Meet Stuart Pearson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stuart Pearson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stuart, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I think you have to be a huge fan of that thing people call “creative drive.” Most artists are probably like me, where they stumble into each new project, wondering if THIS is the one that will finally satisfy that “itch” where you have nothing left to say. But that day never really comes. For instance, my wife and co-writer Hunter Lowry and I finished work on our last album “American Gothic” and I felt drained. I had as many outtakes as final songs that made the album. BUT,… releasing album after album to succeed or die on their own these days means the world will probably just ignore it. I didn’t know what to do next, but I knew I HAD to do something. Making music quite literally keeps me sane and grounded.

Out of the blue, an old friend of mine (producer Maureen Davis) called, saying she was building a new production company with the concept of reviving the genre of radio dramas. She thought creating a drama using the themes and songs from “American Gothic” was intriguing. I thought it was a TERRIBLE idea! But,… Hunter thought it would be fun. I slowly came around to the idea and thought “Hey – this could be like how the early 1980’s had long form narrative videos to introduce new songs. This might be a way to give our Dark Americana songs more context and explore the themes in more detail.” A year later, our audio drama “Purgatory, Missouri” won the 2025 ARKast award for Best Fiction Podcast.

It was a case of creating a “project-shaped hole” in the Universe that needed to be filled, since the Universe hates vacuums! That call changed the trajectory of what we would be working on. We’re writing Season Two of “Purgatory, Missouri” now. Season One can be heard wherever you listen to podcasts. There are seven episodes, each with a prologue written and narrated by our director Richard Malmos, as well as six mini-episodes that lead to the insanity coming in Season Two.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Well, the ARKast award is the most recent – that was in late November in Arkansas. Our Dark Americana series of albums, “Stories and Songs”, “Mojave” and “American Gothic” are available for streaming and “Mojave is available in France on the May I Records label.

As far as what sets “Purgatory, Missouri” apart from other dramatic fiction podcasts, I guess it’s the use of our songs as the source for dramatic exploration. There may be others out there doing that, however I haven’t seen them yet. Parts of the story are somewhat autobiographical. The lead character has epilepsy, which I had as a kid and fortunately outgrew. My last serious seizure happened at 15 years old, when I drowned in my brother’s pool. I went through the whole “staring down at my own body” thing; my heart stopped for a time and happily I was revived after a few minutes (as far as I’ve been told). In “Purgatory, Missouri”, due to unfortunate decisions, the lead character falls into a coma and ends up in a strange rundown carnival she can’t wake up from, all the while having seizures that cause mayhem in the carnival. People throughout the park slowly lose their memories of who they were and wander around like panicking zombies trying to figure out what is happening to them. Fortunately, that part didn’t happen to me!

I’ve had many very realistic dreams after that experience that have made me question exactly WHAT we are. The main driving force of the story is to examine states of consciousness – can the Afterlife and our sleep state collide? Is Guilt a living part of consciousness? Can we rise above our own dark, self-destructive tendencies? How tribal are we as a species? Lots of topics are touched on, all generated from our songs. The first season is all about building this bizarre world. The second season will look at the aftermath of the first season and answer some questions that some people won’t see coming.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think you have to write about things that happen to you. Find ways to make them extremely true to yourself. I don’t like love songs in general, since they never sound like new ground is broken or unique insights are being offered; however I’d be happy to be proven wrong! So don’t just write a love song – explain how your experience is different from everyone else’s. Don’t just SAY it is – tell us WHY. It’s hard to do! However, your listeners will appreciate something insightful WAY more than the usual tripe and you’ll touch someone’s heart deeper for it if they understand your point of view. OR better yet, write something that is NOT a love song!

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I would want to spend that last decade being present. Although I fail at this all the time, I feel that being aware of everything around you – every sight, sound, smell and remembering this moment is lost instantly when the next moment starts. The bad goes away, The good goes away. Your reaction to what happens to you is the only thing you can control. Learn how to make amends. Learn how to praise everyone all the time. Be excited by small things. Be excited by big things. Say “thank you” as often as you can – to other people and to yourself.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Where does your self-discipline come from?

One of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. We asked some

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
Working hard in 2025: Keeping Work Ethic Alive

While the media might often make it seem like hard work is dead and that