For most of my life, music has been the place where I process the world — a refuge, a release, a way of turning experience into something that speaks back to me. I’ve been a songwriter, a musician, and a lifelong student of sound long before “AI-assisted creativity” ever entered the conversation.
So when I first dipped my toes into AI as a creative partner, I didn’t do it to replace anything. I did it because music had gotten… complicated.
Not the heart of it — that part never changed. But the making of it.
Studio time is enormously expensive… way beyond my means. Session players, mixing, mastering, production cycles — they all demand resources that many independent artists simply don’t have. Like countless others, I was carrying an old notebook full of lyrics, ideas, and melodies that had nowhere to go. The bottleneck wasn’t creativity. It was logistics.
And for the first time, AI cracked that bottleneck open.
People hear “AI music” and imagine machines writing songs on their own. But that’s not my experience at all.
AI became a way for me to:
Capture ideas in the moment — not months later in a studio.
Experiment with genres, styles, and arrangements that would’ve required a full band.
Iterate on emotion — to hear how a lyric lands, to refine how a story feels.
Bring entire artistic visions to life that once lived only in my imagination.
It allowed me to move through the creative process with speed and depth. Suddenly, I wasn’t limited by time or budget. I could create the way inspiration actually arrives — in bursts, in fragments, in waves.
This was never about outsourcing artistry.
It was about unlocking it.
When I began producing my songs under the Soul Harbor brand and later shaping the Gumtree Collective, I realized something important:
AI wasn’t removing the human from music.
It was making more room for the human.
My stories, my convictions, my background, my faith, the years of musicianship — all of that still comes through. AI isn’t generating my experiences. It’s amplifying them. Think of it like moving from playing a single instrument to conducting an entire orchestra that follows your lead.
The heart is still mine.
The craft is still mine.
But the canvas is infinitely bigger.
The deeper I leaned in, the more I saw a truth many musicians feel but seldom say:
AI is not the end of music. It’s the expansion of it.
Artists fear AI because the narrative has been framed as “machine vs. musician.” But that’s not the real story. The real story is about accessibility, democratization, and the ability for anyone with a voice — trained or untrained — to bring their art to life.
I started the Gumtree Collective to explore what’s possible when we stop clinging to old rules and start asking bold questions:
What if creativity isn’t bound by gatekeepers?
What if experimentation becomes everyday practice?
What if more people get to make music, not fewer?
What if AI gives artists more control, more freedom, more expression?
Suddenly, this wasn’t a hobby.
It was a philosophy.
Here’s one of the songs I created under the Gumtree Collective brand:
If you are an AI-assisted songwriter or artist and would like to learn more about Gumtree Collective, please email me or DM me here. I want to talk to you.
Most of my songs wrestle with human themes — longing, faith, struggle, love, regret, wonder, redemption. These aren’t “AI topics.” They’re deeply human ones. And I’m convinced that tools evolve, but storytelling remains eternal.
AI just gives us new ways to tell old truths.
When I create worship music under Soul Harbor, the goal is connection.
When I create secular music under Gumtree, the goal is exploration.
In both cases, AI acts as a creative co-writer — not replacing my heart, but translating it into soundscapes that resonate with the world we live in now.
I created this song under the Soul Harbor brand:
If I had to name the single reason I embraced AI in music, it’s this:
Because creativity shouldn’t be limited to those who can afford it.
Because art should be accessible.
Because imagination deserves tools that keep up with it.
AI gave me a way to make more music, better music, more honest music — without asking anyone’s permission. And I believe that’s a future worth leaning into.
The AI Music Revolution isn’t about algorithms.
It’s about agency.
And as more artists step into this space — cautiously, curiously, courageously — we get to define what ethical, human-centered, artist-led AI music looks like.
My journey isn’t the only path forward. But I hope it helps spark a deeper question:
What could you create if the barriers fell away?
Because for the first time in a long time, mine did.
I’m curious to know your thoughts about the use of AI in music composition, arranging, and production. Leave a comment and let me know.
Don’t forget: If you are an AI-assisted songwriter or artist and would like to learn more about Gumtree Collective, please email me or DM me here. Join the journey into music’s future.
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