Sublime

As Dead lyricist Robert Hunter wrote in the classic Dead song “Uncle John’s Band,” “When life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door.”

Your spiritual growth depends on living by the principles of the Bible.

So, what is it that Rick Rubin does? How has he helped artists make their best music for almost half a century across such disparate genres and styles? The secret seems to be rooted in self-discovery. As Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks put it, Rubin “has the ability and the patience to let music be discovered, not manufactured”—or, to use our te

To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention. Refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. Looking for what draws us in and what pushes us away. Noticing what feeling tones arise and where they lead.

This combination of the internal, intangible emotional journey and the practical skill of making music, or, as Rubin describes it, the “heartwork and headwork,” is how he’s sustained his craft across genres for so many decades. He taps into something far beyond the type of music or production style, and instead connects to the artist through a firs

‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ by The Beatles, ‘I Found You’ by Alabama Shakes, and ‘Use Somebody’