the discovery of purpose and the profound impact of mentorship. Damien's narrative, peppered with encounters with strangers who became angels in disguise, emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's gifts and the courage required to let one's light shine. As Damien shares the importance of trusting in the unseen, drawing parallels with iconic figures who embraced unconventional paths, we invite you to reflect on the transformative potential of answering a higher calling in your own journey. Tune in for an episode that harmonizes the essence of faith, perseverance, and the art of inspiring others.
Learn more about Damien Horne at https://www.damienhorne.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But welcome to today's podcast replay from the
Killer Bee Studios.
Let's go ahead and dive on in.
Well, hey everybody.
Thank you guys all for comingout.
We're so excited you guys areall here, this is the first
Killer Bee prime time of theyear.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Yes, happy new year.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Happy new year.
Everybody Happy new year.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yes, we love it 24.
Can't believe it?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And first we're some confetti and welcome our guests
to the stage Damien Horn.
Let's hit that guest intro.
Damien, come on out.
Yeah, oh, hey, hi, there hegoes.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Damien.
Hey, thanks for joining us.
Welcome, we'll let you comeright here in the middle.
So now, this is like your dancemove, tom now.
So we got a.
Oh the robot.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Oh wow, that's very good.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I can't even dance that good in real life.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, Damien, thanks for joining us tonight out here
at the Killer Bee Studios.
I would love for you to takeabout 30 seconds and just kind
of let her by.
No, who is Damien Horn?
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Okay, yeah Well, I'm Damien Horn.
I'm based in Nashville,tennessee, and my kind of my
title is like motivationalmusician, educational
entertainer, and I just I lovethe arts, I love performing, but
I also want to motivate andinspire and impact people's
lives, so that's kind of whatI'm all about.
So I try to do that, musicallyor speaking, however, you know,
(01:25):
the opportunity presents itself.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And how long have you been playing music now?
Speaker 5 (01:30):
I've been playing music professionally for this is
I'm going into my 20th year.
So my first publishing bill in2004.
So yeah, this is my 20th year.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
That's amazing.
Now do you play like, do youplay multiple instruments?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Yes, I mainly play guitar and piano, but you know I
play a little bit of everything.
You know you kind of have tobecome a jack of all trades in
the industry sometimes.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, I love that, you know there's a.
I know you're getting used tothis.
We're just talking about mixedreality back there and there is
a piano app that they have andif you actually have a keyboard
or a piano or I think they callit a MIDI board, is that right
Right?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
If you have one of those, you can sync it with it
and in mixed reality, you cansee it right in front of you
like the real keyboard in your,in your living room or wherever
you're playing it, and itconnects all these lines in
these.
You choose a song and it bringsdown the keys and you actually
learn how to play oh wow, keyswith it.
So, yeah, I started messingwith that.
(02:34):
Has anybody else messed withthat before?
That piano app for no, okay,cool.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Well, oh yeah, no, we just we can put you out there,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I forgot there's a delay when I ask questions.
But yeah, that's awesome, yeah,that's pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
this place never ceases to amaze me.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
If you come in here enough, damien, then in the real
world, when someone sayssomething that makes you happy
and you go like this and noconfetti comes out of your arms.
You're like what's happening?
This is a prank.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
I'm going to.
I'm going to do this tonightwhen I see my wife.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Wow, see you, honey.
What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And nobody ever has to clean it up, you know.
Right, yeah it just disappears,it just disappears.
If confetti was just like thatin real life, it would be
amazing Glitter.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah, that'd be nice.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
This is Killer Bea's right on there.
Like I do a lot of videomeetings and I, when we first,
are doing this a lot, me and oneof my team members she's
another one of our co-hosts inhere too, meta Olivia.
Some of you guys know MetaOlivia.
She me and her in a meeting andliterally like our client as we
coach them.
They're doing a really good joband they're like man, it's
really.
(03:40):
This is really taken off and Ifound myself going like this and
I was like they're probablywondering what in the world are
you doing?
Like I'm doing like jumpingjacks, but there's nothing.
Yeah, it was definitely awkward.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Meta-verse problems.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right, I saw that you were on TED Talks.
Now that's that's.
That's pretty cool.
I don't even know how that evenhappens, but I'm sure you can
take us down that a little bit.
But during that, during yourstory, when I was watching that,
you mentioned that youspecifically had a dream, and it
was become rich and famous.
Right, does anybody else have adream to become rich or famous,
(04:17):
or has had a dream of becomingrich and famous before?
Okay, yeah okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
That's it daddy.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I was like yeah , yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
He's like he's trying to make it rain, but it's just
confetti, it's just confetti,can you take us back to tell us
a little bit about your journey?
How did this start and how didall this come into play?
And where are you at today?
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Yeah, so I'm originally from North Carolina,
hickory, north Carolina, whichis a small town in between
Charlotte and Asheville, northCarolina, if you've ever been
there.
But I grew up in a big blendedfamily of 12 children, so I'm
from a huge family and I was themiddle child, if there is such
a thing in a big family likethat.
You know like yeah, but I justgrown up in that family, like at
(05:02):
a young age.
You know kind of all thestatistics that you kind of hear
in certain situations.
You know I was raised by asingle mother.
You know the home was filledkind of with you know.
You know substance abuse,physical abuse, you know all
types of abuse that you canthink of was going on, and it
was kind of things that are notonly that you know in the
streets.
You know I lost two of my olderbrothers who were murdered, and
(05:23):
then two of my younger brotherswere incarcerated for 10 plus
years of peace.
So, like you know, this is kindof what I was seeing all the
time.
And you know, when you seethings like that a lot, you know
you start to think that likethat's what life has to offer
for you.
So that was kind of my thoughtprocess in the beginning.
But I kind of had a what I liketo call a divine encounter with
a salvation on me boys andgirls club and it kind of helped
(05:45):
me get off the streets and stopkind of getting in those
situations where you kind ofleft to your own devices and
doing bad things and peoplethere kind of started doing what
I like to call.
They started speaking life intomy life.
You know, they recognizepotential in certain areas of my
life and so I started tobelieve that.
And it's crazy when you canstart to believe something good
about yourself and you know itjust empowers you to kind of,
(06:07):
you know, you know, see thatthrough.
And my thing was music at ayoung age.
You know, like I really lovemusic, I love playing it here
and it, singing it, what it,writing it, whatever I could do
I just want to be around musicand so it gave me another
channel to focus on instead ofbeing out in the streets and
kind of, like you know, gettingin trouble.
I started focusing on music, youknow and you know, and really
(06:28):
like wanting to pursue kind of abetter life than what I was
seeing around me.
Like what I noticed about myfamily was, like, you know, even
as dark as things could look attimes, you know, music was
always kind of escaped.
For all of us you know, my momincluded in my brothers and
sisters it was always somethingthat made the situation better.
So I was like man, I love theway that, like it kind of
(06:50):
changes the atmosphere.
You know it's like that's kindof that's powerful.
So I, you know, I knew I wantedto be able to do that, you know
, to people and in situations.
And so you know a lot of theseartists I was in, you know,
everybody from Michael Jackson,all across the board, not just
like pop and rock, but, like youknow, you know rock music like
Chris Cornell, or gospel musiclike Fred Hammond, or you know
(07:10):
like old school music like SamCook, or country music like
Murrow Hagger, like all thesethings.
All these great songs andsongwriters, you know, all of
them had its place.
But so for me, you know, I waslike, all right, that's what I
want to pursue.
So once I graduated from highschool, you know, I saved up my
money that summer and I got aone way Greyhound bus ticket all
the way to Los Angeles,california, to pursue my dream
(07:31):
of being rich and famous.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So I heard you mentioned that in your TED talk
and now maybe I just.
I don't know that much aboutthe music industry, but is LA a
natural choice if you want to gointo the music industry?
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Yeah, that's a very good question and I wish I had
the answer to that at the time.
But you know, I grew up in thetime where, like this is when
you still had to turntelevisions with your hand, like
you didn't, didn't have remotes.
So when you look on television,when you think about being rich
and famous, you always thoughtHollywood, california.
Sure you know, and me, being ayoung guy, you know I was from
Hickory.
We didn't.
(08:08):
You know, I wasn't exposed to alot outside of the area.
So when I'm thinking rich andfamous, I'm thinking, oh,
Hollywood, that's where peoplewho are rich and famous, so
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Hollywood.
Yeah, so you guys, so youpacked up and you had like like
what, like five, six thousanddollars ready to go.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
I wish I had a whopping four hundred dollars in
my pocket and a suitcase withclothes in it.
So, needless to say, that didn'tlast for, like you know, a few
days, and then I found myselfclear across the country with
you know, nowhere to sleep, nomoney, no food or anything.
So I would end up spending thenext two years, you know, just
like just literally, you know,more focused on survival than
(08:47):
trying to pursue this dream out.
You know I was sleeping squatsand what you know, which are
abandoned buildings.
I did Skid Row for a while.
I did the Covenant House, whichis a huge organization that I
support to this day, becausethey were so instrumental during
the time I was homeless.
So, yeah, oh, and then I spentthe next two years really just
trying to survive, you know, anddoing that time.
For me, I think that's the time,you know, I came to my faith
(09:12):
when I was, you know, kind ofgrowing up through this salvage
on me boys and girls clubs,actually, when I got my first
Bible and and and and doing thetime when I was homeless, it
kind of had my lowest is reallywhen, like you know, I really
just kind of turned to scriptureand turned to God to really
like seek help, because I had noidea what I was doing and I
felt like the situation I leftfrom was bad.
(09:33):
And then I went into anotherhorrible situation.
I almost felt like you know ifyou're still you know the story
of the Israelites that kind ofleave Egypt and then now they're
in the desert and they're likewait a minute, we should just go
back to Egypt.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Exactly.
Yeah, I was just going to sayreal quick that it really does
say something too, that youdidn't just go back home, that
you, like you know, pushed yourway through and you know, then
started to rely on God, itsounds like while you were in
that really low point.
But that's really interesting,because I'm worse Some people
saying like, why don't you justgo back home?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Yeah, and, to be honest, I mean I did for two
years, but then I eventually didgo back toward the East Coast
because I just, I kind of almostwas, I was that.
I was basically this point inmy life.
I felt like, OK, well, you know, I would read scriptures that
you know, like Jeremiah 2911,for I know the plans I have for
you.
Thus said the Lord pray as theprospering, not the harm.
You give you hope and a futureyou know, improbable as three,
(10:24):
five, six.
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart, lean not to your own
understanding, all your ways,acknowledge him and direct your
path.
I will read these, thesescriptures, but like it didn't
seem like it was working in mylife.
So I just, at one point in time, I just felt like maybe it
wasn't for a person like me, andso I did end up going back home
.
I went back to the East Coastnonetheless and I was just like,
(10:44):
well, maybe I should just, youknow, give up on this dream, but
I'm going all the way back hometo North Carolina and making my
way to Nashville, Tennessee, Iwas like I need to give this one
more try, you know, before.
I you know before I toss it in,and and that's how I ended up in
Nashville, and this is in 2002.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Did you mention how old you were when you went to
California?
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Yeah, I would.
I turned 18 in California, so Igraduated when I was 17 and my
birthday is in July, so I wassoon.
As you know.
School was over in June, Ipacked up and left and I was in
by that Gotcha.
Yeah, wow, so you were just ababy too.
Yeah, I had no idea what I wasdoing.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
But here you are, you've packed up your move to
Nashville.
What is it like?
Because I mean, you're stillYou're still like homeless.
Yeah, yeah, I'm still homeless.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
By this time I had saved up money and had a kind of
beat up car and so I would justsleep in the car.
But when I got to Nashville Icould see all these people doing
what we call busking on theside of the street, like on 2nd
Avenue and Broadway so, which iskind of where you sit down and
you just kind of play yourinstrument and people bring
money up to your guitar case orwhatever case you have.
So I was like, all right,that's my first gig, that's what
(11:56):
I need to do.
I'm going to just sit out therefor hours and play and people,
you know, hopefully don't moneyin for tips and I would use that
for food or, you know, if Imade enough I would get like a
cheap hotel.
You know stuff like that, wow.
And that was kind of how Isurvived for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yes, deena, do we have a?
Do we have a question from theaudience?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I did so.
Jay Rock has a question, but hehas a strep throat, so I'm
going to ask it for him.
Amy, what gave you the strengthto keep pushing forward after
facing so many obstacles thatwere deterrents to your goals?
Speaker 5 (12:28):
That's a good question.
I think it was two things, youknow.
I think one thing is, you know,I kind of grew up in a world
that had a lot of, like you know, adversity.
So I think part of that wasjust kind of bred in me.
You know what I'm saying.
Like I just always, when I wasgrowing up, life always felt
hard.
So this didn't feel muchdifferent, you know so, and I
just kind of felt like that'show life was.
(12:49):
And I think it does one or twothings it can either break you
or make you stronger.
You know what I'm saying, Ithink so I was kind of bred for
a lifestyle like that.
But then I think, ultimately, atthe end of the day, my faith is
what did that?
My faith in God, because I hadto believe that.
You know, like those scripturesI mentioned before, I had to
believe in something bigger thanmyself, because myself alone
(13:09):
wasn't getting things done.
And then I find scripture and Ilearn about God and he says no,
I got good plans for you.
And I'm like.
So I was like man, those goodplans are out there.
I just got to figure out how toget to them or how can I get
him to deliver those to me, andso the hope in that, you know,
killed me moving forward.
I really just believed.
I was like man, like I feellike there's something more out
(13:30):
there for me, and then I believein God, and so God was telling
me that there were.
So I wanted to believe that andI just stood on that until I
saw it.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
When you just said that, it made me think I was
telling Mrs Killer Bee whenwe're preparing to come in here.
I was like I was listening to apodcast.
No, it was an audiobook by JohnMaxwell that I'm listening to
right now and he said this and Ithought it was so good.
He said setbacks.
We need to look at setbacks asopportunities for comebacks, and
(13:59):
that's what I'm excited toabout your story, Because I know
there's a lot of setbacks, butthere's there's a comeback
that's coming up here.
So let's go back to.
You're on the.
You're on the side of thestreet, You're playing music in
Nashville, You're trying to makesome money to stay somewhere,
get some food.
Take us back to that moment.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
So now, yeah, I'm in Nashville and I'm busking, I'm
playing, you know, making tipmoney, and I'm probably there
maybe a couple of weeks doingthat.
You know, and one particularnight I was out playing and this
guy kind of walks by with acrew of people and he's like a
shorter gentleman, has on a bigold black cowboy hat and like a
handlebar mustache.
You know, at the time thatdescribed like a third of
(14:38):
Nashville.
This guy kind of walks by andhe kind of stops and he listens
and then he opens his wallet andhe throws $100 into my guitar
case and so he's like, he's like, man, you have some skill, you
have some talent, and I was likethanks, and he's like, you know
, he's like I want you to comehang with me.
You know what I'm saying.
Like we, we played a littleclub up the street, you know, we
(14:59):
got microphones and everything.
You know you don't have to sell.
And I didn't know who he was atthe time, but I later found out
it was a guy by the name of JohnRich from a country duo called
Biggin Rich.
And so he was you know, he wasthe first guy I met kind of in
the city who was doing music andhe, you know, I got there they
were, they were playing thislittle club called the pub of
(15:19):
love, you know, and his, hispartner was this, this big,
bigger than life guy named BigKenny, you know.
And then Gretchen Wilson, jamesOtto, john Nicholson, the list
goes on and on.
I'm like all crammed in thislike little tiny club, just on a
stage playing music, and sothey just invited me to play
with those guys and that's kindof how my career took off.
(15:39):
You know, I started playingwith these guys and then Big
Kenny and John Rich became Bigand Rich and then Gretchen
Wilson became the Redneck woman.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And her she's rockin' and James.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Otto took off.
So, like I, was a part of thiswhole movement, which we call
the music mafia that was inNashville.
And so that's kind of how mycareer took off you know just
being associated with these guysand I got my first published.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Wow.
So then that's so.
Now you're not homeless anymore.
So now I'm not homeless anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
I'm not homeless anymore.
I got my first publishing deal,which is where they, you know,
they pay you to write songs forother artists, you know.
And so I was.
I was making, you know, aliving doing that.
And then I always wanted to bea songwriter.
That was kind of first andforemost.
But like my songs weren'tgetting into people's hands the
way that I wanted to, so I kindof started playing and singing
myself and then then theartistry kind of started
(16:25):
developing and then, you know, Iwent on from there to, you know
, I toured with John Legend fora while, opened up for him, and
then eventually I ended up in acountry trio, a older brother's
called the farm, where we had,you know, two top 40 singles and
toured and played the whole,you know, did the Hoax Shebain.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Wow.
So here's what blows me away,damien, is, you know I came, I
got connected with you through,well, through a group called
Cywalk Profits had, actually,they posted a video of a lady
named I believe it was KyliePhillips Is that right?
Yep, Is that right?
I'm bad at names, so I'm hopingto kind of fill it out.
Yeah, cool.
So reached out to her, theyconnected me with her and I
(17:04):
talked to her about coming outto the Christmas show and she's
like.
She told me she's like I'm moreof like a background singer.
She does voice coaching, isthat correct?
Yep?
And she said you know what?
I know somebody that I wouldlike to connect you with.
I think that this might beright up his alley.
And she connected me to you,damien, and I immediately
started going to Instagram.
I was like, wow, this guy islike.
I really like this guy, and Ihadn't even seen your TEDx.
(17:27):
So this is what's blown me away.
You know, you went through thistime of having to overcome, like
what some of the overcoming nodeath and destruction, like
stuff that's your face in yourlife and I could see your
testimony in your Instagram.
I was like, okay, I want to, Iwant to connect with this guy.
(17:47):
I would love to have him outhere.
I knew there's a story herethat could, that could actually
help people and transformpeople's lives.
And when I asked you, you sentme the TEDx video.
I'm like whoa, he's gettingopportunities open up.
But you're not just takingthose as opportunities as, hey,
here's Damien Damien Horn, hereI am to perform for you and and
get a applause.
You're taking it so muchfurther, because that TEDx and
(18:10):
you guys, I'm going to sharethat TEDx and our Instagram and
stuff and if you're on ourDiscord, I'll post it in there.
You guys have to watch it toget the full story it's amazing,
but you're using this gift ofmusic to give back.
How did you get to thatrealization that this is a gift
and there's a purpose?
Speaker 5 (18:29):
behind your gift, right?
And that's a great question Forme.
That's like kind of that wasthe light bulb moment for me in
LA before I left, you know, atone of the times where I was at
my lowest there, you know, Iremember going into a church and
, just like you know, kind of atmy wits end, I hadn't eaten for
a while and I didn't know whereI was going to stay.
And this guy kind of you knowcame.
I went to a church and this guyprayed with me and he was like
(18:52):
you know, what can I pray foryou about?
I was like I don't even know.
I just know I need things tochange, I need like a
breakthrough to happen.
And so we kept talking a littlefurther and he did something as
simple as offer me a job, youknow, which is a very hard thing
when you don't have, like an ID, a place of residence and all
that kind of stuff.
So he took a chance on me andgave me a job.
So, like, right when I feellike you know, I'm done, I don't
know I can't take anymore, likesomething came through that
(19:13):
kind of give me more hope, youknow.
And so that guy felt like ahero to me.
And then, like I startedthinking about all the heroes
that have been in my life upuntil that point, like my mom
you know, a single mom but superstrong and always took care of
us.
And, you know, the people at theBoys and Girls Club, the Salish
Army, the list went on and onand the light bulb moment for me
was like, oh, that's what Ireally want to do.
(19:35):
It's like, you know, the richand famous thing was like a
service thing, because I didn'treally understand what my
purpose was, and I used to thinkmy purpose was to play music
and entertain, but that's why Ilike it goes beyond that.
I feel like that's just morethe tool now to do what I'm
actually here to do, which is,you know, inspire, impact and
motivate people.
You know, for the kingdom.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
So oh, I love that Good Diner.
Who's our next question or?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
thought from here.
The next question is from Dawnand I'm going to ask the
question.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Did you have someone who was there for you as a
mentor during your times ofstruggle?
Speaker 5 (20:10):
That's a really good question.
And first, before I even saythat, I think I think everybody
should have a mentor in thefield or the area that you're
trying to achieve.
You know what I'm saying it'salways good to have some kind of
path that you can follow inthat and unfortunately I didn't
during that time.
I do now but as I was, which iswhy I made a lot of mistakes on
my own.
(20:30):
You know it's because I didn'thave a mentor, you know, and I
didn't kind of have thatguidance.
But now I had that and I feellike you know, and not only that
, I try to do that for otherpeople.
I mentor other people,especially people in the
industry who, like you know thatyou know a lot of us artists.
You know we all have dreams of,you know, being rich and famous
.
You know we all kind of wantthat kind of like level, I guess
(20:51):
, but you know like it's a verysmall, you know demographic who
get to that, that 1% level.
But you know you could stillmake a living and do what you
love to do every day, and so Iget to talk to, you know, other
artists, independent artists,about that and like how that
looks.
And you know, share likemistakes I made and things that
(21:11):
I did, right you know, and kindof mentor other people.
But yeah, that's a greatquestion.
I think you know whatever it isthat you want to do in life, I
think having a mentor is likeit's a very small, that's good.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
And you know, damien, I am so glad for I'm glad that
there's room for so many artists, because all of my favorite
music is not made by, like, thetop 1% and the big household
names.
All of my favorite music ismade by people who are just out
there like making a living, butthey're not billionaires.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I'm saying so.
I'm so thankful for that,because there's such a depth and
like a connection with music,with artists who are like just
out there just doing it becausethey love it, not because
they're becoming a mega richyeah, so I'm so thankful for
that and I'm so thankful for youmentoring, you know younger
artists so that you can continue, like you know, helping people
(22:02):
be the best that they can be andwhat they're made to do.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Awesome so is that was before dinner goes out.
Is that where the concept ofshine comes?
Speaker 5 (22:13):
in, yeah, the concepts of shine.
You know it came from ascripture in Matthew where he
tells let your light shinebefore man, that you see people
see your good works and glorifythe Father in heaven.
And you know it kind ofinitially came from, you know
the thought, for when I createdthe song you know Marianne
Williamson has a quote, you knowyou probably heard it in like
speeches by, you know, nelsonMandela and a few movies but
(22:34):
it's like our deepest fear isnot that we're inadequate but
that we're powerful.
We have this ability, we allhave this light in us to shine,
that shines, and sometimesthat's a scary thing, you know,
like stepping out into that andowning that can be scary.
Because you know, I know thatgrowing up, being a middle child
, it was easy for me to get lostin the shuffle and try to hide
away from everything.
And sometimes you don't want togo against the grain because
(22:56):
you know where I was ateverybody was kind of doing one
thing but it wasn't necessarilya good thing to be doing.
So my shining would stepoutside of that and then people
would, you know, might judge mea certain way, or you know, kind
of outcast me.
But the cool thing about it islike when you're stepped into
what you're designed to be andwho you're supposed to do, you
shine.
But when you do that, I feellike you liberate other people
(23:17):
to do the same thing, you know.
I saw somebody who was like oh,I can step out and do that too.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Absolutely, I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
All right, deener, who's ournext question from here?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Alright, our next question is from J Rock.
Again, I'm going to ask it forhim what?
Is your one scripture thathelps you on a daily basis.
Speaker 5 (23:37):
Oh, man, there's so many scriptures, you know, I
think I think I probably alwayshave to lean on the first, those
first two scriptures that Isaid at the beginning.
You know, like this, there's somany scriptures, you know, like
you know, in Philippians ittalks about we can do all things
through Christ.
You know, in Hebrews it talksabout the faith and the
substance of faith is theevidence of things, hopeful
evidence of things, not sayingso many different scriptures,
(23:59):
but, like for me, you know, Ilook at this journey of life and
we're all living this journey.
You know what, no matter if youbelieve or not, we're all
living the human experience.
So it's like, you know, thescripture that sticks out to me
is just like man, you know,trust in me with all your heart
and lean not to your ownunderstanding, if you
acknowledge me, you know, directyour path because, like,
(24:20):
sometimes we don't know whatwe're supposed to do, we don't
know which way to go, and it'sit can be very confusing in a
world that has so much stimuliand like so many things coming
at us in all directions.
Like, well, I don't know, am Isupposed to go to Hollywood and
pursue this?
Am I supposed to go back home.
And so it's like you know what,if I, if I trust in God's
guidance, he's going to leave mewhere I need to be because he's
(24:43):
he's the grand designer, hecreated me, so he knows better
what I'm created and made forthan even myself.
So once I tapped into that andreally started like you know
what, I'm going to put my ownagenda of you know, rich and
famous aside, you know, and justreally trust in, like where
he's got in a leading, I thinkI'll be okay.
And and that's exactly whathappened.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
That's so good.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That's so good and it's.
I think that it can I don'tknow about for you, damian, or
Mrs KillerB, but for anybodyelse here maybe throw some
confetti if you guys have feltlike this.
But there's been a times when,if I don't know the why or what
I'm I'm supposed to be doingright now, or if I'm supposed to
, just I kind of feel likesomething's wrong with me.
That's the case.
(25:25):
But you're saying it's okay.
Yeah, totally it's okay, it'sokay.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
It's a process I feel like you know.
You know if you, if you lookthrough scripture man, you see
so many times where God isleading people but they don't
even know it, like he's likeAbraham go over here, Take your
son, Go do this Go do this Likewhat I'm going to do when I get
that.
Don't worry, just go Exactly.
So it's like it's so much ofthat in scripture, like I feel
like, okay, well, I feel likeI'm in good company sometimes
(25:52):
when I don't know what's goingon.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I was like oh, such a good way to think about it yeah
Wow.
I always think about Noahbuilding a boat.
No one had ever even seen rain.
Like put yourself in his shoesand then be like All right.
Like everyone might think, Idon't know what I'm doing.
I don't know what I'm doing,but it's all right.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
It's so much of that happening, but like, yeah, no, I
totally agree.
So I you know what I feel likethat in moments.
That's why it's so important tomake sure your relationship is
connected like you have, thatconnection you know with God and
you can hear, because also youknow, there's other voices that
are trying to speak to you aswell.
Yeah, you got to make sureyou're hearing from the right
voice, you know.
But when you, when you do that,I'm not a wide person all the
(26:32):
time, like I don't have to knowthe why.
You know.
I'm saying I'm more about like,what do I need to do?
Just tell me what I need to do.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, I'm not even going to question it anymore,
just tell me yeah, he's just putit so many times over and over.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
So now you know, my faith in that area is very
strong, so I'm just like, tellme what to do, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Send me.
So now, when this, when youstarted first going down this
path and learning this, didother people look at you like
Damien, something's wrong, likeare you all right?
Like like you're a little crazy.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Absolutely.
Yeah, you're going to get a lotof that, I feel like you know.
But you know, like I said, likeyou know, when I just kind of
look at life and look atscripture, you know saying like
that's the company of people whoyou know, like you know, the
everybody you know, these peopleyou think about, like Martin
Luther King Jr, you think aboutMother Teresa, or any Gandhi,
any great name you could thinkof, like they all kind of took
(27:22):
their own light of beating pathand I'm sure at one point time
people were saying, oh, you'recrazy, why are you doing this?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
What is this about?
Why would you do that?
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
But like we still talk about these people to this
day and they've left this mark,this amazing mark on the world.
And that's what I want to do.
You know, I'm the rich andfamous.
Thing was just the ignorance ofmyself.
You know, now I understand, man, I really want to make a mark
on this world, but make the markfor the kingdom.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
So I love that.
I love that and I want toencourage everybody here too,
because you know, I know, like Iknow you know Damien's new to
the virtual reality andmetaverse stuff, and I know a
lot of people here has greatpurpose in here and what you're
doing I mean I know there'spastors in here, I know there's
(28:06):
there's church members in here,there's there's people that's
leading other talk shows in here.
There's some of you that'screating games for kids.
What I want to encourage you isto realize like your purpose is
greater than what you mightrealize, even in here, and even
though I know people can look atus and say, well, at least we
have legs now.
So I mean they used to look atus like we're crazy, because
(28:27):
we're like, oh, we're justfloating torsos.
We're like, well, it's notabout that, it's about the
connection with people.
Like we're connecting peoplefrom all around the world and I
know people in here that fromthe Christmas event that you're
at, they said it meant so muchto them because they don't have
anywhere to go at Christmas timeanymore and so they all come in
here in the community andthey're really building real
(28:48):
friendships.
So you guys have an amazingpurpose in here, no matter what
the voices outside are saying.
Remember that I would love,damien.
If there was one thing that youwould hope people would take
away from our conversation today, what would it be?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Well, that's a good question.
I think for me like I don't knowwho in the room is like a
believer or not but I would sayI would say try it out.
Test it, because I'veexperienced so many amazing
things by just giving over,surrendering my ideas and my
(29:25):
actions and everything to God.
I believe that there's acreator who loves you and cares
about you and wants to see thebest for you.
And it might not feel like thatat times, but I know that any
just for a testament of my ownlife, I know that at any second,
any moment, any event, thatyour life can be turned around,
and I believe that the creatoris the catalyst for that.
(29:47):
So my kind of challenge to youis to test it.
I'm not here to force anything,but try it.
If you feel like you're in aplace in life where you don't
know which way you're going, oryou don't know what to do, or
things aren't going the way youwant them, to try it.
Test it out if you have it, andI'm telling you it's good, yeah
(30:09):
, it's good.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Amen, I love that.
All right, guys.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna get the stage readyhere for Damien to do a song.
If you want to hit the changeset dinner so he can get lined
up by the mic.
So you can come up to the michere, damien, people know how
can they connect with yououtside of this virtual reality.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Yeah, you can connect with me.
Any other social media is undermy name, which is Damien Horan
D-A-M-I-E-N-H-O-R-N-E, and alsomy website is Damien Horancom.
But yeah, very easy to find.
Everything is based under myname, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Awesome, awesome, all right.
Well, I'm gonna get out of yourway and this is your song Shine
right.
Yes, yes, all right.
Well, thank you so much, youguys enjoy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
See how can we learn the lesson of love it reaches
the height and the door shines,so everybody can shine too.
Yeah, hold me in your heart andleave the way.
(31:40):
You don't have to be afraid.
It's in you.
It's in you to rise High aboveyour greatest fears and with a
little bit of light, you canmake it brighter here.
(32:03):
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
So everybody shine, shine on,shine on Everybody, shine, shine
on, shine on, everybody, shine.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
Grace, see, we can use thelittle grace, sisters and
(32:35):
brothers, and it's a shame oh,what a shame when we do not give
it to one another.
See, how can we learn thelesson of love?
It reaches the height and thedoor shines, so everybody can
(33:01):
shine too.
Yeah, hold me in your heart andleave the way.
You don't have to be afraid.
It's in you.
It's in you to rise High aboveyour greatest fears and with a
(33:25):
little bit of light, you canmake it brighter here.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
So everybody shine, shine on,shine on Everybody, shine, shine
on, shine on Everybody shine.
(33:46):
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
So, before I go, I just want to say one thing it's
a pleasure to be here and sharethis song with you, and I want
you to know, no matter whatpeople might think or say about
you.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
When they see your face, there's not a thing that I
would change, because you'reamazing just the way you are, oh
.
And when you smile, the wholeworld stops and stands for a
(34:30):
while because you're amazingjust the way you are.
Oh, so pretty pretty, please.
Don't you ever, ever, feel likeyou're less than less than
perfect.
Pretty pretty, please.
(34:51):
Don't you ever, ever, feel likeyou're nothing.
You are worth it and everybodyshine, shine on, shine on
Everybody, shine, shine on,shine on Everybody.
Shine, shine on, shine onEverybody, shine, shine on,
(35:16):
shine on Everybody, shine.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
That was amazing.
Thanks for tuning in to today'spodcast episode, if you liked
or, let's be honest, lovedtoday's episode go ahead and hit
the subscribe button or leaveus a review.
But welcome to today's podcast replay from the
Killer Bee Studios.
Let's go ahead and dive on in.
Well, hey everybody.
Thank you guys all for comingout.
We're so excited you guys areall here, this is the first
Killer Bee prime time of theyear.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Yes, happy new year.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Happy new year.
Everybody Happy new year.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yes, we love it 24.
Can't believe it?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And first we're some confetti and welcome our guests
to the stage Damien Horn.
Let's hit that guest intro.
Damien, come on out.
Yeah, oh, hey, hi, there hegoes.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Damien.
Hey, thanks for joining us.
Welcome, we'll let you comeright here in the middle.
So now, this is like your dancemove, tom now.
So we got a.
Oh the robot.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Oh wow, that's very good.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I can't even dance that good in real life.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, Damien, thanks for joining us tonight out here
at the Killer Bee Studios.
I would love for you to takeabout 30 seconds and just kind
of let her by.
No, who is Damien Horn?
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Okay, yeah Well, I'm Damien Horn.
I'm based in Nashville,tennessee, and my kind of my
title is like motivationalmusician, educational
entertainer, and I just I lovethe arts, I love performing, but
I also want to motivate andinspire and impact people's
lives, so that's kind of whatI'm all about.
So I try to do that, musicallyor speaking, however, you know,
(01:25):
the opportunity presents itself.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And how long have you been playing music now?
Speaker 5 (01:30):
I've been playing music professionally for this is
I'm going into my 20th year.
So my first publishing bill in2004.
So yeah, this is my 20th year.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
That's amazing.
Now do you play like, do youplay multiple instruments?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Yes, I mainly play guitar and piano, but you know I
play a little bit of everything.
You know you kind of have tobecome a jack of all trades in
the industry sometimes.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, I love that, you know there's a.
I know you're getting used tothis.
We're just talking about mixedreality back there and there is
a piano app that they have andif you actually have a keyboard
or a piano or I think they callit a MIDI board, is that right
Right?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
If you have one of those, you can sync it with it
and in mixed reality, you cansee it right in front of you
like the real keyboard in your,in your living room or wherever
you're playing it, and itconnects all these lines in
these.
You choose a song and it bringsdown the keys and you actually
learn how to play oh wow, keyswith it.
So, yeah, I started messingwith that.
(02:34):
Has anybody else messed withthat before?
That piano app for no, okay,cool.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Well, oh yeah, no, we just we can put you out there,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I forgot there's a delay when I ask questions.
But yeah, that's awesome, yeah,that's pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
this place never ceases to amaze me.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
If you come in here enough, damien, then in the real
world, when someone sayssomething that makes you happy
and you go like this and noconfetti comes out of your arms.
You're like what's happening?
This is a prank.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
I'm going to.
I'm going to do this tonightwhen I see my wife.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Wow, see you, honey.
What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And nobody ever has to clean it up, you know.
Right, yeah it just disappears,it just disappears.
If confetti was just like thatin real life, it would be
amazing Glitter.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah, that'd be nice.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
This is Killer Bea's right on there.
Like I do a lot of videomeetings and I, when we first,
are doing this a lot, me and oneof my team members she's
another one of our co-hosts inhere too, meta Olivia.
Some of you guys know MetaOlivia.
She me and her in a meeting andliterally like our client as we
coach them.
They're doing a really good joband they're like man, it's
really.
(03:40):
This is really taken off and Ifound myself going like this and
I was like they're probablywondering what in the world are
you doing?
Like I'm doing like jumpingjacks, but there's nothing.
Yeah, it was definitely awkward.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Meta-verse problems.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right, I saw that you were on TED Talks.
Now that's that's.
That's pretty cool.
I don't even know how that evenhappens, but I'm sure you can
take us down that a little bit.
But during that, during yourstory, when I was watching that,
you mentioned that youspecifically had a dream, and it
was become rich and famous.
Right, does anybody else have adream to become rich or famous,
(04:17):
or has had a dream of becomingrich and famous before?
Okay, yeah okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
That's it daddy.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I was like yeah , yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
He's like he's trying to make it rain, but it's just
confetti, it's just confetti,can you take us back to tell us
a little bit about your journey?
How did this start and how didall this come into play?
And where are you at today?
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Yeah, so I'm originally from North Carolina,
hickory, north Carolina, whichis a small town in between
Charlotte and Asheville, northCarolina, if you've ever been
there.
But I grew up in a big blendedfamily of 12 children, so I'm
from a huge family and I was themiddle child, if there is such
a thing in a big family likethat.
You know like yeah, but I justgrown up in that family, like at
(05:02):
a young age.
You know kind of all thestatistics that you kind of hear
in certain situations.
You know I was raised by asingle mother.
You know the home was filledkind of with you know.
You know substance abuse,physical abuse, you know all
types of abuse that you canthink of was going on, and it
was kind of things that are notonly that you know in the
streets.
You know I lost two of my olderbrothers who were murdered, and
(05:23):
then two of my younger brotherswere incarcerated for 10 plus
years of peace.
So, like you know, this is kindof what I was seeing all the
time.
And you know, when you seethings like that a lot, you know
you start to think that likethat's what life has to offer
for you.
So that was kind of my thoughtprocess in the beginning.
But I kind of had a what I liketo call a divine encounter with
a salvation on me boys andgirls club and it kind of helped
(05:45):
me get off the streets and stopkind of getting in those
situations where you kind ofleft to your own devices and
doing bad things and peoplethere kind of started doing what
I like to call.
They started speaking life intomy life.
You know, they recognizepotential in certain areas of my
life and so I started tobelieve that.
And it's crazy when you canstart to believe something good
about yourself and you know itjust empowers you to kind of,
(06:07):
you know, you know, see thatthrough.
And my thing was music at ayoung age.
You know, like I really lovemusic, I love playing it here
and it, singing it, what it,writing it, whatever I could do
I just want to be around musicand so it gave me another
channel to focus on instead ofbeing out in the streets and
kind of, like you know, gettingin trouble.
I started focusing on music, youknow and you know, and really
(06:28):
like wanting to pursue kind of abetter life than what I was
seeing around me.
Like what I noticed about myfamily was, like, you know, even
as dark as things could look attimes, you know, music was
always kind of escaped.
For all of us you know, my momincluded in my brothers and
sisters it was always somethingthat made the situation better.
So I was like man, I love theway that, like it kind of
(06:50):
changes the atmosphere.
You know it's like that's kindof that's powerful.
So I, you know, I knew I wantedto be able to do that, you know
, to people and in situations.
And so you know a lot of theseartists I was in, you know,
everybody from Michael Jackson,all across the board, not just
like pop and rock, but, like youknow, you know rock music like
Chris Cornell, or gospel musiclike Fred Hammond, or you know
(07:10):
like old school music like SamCook, or country music like
Murrow Hagger, like all thesethings.
All these great songs andsongwriters, you know, all of
them had its place.
But so for me, you know, I waslike, all right, that's what I
want to pursue.
So once I graduated from highschool, you know, I saved up my
money that summer and I got aone way Greyhound bus ticket all
the way to Los Angeles,california, to pursue my dream
(07:31):
of being rich and famous.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So I heard you mentioned that in your TED talk
and now maybe I just.
I don't know that much aboutthe music industry, but is LA a
natural choice if you want to gointo the music industry?
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Yeah, that's a very good question and I wish I had
the answer to that at the time.
But you know, I grew up in thetime where, like this is when
you still had to turntelevisions with your hand, like
you didn't, didn't have remotes.
So when you look on television,when you think about being rich
and famous, you always thoughtHollywood, california.
Sure you know, and me, being ayoung guy, you know I was from
Hickory.
We didn't.
(08:08):
You know, I wasn't exposed to alot outside of the area.
So when I'm thinking rich andfamous, I'm thinking, oh,
Hollywood, that's where peoplewho are rich and famous, so
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Hollywood.
Yeah, so you guys, so youpacked up and you had like like
what, like five, six thousanddollars ready to go.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
I wish I had a whopping four hundred dollars in
my pocket and a suitcase withclothes in it.
So, needless to say, that didn'tlast for, like you know, a few
days, and then I found myselfclear across the country with
you know, nowhere to sleep, nomoney, no food or anything.
So I would end up spending thenext two years, you know, just
like just literally, you know,more focused on survival than
(08:47):
trying to pursue this dream out.
You know I was sleeping squatsand what you know, which are
abandoned buildings.
I did Skid Row for a while.
I did the Covenant House, whichis a huge organization that I
support to this day, becausethey were so instrumental during
the time I was homeless.
So, yeah, oh, and then I spentthe next two years really just
trying to survive, you know, anddoing that time.
For me, I think that's the time,you know, I came to my faith
(09:12):
when I was, you know, kind ofgrowing up through this salvage
on me boys and girls clubs,actually, when I got my first
Bible and and and and doing thetime when I was homeless, it
kind of had my lowest is reallywhen, like you know, I really
just kind of turned to scriptureand turned to God to really
like seek help, because I had noidea what I was doing and I
felt like the situation I leftfrom was bad.
(09:33):
And then I went into anotherhorrible situation.
I almost felt like you know ifyou're still you know the story
of the Israelites that kind ofleave Egypt and then now they're
in the desert and they're likewait a minute, we should just go
back to Egypt.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Exactly.
Yeah, I was just going to sayreal quick that it really does
say something too, that youdidn't just go back home, that
you, like you know, pushed yourway through and you know, then
started to rely on God, itsounds like while you were in
that really low point.
But that's really interesting,because I'm worse Some people
saying like, why don't you justgo back home?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Yeah, and, to be honest, I mean I did for two
years, but then I eventually didgo back toward the East Coast
because I just, I kind of almostwas, I was that.
I was basically this point inmy life.
I felt like, OK, well, you know, I would read scriptures that
you know, like Jeremiah 2911,for I know the plans I have for
you.
Thus said the Lord pray as theprospering, not the harm.
You give you hope and a futureyou know, improbable as three,
(10:24):
five, six.
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart, lean not to your own
understanding, all your ways,acknowledge him and direct your
path.
I will read these, thesescriptures, but like it didn't
seem like it was working in mylife.
So I just, at one point in time, I just felt like maybe it
wasn't for a person like me, andso I did end up going back home
.
I went back to the East Coastnonetheless and I was just like,
(10:44):
well, maybe I should just, youknow, give up on this dream, but
I'm going all the way back hometo North Carolina and making my
way to Nashville, Tennessee, Iwas like I need to give this one
more try, you know, before.
I you know before I toss it in,and and that's how I ended up in
Nashville, and this is in 2002.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Did you mention how old you were when you went to
California?
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Yeah, I would.
I turned 18 in California, so Igraduated when I was 17 and my
birthday is in July, so I wassoon.
As you know.
School was over in June, Ipacked up and left and I was in
by that Gotcha.
Yeah, wow, so you were just ababy too.
Yeah, I had no idea what I wasdoing.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
But here you are, you've packed up your move to
Nashville.
What is it like?
Because I mean, you're stillYou're still like homeless.
Yeah, yeah, I'm still homeless.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
By this time I had saved up money and had a kind of
beat up car and so I would justsleep in the car.
But when I got to Nashville Icould see all these people doing
what we call busking on theside of the street, like on 2nd
Avenue and Broadway so, which iskind of where you sit down and
you just kind of play yourinstrument and people bring
money up to your guitar case orwhatever case you have.
So I was like, all right,that's my first gig, that's what
(11:56):
I need to do.
I'm going to just sit out therefor hours and play and people,
you know, hopefully don't moneyin for tips and I would use that
for food or, you know, if Imade enough I would get like a
cheap hotel.
You know stuff like that, wow.
And that was kind of how Isurvived for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yes, deena, do we have a?
Do we have a question from theaudience?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I did so.
Jay Rock has a question, but hehas a strep throat, so I'm
going to ask it for him.
Amy, what gave you the strengthto keep pushing forward after
facing so many obstacles thatwere deterrents to your goals?
Speaker 5 (12:28):
That's a good question.
I think it was two things, youknow.
I think one thing is, you know,I kind of grew up in a world
that had a lot of, like you know, adversity.
So I think part of that wasjust kind of bred in me.
You know what I'm saying.
Like I just always, when I wasgrowing up, life always felt
hard.
So this didn't feel muchdifferent, you know so, and I
just kind of felt like that'show life was.
(12:49):
And I think it does one or twothings it can either break you
or make you stronger.
You know what I'm saying, Ithink so I was kind of bred for
a lifestyle like that.
But then I think, ultimately, atthe end of the day, my faith is
what did that?
My faith in God, because I hadto believe that.
You know, like those scripturesI mentioned before, I had to
believe in something bigger thanmyself, because myself alone
(13:09):
wasn't getting things done.
And then I find scripture and Ilearn about God and he says no,
I got good plans for you.
And I'm like.
So I was like man, those goodplans are out there.
I just got to figure out how toget to them or how can I get
him to deliver those to me, andso the hope in that, you know,
killed me moving forward.
I really just believed.
I was like man, like I feellike there's something more out
(13:30):
there for me, and then I believein God, and so God was telling
me that there were.
So I wanted to believe that andI just stood on that until I
saw it.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
When you just said that, it made me think I was
telling Mrs Killer Bee whenwe're preparing to come in here.
I was like I was listening to apodcast.
No, it was an audiobook by JohnMaxwell that I'm listening to
right now and he said this and Ithought it was so good.
He said setbacks.
We need to look at setbacks asopportunities for comebacks, and
(13:59):
that's what I'm excited toabout your story, Because I know
there's a lot of setbacks, butthere's there's a comeback
that's coming up here.
So let's go back to.
You're on the.
You're on the side of thestreet, You're playing music in
Nashville, You're trying to makesome money to stay somewhere,
get some food.
Take us back to that moment.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
So now, yeah, I'm in Nashville and I'm busking, I'm
playing, you know, making tipmoney, and I'm probably there
maybe a couple of weeks doingthat.
You know, and one particularnight I was out playing and this
guy kind of walks by with acrew of people and he's like a
shorter gentleman, has on a bigold black cowboy hat and like a
handlebar mustache.
You know, at the time thatdescribed like a third of
(14:38):
Nashville.
This guy kind of walks by andhe kind of stops and he listens
and then he opens his wallet andhe throws $100 into my guitar
case and so he's like, he's like, man, you have some skill, you
have some talent, and I was likethanks, and he's like, you know
, he's like I want you to comehang with me.
You know what I'm saying.
Like we, we played a littleclub up the street, you know, we
(14:59):
got microphones and everything.
You know you don't have to sell.
And I didn't know who he was atthe time, but I later found out
it was a guy by the name of JohnRich from a country duo called
Biggin Rich.
And so he was you know, he wasthe first guy I met kind of in
the city who was doing music andhe, you know, I got there they
were, they were playing thislittle club called the pub of
(15:19):
love, you know, and his, hispartner was this, this big,
bigger than life guy named BigKenny, you know.
And then Gretchen Wilson, jamesOtto, john Nicholson, the list
goes on and on.
I'm like all crammed in thislike little tiny club, just on a
stage playing music, and sothey just invited me to play
with those guys and that's kindof how my career took off.
(15:39):
You know, I started playingwith these guys and then Big
Kenny and John Rich became Bigand Rich and then Gretchen
Wilson became the Redneck woman.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And her she's rockin' and James.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Otto took off.
So, like I, was a part of thiswhole movement, which we call
the music mafia that was inNashville.
And so that's kind of how mycareer took off you know just
being associated with these guysand I got my first published.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Wow.
So then that's so.
Now you're not homeless anymore.
So now I'm not homeless anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
I'm not homeless anymore.
I got my first publishing deal,which is where they, you know,
they pay you to write songs forother artists, you know.
And so I was.
I was making, you know, aliving doing that.
And then I always wanted to bea songwriter.
That was kind of first andforemost.
But like my songs weren'tgetting into people's hands the
way that I wanted to, so I kindof started playing and singing
myself and then then theartistry kind of started
(16:25):
developing and then, you know, Iwent on from there to, you know
, I toured with John Legend fora while, opened up for him, and
then eventually I ended up in acountry trio, a older brother's
called the farm, where we had,you know, two top 40 singles and
toured and played the whole,you know, did the Hoax Shebain.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Wow.
So here's what blows me away,damien, is, you know I came, I
got connected with you through,well, through a group called
Cywalk Profits had, actually,they posted a video of a lady
named I believe it was KyliePhillips Is that right?
Yep, Is that right?
I'm bad at names, so I'm hopingto kind of fill it out.
Yeah, cool.
So reached out to her, theyconnected me with her and I
(17:04):
talked to her about coming outto the Christmas show and she's
like.
She told me she's like I'm moreof like a background singer.
She does voice coaching, isthat correct?
Yep?
And she said you know what?
I know somebody that I wouldlike to connect you with.
I think that this might beright up his alley.
And she connected me to you,damien, and I immediately
started going to Instagram.
I was like, wow, this guy islike.
I really like this guy, and Ihadn't even seen your TEDx.
(17:27):
So this is what's blown me away.
You know, you went through thistime of having to overcome, like
what some of the overcoming nodeath and destruction, like
stuff that's your face in yourlife and I could see your
testimony in your Instagram.
I was like, okay, I want to, Iwant to connect with this guy.
(17:47):
I would love to have him outhere.
I knew there's a story herethat could, that could actually
help people and transformpeople's lives.
And when I asked you, you sentme the TEDx video.
I'm like whoa, he's gettingopportunities open up.
But you're not just takingthose as opportunities as, hey,
here's Damien Damien Horn, hereI am to perform for you and and
get a applause.
You're taking it so muchfurther, because that TEDx and
(18:10):
you guys, I'm going to sharethat TEDx and our Instagram and
stuff and if you're on ourDiscord, I'll post it in there.
You guys have to watch it toget the full story it's amazing,
but you're using this gift ofmusic to give back.
How did you get to thatrealization that this is a gift
and there's a purpose?
Speaker 5 (18:29):
behind your gift, right?
And that's a great question Forme.
That's like kind of that wasthe light bulb moment for me in
LA before I left, you know, atone of the times where I was at
my lowest there, you know, Iremember going into a church and
, just like you know, kind of atmy wits end, I hadn't eaten for
a while and I didn't know whereI was going to stay.
And this guy kind of you knowcame.
I went to a church and this guyprayed with me and he was like
(18:52):
you know, what can I pray foryou about?
I was like I don't even know.
I just know I need things tochange, I need like a
breakthrough to happen.
And so we kept talking a littlefurther and he did something as
simple as offer me a job, youknow, which is a very hard thing
when you don't have, like an ID, a place of residence and all
that kind of stuff.
So he took a chance on me andgave me a job.
So, like, right when I feellike you know, I'm done, I don't
know I can't take anymore, likesomething came through that
(19:13):
kind of give me more hope, youknow.
And so that guy felt like ahero to me.
And then, like I startedthinking about all the heroes
that have been in my life upuntil that point, like my mom
you know, a single mom but superstrong and always took care of
us.
And, you know, the people at theBoys and Girls Club, the Salish
Army, the list went on and onand the light bulb moment for me
was like, oh, that's what Ireally want to do.
(19:35):
It's like, you know, the richand famous thing was like a
service thing, because I didn'treally understand what my
purpose was, and I used to thinkmy purpose was to play music
and entertain, but that's why Ilike it goes beyond that.
I feel like that's just morethe tool now to do what I'm
actually here to do, which is,you know, inspire, impact and
motivate people.
You know, for the kingdom.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
So oh, I love that Good Diner.
Who's our next question or?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
thought from here.
The next question is from Dawnand I'm going to ask the
question.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Did you have someone who was there for you as a
mentor during your times ofstruggle?
Speaker 5 (20:10):
That's a really good question.
And first, before I even saythat, I think I think everybody
should have a mentor in thefield or the area that you're
trying to achieve.
You know what I'm saying it'salways good to have some kind of
path that you can follow inthat and unfortunately I didn't
during that time.
I do now but as I was, which iswhy I made a lot of mistakes on
my own.
(20:30):
You know it's because I didn'thave a mentor, you know, and I
didn't kind of have thatguidance.
But now I had that and I feellike you know, and not only that
, I try to do that for otherpeople.
I mentor other people,especially people in the
industry who, like you know thatyou know a lot of us artists.
You know we all have dreams of,you know, being rich and famous
.
You know we all kind of wantthat kind of like level, I guess
(20:51):
, but you know like it's a verysmall, you know demographic who
get to that, that 1% level.
But you know you could stillmake a living and do what you
love to do every day, and so Iget to talk to, you know, other
artists, independent artists,about that and like how that
looks.
And you know, share likemistakes I made and things that
(21:11):
I did, right you know, and kindof mentor other people.
But yeah, that's a greatquestion.
I think you know whatever it isthat you want to do in life, I
think having a mentor is likeit's a very small, that's good.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
And you know, damien, I am so glad for I'm glad that
there's room for so many artists, because all of my favorite
music is not made by, like, thetop 1% and the big household
names.
All of my favorite music ismade by people who are just out
there like making a living, butthey're not billionaires.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I'm saying so.
I'm so thankful for that,because there's such a depth and
like a connection with music,with artists who are like just
out there just doing it becausethey love it, not because
they're becoming a mega richyeah, so I'm so thankful for
that and I'm so thankful for youmentoring, you know younger
artists so that you can continue, like you know, helping people
(22:02):
be the best that they can be andwhat they're made to do.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Awesome so is that was before dinner goes out.
Is that where the concept ofshine comes?
Speaker 5 (22:13):
in, yeah, the concepts of shine.
You know it came from ascripture in Matthew where he
tells let your light shinebefore man, that you see people
see your good works and glorifythe Father in heaven.
And you know it kind ofinitially came from, you know
the thought, for when I createdthe song you know Marianne
Williamson has a quote, you knowyou probably heard it in like
speeches by, you know, nelsonMandela and a few movies but
(22:34):
it's like our deepest fear isnot that we're inadequate but
that we're powerful.
We have this ability, we allhave this light in us to shine,
that shines, and sometimesthat's a scary thing, you know,
like stepping out into that andowning that can be scary.
Because you know, I know thatgrowing up, being a middle child
, it was easy for me to get lostin the shuffle and try to hide
away from everything.
And sometimes you don't want togo against the grain because
(22:56):
you know where I was ateverybody was kind of doing one
thing but it wasn't necessarilya good thing to be doing.
So my shining would stepoutside of that and then people
would, you know, might judge mea certain way, or you know, kind
of outcast me.
But the cool thing about it islike when you're stepped into
what you're designed to be andwho you're supposed to do, you
shine.
But when you do that, I feellike you liberate other people
(23:17):
to do the same thing, you know.
I saw somebody who was like oh,I can step out and do that too.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Absolutely, I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
All right, deener, who's ournext question from here?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Alright, our next question is from J Rock.
Again, I'm going to ask it forhim what?
Is your one scripture thathelps you on a daily basis.
Speaker 5 (23:37):
Oh, man, there's so many scriptures, you know, I
think I think I probably alwayshave to lean on the first, those
first two scriptures that Isaid at the beginning.
You know, like this, there's somany scriptures, you know, like
you know, in Philippians ittalks about we can do all things
through Christ.
You know, in Hebrews it talksabout the faith and the
substance of faith is theevidence of things, hopeful
evidence of things, not sayingso many different scriptures,
(23:59):
but, like for me, you know, Ilook at this journey of life and
we're all living this journey.
You know what, no matter if youbelieve or not, we're all
living the human experience.
So it's like, you know, thescripture that sticks out to me
is just like man, you know,trust in me with all your heart
and lean not to your ownunderstanding, if you
acknowledge me, you know, directyour path because, like,
(24:20):
sometimes we don't know whatwe're supposed to do, we don't
know which way to go, and it'sit can be very confusing in a
world that has so much stimuliand like so many things coming
at us in all directions.
Like, well, I don't know, am Isupposed to go to Hollywood and
pursue this?
Am I supposed to go back home.
And so it's like you know what,if I, if I trust in God's
guidance, he's going to leave mewhere I need to be because he's
(24:43):
he's the grand designer, hecreated me, so he knows better
what I'm created and made forthan even myself.
So once I tapped into that andreally started like you know
what, I'm going to put my ownagenda of you know, rich and
famous aside, you know, and justreally trust in, like where
he's got in a leading, I thinkI'll be okay.
And and that's exactly whathappened.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
That's so good.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That's so good and it's.
I think that it can I don'tknow about for you, damian, or
Mrs KillerB, but for anybodyelse here maybe throw some
confetti if you guys have feltlike this.
But there's been a times when,if I don't know the why or what
I'm I'm supposed to be doingright now, or if I'm supposed to
, just I kind of feel likesomething's wrong with me.
That's the case.
(25:25):
But you're saying it's okay.
Yeah, totally it's okay, it'sokay.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
It's a process I feel like you know.
You know if you, if you lookthrough scripture man, you see
so many times where God isleading people but they don't
even know it, like he's likeAbraham go over here, Take your
son, Go do this Go do this Likewhat I'm going to do when I get
that.
Don't worry, just go Exactly.
So it's like it's so much ofthat in scripture, like I feel
like, okay, well, I feel likeI'm in good company sometimes
(25:52):
when I don't know what's goingon.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I was like oh, such a good way to think about it yeah
Wow.
I always think about Noahbuilding a boat.
No one had ever even seen rain.
Like put yourself in his shoesand then be like All right.
Like everyone might think, Idon't know what I'm doing.
I don't know what I'm doing,but it's all right.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
It's so much of that happening, but like, yeah, no, I
totally agree.
So I you know what I feel likethat in moments.
That's why it's so important tomake sure your relationship is
connected like you have, thatconnection you know with God and
you can hear, because also youknow, there's other voices that
are trying to speak to you aswell.
Yeah, you got to make sureyou're hearing from the right
voice, you know.
But when you, when you do that,I'm not a wide person all the
(26:32):
time, like I don't have to knowthe why.
You know.
I'm saying I'm more about like,what do I need to do?
Just tell me what I need to do.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, I'm not even going to question it anymore,
just tell me yeah, he's just putit so many times over and over.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
So now you know, my faith in that area is very
strong, so I'm just like, tellme what to do, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Send me.
So now, when this, when youstarted first going down this
path and learning this, didother people look at you like
Damien, something's wrong, likeare you all right?
Like like you're a little crazy.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Absolutely.
Yeah, you're going to get a lotof that, I feel like you know.
But you know, like I said, likeyou know, when I just kind of
look at life and look atscripture, you know saying like
that's the company of people whoyou know, like you know, the
everybody you know, these peopleyou think about, like Martin
Luther King Jr, you think aboutMother Teresa, or any Gandhi,
any great name you could thinkof, like they all kind of took
(27:22):
their own light of beating pathand I'm sure at one point time
people were saying, oh, you'recrazy, why are you doing this?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
What is this about?
Why would you do that?
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
But like we still talk about these people to this
day and they've left this mark,this amazing mark on the world.
And that's what I want to do.
You know, I'm the rich andfamous.
Thing was just the ignorance ofmyself.
You know, now I understand, man, I really want to make a mark
on this world, but make the markfor the kingdom.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
So I love that.
I love that and I want toencourage everybody here too,
because you know, I know, like Iknow you know Damien's new to
the virtual reality andmetaverse stuff, and I know a
lot of people here has greatpurpose in here and what you're
doing I mean I know there'spastors in here, I know there's
(28:06):
there's church members in here,there's there's people that's
leading other talk shows in here.
There's some of you that'screating games for kids.
What I want to encourage you isto realize like your purpose is
greater than what you mightrealize, even in here, and even
though I know people can look atus and say, well, at least we
have legs now.
So I mean they used to look atus like we're crazy, because
(28:27):
we're like, oh, we're justfloating torsos.
We're like, well, it's notabout that, it's about the
connection with people.
Like we're connecting peoplefrom all around the world and I
know people in here that fromthe Christmas event that you're
at, they said it meant so muchto them because they don't have
anywhere to go at Christmas timeanymore and so they all come in
here in the community andthey're really building real
(28:48):
friendships.
So you guys have an amazingpurpose in here, no matter what
the voices outside are saying.
Remember that I would love,damien.
If there was one thing that youwould hope people would take
away from our conversation today, what would it be?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Well, that's a good question.
I think for me like I don't knowwho in the room is like a
believer or not but I would sayI would say try it out.
Test it, because I'veexperienced so many amazing
things by just giving over,surrendering my ideas and my
(29:25):
actions and everything to God.
I believe that there's acreator who loves you and cares
about you and wants to see thebest for you.
And it might not feel like thatat times, but I know that any
just for a testament of my ownlife, I know that at any second,
any moment, any event, thatyour life can be turned around,
and I believe that the creatoris the catalyst for that.
(29:47):
So my kind of challenge to youis to test it.
I'm not here to force anything,but try it.
If you feel like you're in aplace in life where you don't
know which way you're going, oryou don't know what to do, or
things aren't going the way youwant them, to try it.
Test it out if you have it, andI'm telling you it's good, yeah
(30:09):
, it's good.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Amen, I love that.
All right, guys.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna get the stage readyhere for Damien to do a song.
If you want to hit the changeset dinner so he can get lined
up by the mic.
So you can come up to the michere, damien, people know how
can they connect with yououtside of this virtual reality.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Yeah, you can connect with me.
Any other social media is undermy name, which is Damien Horan
D-A-M-I-E-N-H-O-R-N-E, and alsomy website is Damien Horancom.
But yeah, very easy to find.
Everything is based under myname, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Awesome, awesome, all right.
Well, I'm gonna get out of yourway and this is your song Shine
right.
Yes, yes, all right.
Well, thank you so much, youguys enjoy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
See how can we learn the lesson of love it reaches
the height and the door shines,so everybody can shine too.
Yeah, hold me in your heart andleave the way.
(31:40):
You don't have to be afraid.
It's in you.
It's in you to rise High aboveyour greatest fears and with a
little bit of light, you canmake it brighter here.
(32:03):
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
So everybody shine, shine on,shine on Everybody, shine, shine
on, shine on, everybody, shine.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
Grace, see, we can use thelittle grace, sisters and
(32:35):
brothers, and it's a shame oh,what a shame when we do not give
it to one another.
See, how can we learn thelesson of love?
It reaches the height and thedoor shines, so everybody can
(33:01):
shine too.
Yeah, hold me in your heart andleave the way.
You don't have to be afraid.
It's in you.
It's in you to rise High aboveyour greatest fears and with a
(33:25):
little bit of light, you canmake it brighter here.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
So everybody shine, shine on,shine on Everybody, shine, shine
on, shine on Everybody shine.
(33:46):
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
So, before I go, I just want to say one thing it's
a pleasure to be here and sharethis song with you, and I want
you to know, no matter whatpeople might think or say about
you.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
When they see your face, there's not a thing that I
would change, because you'reamazing just the way you are, oh
.
And when you smile, the wholeworld stops and stands for a
(34:30):
while because you're amazingjust the way you are.
Oh, so pretty pretty, please.
Don't you ever, ever, feel likeyou're less than less than
perfect.
Pretty pretty, please.
(34:51):
Don't you ever, ever, feel likeyou're nothing.
You are worth it and everybodyshine, shine on, shine on
Everybody, shine, shine on,shine on Everybody.
Shine, shine on, shine onEverybody, shine, shine on,
(35:16):
shine on Everybody, shine.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
That was amazing.
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