John Earl quit a promising career as a military nuclear scientist and came to New Orleans last year to start a new life. He\'s now an analyst by day, and a singer-songwriter in the bars, streets, and coffeehouses all over New Orleans by night. \"If there was one thing I could tell people that mattered more than anything else, it would be to follow the fire no matter what. It\'s a force that seems to burn when I ignore mental, physical, social, and technological boundaries and just push towards what I want the world to be like. It says forget the guilt of my past, the pain of my present, and the doubts of my future. I attribute everything I\'ve ever accomplished to it, and I just want to say that my journey has taken me into many different corners of our society that most people think can\'t coexist.\" \"It saddens me that we have so many divisions in our culture, because having seen our culture from so many different angles I can attest that they aren\'t necessary. You don\'t have to fit any stereotype, be it racial, religious, economic, or anything else. You don\'t have to be an atheist to be a scientist, or quit your day job to be an artist. You don\'t have to avoid anything or anyone to be successful in any field. For me, the fire is consuming all that garbage thinking and more.\" \"So that\'s why I write and play and sing, to spread what I think and to challenge as many people to embrace the fire and make it their own, to the point that they\'ll stand up to the consequences put in place by old ways of thinking. The more of us that follow the fire to its fullest extent, the closer we will be to a world with no tears, no pain, and no regrets. I hope every song blesses you!\" John Earl