Artist Recovery Podcast

Artist Recovery Podcast is Bringing Light to the Darkside of Art. I’m Rich — and here, recovery means resilience. Because for artists, it’s more than survival… it’s revival.
This show is about the real journey of being a working creative — the highs, the lows, the pivots, and the reinventions that shape who we are. Together we’ll explore how setbacks can spark transformation, how loss can open new paths, and how resilience fuels the heart of every artist’s story.
If you’ve ever faced doubt, setback, or the call to reinvent yourself, you’re in the right place. Let’s recover — and create — together.”

Want to be a guest on Artist Recovery Podcast? Send Rich Wright a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/artistrecovery

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Artist Recovery Podcast

Artist Recovery Podcast Ep. 41 | War zones to Wordsmith: Joseph Bolton’s Journey with Creativity

October 31, 2025 • Rich Wright • Season 1 • Episode 41

What happens when a U.S. Army Ranger turned storyteller digs deep into his ancestral roots — uncovering forgotten French-Canadian and Algonquin legends that spark an extraordinary creative rebirth?
In this powerful episode of The Artist Recovery Podcast, host Rich Wright sits down with Joseph Bolton — a West Point graduate, Afghanistan combat veteran, and author of “Old Grandmother’s Tree” — to explore how trauma, identity, and imagination can transform into art that heals both the creator and the culture it came from.
Watch this if you love:
Storytelling that blends mythology, family history & indigenous wisdom
Military-to-artist transformation stories• Deep conversations about resilience, empathy, and creativity after service
Ancestry, spirituality, and rediscovering your cultural roots

🪶 What’s Inside This Episode
04:00 – The Roots of Imagination: Growing up in Rhode Island’s French-Canadian Catholic culture, surrounded by ritual and folklore
10:00 – The Discovery: DNA tests reveal long-lost Native American ancestry, including the remarkable story of Mithyogoku, the courageous Algonquin ancestor who survived loss and became the “Old Grandmother” of thousands
20:00 – Turning Pain Into Art: How Joseph transformed historical research and personal grief into magical folk tales that honor resilience
35:00 – The Creative Spark: Writing through grief after losing his brother to ALS — and rediscovering storytelling as a lifeline
50:00 – Life Lessons From the Military: How discipline, detail, and determination learned in Ranger School shaped his artistry
1:10:00 – The Ghost Story That Almost Got Him Shot: The hilarious and shocking near-death moment in Afghanistan that became a viral favorite 1:15:00 – The Power of Ancestral Art: How reconnecting with heritage through writing can heal generations

Connect with Joseph:
https://oldgrandmotherstree.com/

Get Noticed and Be a Guest through ‪@PodMatch_com‬ :
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