The Hard-Luck (and Happy) Story of a CNY Musician’s New Release

This piece has a compelling back story, which we'll get to, but let's begin with the narrative on a Facebook page.

The bio on Gary Johnson's Facebook page (the Real Gary Johnson) actually says he's "Not Currently Running for President," because he shares his name with the Independent thinker from New Mexico who campaigned in the 2016 election.

This Gary Johnson is a musician.

And this Gary Johnson has a brand new solo effort coming out. Long associated with guys like Tim Moyer and Ryan Quinn and acts like Dashboard Nixon, the Sylvan Beach singer-songwriter's new solo effort is called "Rise in Love." Here's a sneak peak:

Johnson says he got the inspiration for the tune the day his wife told him she was pregnant with their first child.

On a global level the song, about using our best efforts to change who we are and therefore improve the world around us, offers an optimistic glimpse of the future.

Johnson wrote most of the rest of the songs on the album specifically for a movie called Beyond the Mat, which won a bunch of film festival awards, but was never released due to legal issues.

Johnson has turned that stroke of bad luck into good fortune for music fans. The album, A Sophomore Effort, was set to be released worldwide on August 24, 2017.