Refuge. Resilience. Redemption. For TT, that's what music has always represented: an opportunity to turn life's challenges into something beautiful and empowering. TT began making that discovery at six years old, decades before he debuted with his first album, 2025’s MAN ON THE CORNER. Diagnosed with a chronic kidney condition as a child, TT spent years dealing with the physical pain and emotional trauma of a disease that left him crippled at a young age. As he relearned to walk, he found comfort in music — not only the musical theater songs that his mom sang around the house, but a wide mix of country, classical, and rock & roll. Those influences would eventually inspire “A Moment Ago”, a genre-bending record rooted not only in TT's eclectic musical tastes, but also the observations made, lessons learned, and social implications that resulted from his health challenges. When he was a teenager, TT bought his first guitar, forking over the money that he earned by caddying on weekends and bussing tables at night. The instrument became a lifeline and a launchpad for something larger than himself. "I was an introvert, so being able to escape into a room to sing and play guitar was my sanctuary," he remembers. TT began playing local gigs after moving to Los Angeles as a young adult. Even so, progress stalled for several years when he began pursuing a business career to help pay the bills. "I was working like a dog, neglecting family and routinely sleeping at my desk," he says of those years in the business world. "If I'm committed to something, I give it 100%, and that applies to everything I do. I only have two speeds: on and off.” Then, his kidney disease came out of remission, and he spent three months in and out hospitals, where everything changed. He was given a life expectancy of six years and started thinking about how he wanted to spend those six years. He wanted to focus on things that really mattered, and therefore, would go back to his original passion - music. Choosing bold inspiration over blind fear, TT rededicated himself to music. He wrote new songs like "A Moment Ago," a cathartic piano ballad about fleeting time and precious moments. He revisited material he had written years earlier like "Old Glory," a countrified blast of American roots rock and amped-up guitar riffs, inspired by his interpersonal experiences serving the homeless at the L.A.-based food center, Bread and Roses. On the album, he continues in this same vein with “My Confession” and “My Kinda Cowgirl”. He sharpened his storytelling skills with "Heal My Mind," delivering interwoven narratives about love lost, ghostly encounters, and dementia. He even wrote string arrangements that nodded to his childhood love of classical music, and penned lyrics that turned his own health struggles into universal observations of life, love, and family. Rounding up a band of A-list instrumentalists, TT spent time in a Los Angeles recording studio, where he sang like his life depended on it. By the time he received the miraculous news that his disease had once again entered remission, he had already finished a nine-song album — one whose seize-the-day message was truly universal. "There's an overall feeling of using the time you have left," he says, reflecting on the self-produced record. "These are experiences and words that I hope everyone can relate to. We're all human. We all struggle with these issues. We all have mortality." MAN ON THE CORNER may be inspired by TT's own experience, but his songs cast a wider net. "Let Us Breathe" tackles the looming threat of climate change, while "You Gotta Earn Me" — with its vocal harmonies and rootsy instrumentation — unfolds like a tribute to self-esteem. Having helped friends through the difficulties of addiction, he sympathizes with those who struggle with this affliction in “Ghost in Your Shoes”. Inspired by fatherhood, "Little One Little Man" finds TT singing to his two children over acoustic guitar and cinematic strings. Together, those songs weave a diverse web of sounds and stories, all delivered by a longtime storyteller, songwriter, and survivor who refuses to waste another moment.