Just following New Year's in 2021, I realized I was at the lowest point in my life and desperately searching for anything—meaning, purpose, direction. It felt like yesterday that I was just an 18-year-old kid duping cassettes and producing vinyl for artists out of my college dorm. And after over 10 years in the music business, I had worked for some of the biggest indie labels in the world and had run my own label and put out music for some of the biggest breakout artists.

I considered all of this as I pulled into the parking lot at the base of Overlook Mountain—needing a moment of reprieve. For reasons I can't remember, I decided I needed to take a 25lb weight with me. I needed the challenge of carrying it high over my head as I hiked up toward the peak. As I crossed the halfway point, the cold began to seep into my bones and my rain-soaked clothes were beginning to harden as the water was turning to ice. I was having to stop every five feet or so and my muscles were struggling to keep going. On top of that, mentally, I was beginning to break down. I couldn't keep going. I wanted to turn around and retreat. At that moment everything went quiet and an immense wave of peace came over me. Never before had I felt this kind of serenity. I just stood there and looked around—listening to the sleet pelt the pine, leaves, and bark around me. My muscles perked back up, my blood began flowing and I picked the weight back up and shouted, "I'm the only one on the mountain, I am the only fucking person on this mountain!" And that feeling of aloneness felt freeing, felt good. Once at the top, I looked out over the snow-covered ground, over to the next state and the one beyond it, and felt as free as I have ever felt.

While this story may not mean a whole lot to you, it means everything to me. What does this have to do with music or this record label? That’s for you to find out.

Only One On The Mountain is a record label, artist collective & creative project bringing the most one-of-a-kind & unique contemporary and legacy/reissue artists’ music to the mainstream.