Today’s guest has been through it. But he hasn’t let it stop him.Welcome T Bear to the show. Born Richard Gerstein, he grew up spending time in both New York City and the Caribbean. He was playing pretty early on. In fact, he was invited to his first studio session at the age of just 17…by Richie Havens! Soon after, he was discovered by the KISS camp and began writing with the band. That helped him secure his first record deal, which led to the name change and a disco smash hit called Sunshine Hotel. Yeah the 70’s were wild! Now rebranded as T Bear, he continued writing, recording, and playing with artists like Stephen Stills in Manassas and Crosby, Still, & Nash as well as his own solo albums. He has some great stories about recording the Daylight Again album. But after spending time writing with Stills and working with Greg Kihn and others, T Bear went on a 25 year hiatus. He talks about what happened, what he was doing instead of music, and what (and who) brought him back. He has recently released a new album that has some amazing cameos and a killer core band. It’s called The Way Of The World and if you like songs that tell stories, you’re going to love it. T Bear opened up and was very candid about some of the rough times he’s gone through and I’m grateful I can now call him a friend. Go grab the album, on Quarto Valley Records. Follow him on social media @richard_tbear on Instagram and T. Bear on Facebook. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Grab our merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Feed us coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now it’s time for some stories with T. Bear on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices