Late Earth Day Message

I grew up in a very health conscious house. My mother was quite the pioneer. She was an activist for the environment on all fronts. She also indirectly taught me that with your voice (pre-singing years), you can make a difference. Many times I found myself at Town Hall speaking on behalf of younger kids to voice my concern about what I saw being wrongfully done to our planet, even on a local level.

That is all we are. A bunch of locals. Like a bunch of stars are a galaxy, there is no belittling of what we are together. I know it seems like we can hardly see the microphone to be heard these days, let alone speak into one, but we can because it is ours. It is probably the only thing that has not been sponsored by McDonalds or Coke yet and as long as we choose to speak, it never will be.

This Earth Day, Earth Week, or whatever Al Gore will call it these days, just remember that nobody is better than anyone. Nobody has power over anyone. Nobody has power over this Earth. You can’t own a tree and you can’t own the air. You can pretend to own water if you put a refreshing-looking plastic bottle around it, but pretending is all it is.

When I was a kid, my mom showed me not to let people who think they have power convince us they do and all I am doing today is reminding us all, including myself, of this. LOVE

Share your favorite links that take action below

nrdc.org

Out in LA finishing up my album with producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtery) and we are finishing strong indeed. Today was a great day. Could you feel it?

Hope you are all rocking in your own way!!!

I am at the airport, ready to depart for one last week of recording. Before I record, I like to check out the old vocal chords. It’s like j. lo going and getting an x-ray of her ass.

Enjoy.

r

Erin Thomas from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Don’t think she won me over ’cause of the money spent. It’s the changeover flight that makes me know she deserves this! Taking off once is enough for me.

Flight from Edmonton to Minn. then onto Philly $685.00
Rental car from Philly to Dewey Beach & back 1000 airmiles
Hotel for 2 nights $100.00
Seeing Ryan Star Live PRICELESS!!!!!
See you Friday

When I was 18, I had a dream that I met Michael Stipe and asked him where he was living. He said, “I live in many places.”

These are three images that I captured within the last few months.

Post a comment and tell me: where would you rather be? Why?

Film Students and future movie moguls Michael Healey and Kelly Goeller (IFC award-winning ‘We Might Fall’ animation video) directed a video of a new song called “You and Me” a few weeks back. They are currently finishing it up, so stay tuned.

It required us to be driving in a convertible in the heart of winter. It was 24 degrees that night and we were moving at around 35 mph through the late night streets of Times Square. How is that for wind chill? I had my snowboard gear on under my clothes. Even the toe warmers froze up. The shoot ended early on account of a hail storm that came down.

The rental car was returned with ice and snow all over the seats. Always take the insurance!

Check out my new YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/rstar.

This will be my base for all that I see fit, from fan covers to live performances and video diaries, plus all of my favorite vids and movie clips.

It doesn’t have to be of me, but post your favorite recent YouTube clips in the comments for me to check out.

P.S. I love Star Wars and kid prodigies.

Lately, I have been known to fly last minute. The secret late night shows have been all in good fun, but the other night when I got the email from Taylor’s parents, knowing how much it would mean to stop by for her 14th birthday party, I could not resist. I took the drive upstate and there is not much to say except that there are some magical moments you get when you play music for people and this was one of them. I will not forget the look on her face and I will not forget the feeling it gave me.

Here is a taste of the night. The beauty of a basement birthday party, 1/2 slices of pizza, cake, awkward silence between boys and girls…

We are strong, we are young!

- r

I had a few days to clear my head last week on a holiday and was thinking about how everything has come to be… I sat on a beach (pictures attached) and finished Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead (not only the longest book I will ever read but quite possibly the greatest.) I collected my thoughts before I returned to NYC, to the craziness of getting this album out, and realized that there is so much out there now that creates what we know music to be. If you are reading this I am sure you spend some time online catching up on your favorite artists, and if they’re at all like me, you’re probably having some interaction with them. A MySpace comment, an email, a text message, whatever it is I have had tons of encounters with you. Some light and fluffy and some as serious and life changing as you can imagine. Music definitely used to be a one way street where the artist would put it out and listeners would let it enter them in their own way. A musician’s job was simply to take life in and then put it out as an art form. Now, thanks to the internet, it doesn’t end there. Musician’s have a back and forth with fans and are able to receive an instant reaction. In some ways its probably a terrible thing to have Jim Morrison looking through his MySpace messages at four in the morning when he should be on a peyote trip in the desert, and even though there is a definite romance to that idea, I wonder if the fans of today would be as understanding to it or would they move down the list to the next band they like - the one that writes to them everyday. My point being, is this killing music? I have a friend who can hardly turn on his amplifier let alone create a Facebook account and he is one of the most talented people I have ever met. No one wants to help him make an album because “he doesn’t have enough going on.” It kind of sucks that being an incredible musician and performer might not be enough these days. I am sure you have all heard it before, that in today’s landscape Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen would have already lost their record contracts because of lack of sales on their first albums. Think about the greatness we are probably missing out on. Where are they? Each member of “Inside”, a founding Long Island emo band responsible creating the entire scene, all have day jobs now. The singer who I grew up watching in rec halls and inspired me to play is currently employed at a bank.

All that being said we are here now at rstar.net. It is the way we are now and it truly is a part of music. I do have beliefs that there are serious downsides to it all, but on the other hand I truly have the need and desire to be a part of your lives as I wish you to be a part of mine.

Check out some more pictures from my beach holiday here.