If you already thought Damien Escobar was unbelievable, you might want to sit downward as you acquire more nearly the multi-talented hip-hop violinist. You already know the basics: thirteen-year old Juilliard graduate, amazingly talented violinist, on an epic comeback from his 2012 career nosedive that left him sleeping on the New York subways. (If yous're staring at your screen with your jaw on the floor, meet role 1 of our profile on Damien to larn more about his journey). Just where has his journey led him?

To a pretty great place.

In Jan, Escobar wrapped up a yearlong tour, he plans to release his new anthology, Dizzying , in March, and he's slated to kick off his Eye & Soul bout this May. Not to mention the various entrepreneurial endeavors he'southward involved with — violin design, vino collections, and children's boob tube production — all while traveling from country to country on a tight schedule promoting his music.

Is anyone else tired?

Escobar isn't. The excitement in his voice is contagious as he talks in-depth about his bout, his television show, his routines on the road. If annihilation, it sounds like he'd accept on more piece of work — and gladly — so long as it somehow brought the joy of music to new ears.

"Everybody's not going to understand it, they'll similar what they like, only everything evolves, y'all know? Then it'south an development of what classical music was." Escobar says of his music, recalling a moment when his violin instructor told him that he wasn't playing in a way that Bach would approve of. "I looked at her like she was absolutely crazy. I'm similar, 'Hold on for one second – Bach was live in the 1600s and he was an innovator.'"

He Did Fusion… Before It Was A Thing

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Escobar'south music — a hypnotic blend of classical violin finesse over modern hip-hop beats — is exactly that: an evolution of music. It seems like this kind of fusion is something like a movement equally of tardily. Call back Glee and Pace Up , Hamilton and La La Land . But Escobar came before all of it.

Learn more than about what Damien was upwards to between 2012 — when Nuttin' But Strings bankrupt up — and now in part one of our two-function serial on the violinist.

He started mixing classical and hip-hop in 2004 when he and his blood brother'south Nuttin' Only Stringz took their deed from the subway to the stage — a move that had been a long time coming.

"I grew up in a household with a unmarried mom who couldn't afford to give united states the things that we wanted. But she taught united states of america how to get out and get information technology for ourselves. So my brother and I, we were on the subways making money since I was 10," Escobar says. "It turned into an astonishing ten-year career together — that had its highs and lows — but we won Emmy Awards, sold millions of records, and we became those guys that crossed over classical violin to mainstream, we were the innovators of that."

But if yous idea that Escobar would be content with the already jam-packed life of a traveling musician, you obviously haven't been paying attention.

"Violin is the primary affair that I do, equally an artist. Music is something I honey, merely there are other branches of music that I've embarked on this year," Escobar says, explaining his ventures into children'southward television, violin design, and a line of wines due to debut at the end of this year. "The problem when you deal with things that have an former tradition – like wine has an old tradition, the violin has an old tradition – they don't typically similar artists that are rebels, and that's kind of what I am, so they [a potential collaborator] passed on the opportunity. And then I said, 'Y'all know what? That'southward okay.' And I started my own line of wine."

On Tour: A New City Every 24-hour interval

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This sort of decision and hard work is evident is every bit of Escobar'southward life — on and off the stage. He simply spent the past yr on the road, hopping from urban center to urban center to promote his album Sensual Melodies . Virtually times, he spends less than 24 hours in each identify.

"We get in in the forenoon, I do a lot of press for the show and I'll visit a school, talk to some kids, and then I'll do sound cheque, perform the show, meet and greet, and and so I'm back on the tour bus, on to the next urban center." He rattles it off similar the routine that it now is — this life of a musician on a nationwide tour.

Sometimes, he notes, they exercise become to spend a couple of days somewhere along the bout route, usually in a boondocks that's not on well-nigh people'due south bucket lists.

"Bloomington, Illinois… It's the nigh random city in America, but it'southward so awesome! It's so cool!" Escobar laughs as he recalls his time in the town. "Oh my goodness, we ate like v deep dish pizzas and were extremely blimp and then we did a photoshoot in the middle of the street and there were cows walking behind us — it was the greatest moment — and we randomly went and did hot yoga… We had a really practiced time because there was 'nothing to do' in that location and it kind of forced us — my entire team — it forced us all to be social, to hang out, and simply actually enjoy the moment outside of performing. It was a really cool moment."

Escobar makes a point of making sure his team gets to enjoy the bout holistically — they exercise hot yoga whenever they can find it and travel with a massage therapist to ensure that everyone is at the top of their game, non simply professionally, but mentally and physically as well.

"We'll wake upwardly, we'll do hot yoga," Escobar says. "Mental health is extremely of import to me. I want to make certain everybody is in the right mental state, I desire to brand sure everybody is happy, I desire to make sure everybody feels heard. That way, we'll have a successful bout and a successful team and everybody is enjoying what they're doing."

And the skillful vibes are showing: Damien has a community of fans beyond the world who are clamoring for him to add their city to his Heart and Soul tour that kicks off in May. He's got a few famous admirers as well.

"Since he's not in office anymore, I can finally share this story," Escobar says. "A friend of mine, she worked in Barack's executive Cabinet and there was ane year that they went to the vineyard. A blocked number calls me and I hear my music blaring in the background and she'southward on the telephone and she's like, 'Tin you hear this?' And I'chiliad like, 'Yeah, that's my music — what's going on?' And then I hear a voice come on the telephone and just says, 'I love this shit.' And I'm like… Barack?!"

He adds, "I never know where my music reaches and who it reaches."

There you have information technology, folks. Damien Escobar: an entrepreneurial hip-hop violinist and America's crooner-in-principal.