At this Sunday Morning Café gathering, Dr. Tom Wagner welcomes St. Louis pianist, composer, and Swagtime creator Royce Martin for a live concert and conversation about resilience and the creative force within us. Royce traces his journey from teaching himself to play on his sister’s keyboard to winning the Fox Teen Talent Competition, studying at Berklee College of Music, and developing a genre that brings ragtime, jazz, classical music, rap, and electronic music into conversation. Along the way, he explores St. Louis’s rich musical history, the spiritual and rhythmic roots of his work, and his desire to help young people believe they can become fully themselves. The conversation invites us to consider: What is the Creative Source within your soul trying to bring into the world through you?

Key Takeaways

• Pay attention to what wants to come through you: Creativity is not limited to artists. Notice the ideas, interests, or forms of expression that keep pulling at you.
• Find a way to express what words cannot: Music became a language for things Royce did not yet know how to say. Creativity can help us process and communicate what is happening within us.
• Let obstacles redirect you, not define you: A school change, a broken keyboard, limited resources, and self-doubt all became part of Royce’s path rather than the end of it.
• Learn from tradition, then make it your own: Royce honors the history of ragtime and Black American music while allowing those influences to evolve into something new.
• Use your gifts to help others become themselves: Creativity can do more than express who we are. It can help other people feel seen, imagine new possibilities, and believe in what they might become.

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 11/8 SMC Event with special guest Javier Mendoza: www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations are dedicated to the costs associated with bringing SMC events to more people, more often.
• Royce Martin’s website & links: www.roycemartinmusic.com/

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