Corey Medina - Old Dog Cryin' (2015)

Corey Medina was born and raised in the small town of Shiprock, New Mexico, on the Navajo Reservation. In 2012 he relocated to another small town called Bemidji in Northern Minnesota. His early musical influences came out of what his mom and uncles listened to: blues, classic country, soul, classic rock and metal. Growing up with a single mom and a rebellious heart, Corey quickly learned what the "blues" was and meant. There was something so intriguing and significant in that in blues that stood out over other genres to Corey and he longed to be able to create that type of music. He heard not only the passion in the blues, but the hurt as well. The blues was an outlet for him to express the hurt in his life, but also the pain he saw in his community and reservation. At the age of 12, Corey finally picked up the guitar that his mom had gotten him earlier, however no one other than his grandpa played an instrument and he played harmonica. So, Corey started learning riffs from other guitarists at his school and never stopped learning. By the time he was 14 he learned how to play blues riffs and scales and that fueled his fire for the blues and music even more.
Around the same time Corey picked up the guitar, his young life already started to seem meaningless to him. Homelife wasn't "functional", drugs and alcohol were already a big part of his life, and suicide was always on his mind. He then started his freshman year in high school not knowing what to expect and not planning on staying long enough to find out...
Within a month of starting school Corey was invited, by a science classmate, to a church youth group service; the same church his grandma and mom would take him to as a young boy every once in a while. He gave empty promises that he would go and would never show, until one day his classmate and a friend offered to pick him up and they kept their word. Since then those two guys have been the brothers to Corey he could’ve only prayed for. That same month Corey committed his life and heart to God, whom he knows got him and his family through all the "blues" they've encountered and will continue to be their saving grace daily. Alongside his growth in his relationship with his creator and his brothers and family, his passion for music and people have grown as well. After high school Corey started writing his own music about the trials that God has gotten him through and about how the scars from his past are only reminders of healing and strength from above.
Even though Corey loves to just write and play music, his mission is to spread a message of hope and encouragement to every tribe and tongue that has felt hopeless and held back in life by fear, shame and hurt.
His hurts, his joys and everything else goes into his music. He strives to be a light... and where light shines... darkness flees.