The Builder was born from a time of uncertainty. With tours cancelled and his album cycle upended, Pope found himself seeking normalcy and community. While his career was put on pause, he effectively became a stay-at-home dad. Slowly, his priorities shifted as he realized that not only could this time be looked at as a gift, but it could be used as an opportunity to reimagine what his life could look like in the future. While contemplating a new reality and trying to navigate rough waters Ron Pope asked these questions: Why sit in the same formulaic cycle? Why seek validation from places that didn’t care to give it? Why sit idly during unprecedented times?
In asking these questions of himself, he realized that the community his music created was also seeking answers to similar questions. Weekly online shows allowed free conversations and inspired creativity (LIVE! And In Sweatpants!). Pulling from unreleased songs and reimagined fan favorites, Pope decided to embark on a year of connecting and leaning into the community that has supported him all along.
It was time to let go of preconceived notions about what was expected of him. It was time to take a step back and focus on what really mattered.
It was time to rebuild.
Who knew when Ron Pope began his university career playing baseball that ten years later he’d find himself being an acclaimed singer-songwriter. Ronald Michael Pope began his music career by moving university to study music and discovering his future band mates and his true self. The band, The District, were a hugely successful college band who went on to tour America and record three albums before splitting. Following this, Ron Pope got his big break as a solo artist when he performed on MTV’s TRL, being branded ‘an up-and-coming artist’. In 2009, he signed a year-long recording contract with Universal Republic. However, the majority of his music comes from both before and after this when he wrote, produced and released music independently, bringing his discography to a grand total of eleven albums. His music has been featured on hit television shows The Vampire Diaries and 90210, where his warm voice was used to force a tear to the eye of any viewer watching the emotional scenes. But none of this compares to the incredible experience of hearing that voice reverberate around the venue at one of his live concerts. I felt every hair on my body stand on end as I stood in a sea of fans, softly swaying as the crowd sang every word of “Shoot Out The Lights” with him. My heart fluttered when the venue erupted as cheers escaped our mouths witnessing him flow into an inspiring piano solo during “A Drop In The Ocean”. His simple set design, casual clothing and relaxed demeanour brought us closer to him, willing us to feel his passion for music and his mischievous grin was echoed on each and every face as we saw that passion materialise in front of our very eyes in the form of sheer talent.
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