PROJECTS

Food & Music…The Spirit Of Louisiana 

Bent River is embarking on its first entry into TV Music Docs with a series about the relationship between food and music. It will feature chefs and artists both recording music and cooking up great regional eats at the famed Dockside Studio in Maurice, LA.

Cha Wa

Joe will be working with Famed engineer and Producer Dave Trumfio on the next record for Cha Wa. Cha Wa is a Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The name Cha Wa is a slang phrase used by Mardi Gras Indian tribes, meaning "we're comin' for ya" or "here we come."

The PTSD (Pieces Of A Troubled Soul Documented)

Bent River Records is embarking on a very special project with Aryll R-tist (Ariel Ramos) documenting his amazing journey in print video and music. Below is a brief synopsis in Ariel’s own words. The first single “Hurt People” drops on all platforms 10/13

“In 2005 my life was brought to a screeching halt when I was shot 5 times with a high caliber handgun. After being resuscitated several times, falling into coma and later placed in medically induced coma to avoid further self-inflicted injuries as the shock of the traumatic event would cause me to wake up out of coma and pull out the tubes (i.e. catheter, trachea and Intravenous tubing and other cords and cables) related to extracting the fluids created from the many surgeries and wounds etc. After several months of hospitalization, and being placed in various units of the hospital while recovering from many surgeries to repair the major organs negatively impacted by the multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso. This would give me the foundation towards a better understanding of my own and peers' psychodynamics and power of positive attitude to dictate the trajectory of my life.

After years of continued suffering due to lack of devolution when one engages in self-harm and high-risk behaviors. Years of untreated addiction and PTSD stemming from MGSWand adverse childhood experiences came to a screeching halt when I was arrested once again for felonious crimes and this time given the ultimatum and opportunity to address my criminal and addiction issues but more importantly my mental and emotional health issues in a clinical setting. Upon starting a family and investing many years of self-assessment and higher understanding of the underlying conditions that make one susceptible to addiction, I became a Clinician in treating individuals and family members who directly or indirectly struggle with substance use disorders. At the peak of my progress and working with Clinical Licenses for both East Coast and West Coast Treatment Centers my life would forever be irreversibly changed.

I was diagnosed with Severe Congenital Degenerative Spinal Stenosis. After days of processing the ramifications of my medical and mental health and uncertain future, I began to reflect on the long journey which had brought me to this place. This Memoir reflects on my family of origin, the first nine months of my life, and parents who loved me, but in an unhealthy, dysfunctional way. In my formative years, growing up with instability and chaos, I moved frequently from one home to the next, and wrestled with poverty,trauma, drugs, violence, and legal authorities along the way.

 I communicate in intimate detail the near-death experience of being shot and left for dead, and the anger, fear and frustration that lingered for years as a result of it. I detail the depths of his addiction and the physiological and psychological effects it caused. However, at this point in my life, I am able to communicate the benefits of my lived experience, the gratitude I embrace on a daily basis, the significance of looking back – the importance of forgiving others and self, moving forward with the Universal Spirit, who empowers me, and real hope for tomorrow.”