At five years old Rock Wilk realized he could sing, that same year his grandfather gave him a guitar. A self-taught musician, he spent hours alone in his room playing alongside jazz greats honing his craft. While a defensive back at Colorado State University, his creative writing teacher Bill Tremblay identified his immense talent telling his reluctant student he was a playwright.
Rock left college deciding to pursue his music career and he enjoyed success in the music business, but something just didn’t feel right with the pop music direction he was advised to follow. Rock tells us of his lowest moment losing his marriage, adopted mother, and financial ruin all at once.
He then takes us to his incredible pivot after reading at his first poetry slam at the Nuyorican poetry club. Rock then harnessed his ability to focus from his early years as an athlete and musician. He found a poetry club to perform in every night and wrote constantly for six years, releasing Broke Wide Open - his independently produced album in 2007 - which became his first solo play-- enjoying a highly acclaimed run at NYC’s New Theater.
In 2014 Rock appeared in his first feature film, Jamesy Boy, Starring James Woods, Mary Louise Parker, and Ving Rhames. Rock is the recipient of the 2106 BRIO award for acting presented by the Bronx Council on the Arts. This activist against social injustice, gun violence, and racism created The Brooklyn Quartet in collaboration with Greg E Gaines—Bring in ‘da Noise Bring in ‘da Funk. Rock’s current film, The Center of Distance, featuring a breathtaking soundtrack by Steve Peckman, won best Indie feature film at the 2022 Milan Gold Awards, a film shot entirely on his phone during the pandemic. The film is also an official selection at numerous film awards, including The Aphrodite Film Awards and The IndieFest Film Awards. It’s my pleasure to welcome Rock to this episode of Intrinsic Drive ® .
Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton. Special thanks to Andrew Hollingworth, our sound engineer and technical editor. We are grateful to Rock for permission to use "Treat You Like My Own", from his 2007 album Broke Wide Open. For more information on this and other episodes visit us at www.whartonhealth.com/intrinsicdrive Follow us on socials (links below) including Instagram @intrinsicdrivelive
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