HAAM Musician Spotlight: Alejandro Rios

“Without HAAM, I could have been paralyzed and lost my ability to perform. HAAM really is saving lives, but it also gives musicians like me the courage, strength and motivation to pursue our careers and continue create art that brings value to life and joy to people. ”

HAAM musician Alejandro Rios recalls the exact moment he learned that South by South West was cancelled because of the Coronavirus. He was tending bar at Home Slice Pizza when his manager pulled him aside and broke the news.

“I felt pain and disbelief,” Rios said. “It was supposed to be my first year as an official artist and my band was set to play nine or ten shows. Everything that we were supposed to be doing musically suddenly stopped.”

Despite the massive setback, like most HAAM musicians during quarantine, Rios and his bandmates in Sam Houston and BLK ODYSSY never stopped creating.

“We’ve been recording like crazy and have changed up our sound,” said Rios, who plays lead guitar and relocated to Austin from Florida in 2014 to pursue his music career. “We’ve done a few shows and were named Black Fret 2020 artists.”

Rios also used the forced slowdown of quarantine to take care of a health problem that weighed heavily on him for many years, causing chronic pain in his back, wrist and arm and an agonizing burning sensation when he tried to sleep.

Back in 2019, Rios discovered he had a condition called a Chiari malformation which had produced a massive cyst in his spine that could have ruptured suddenly and paralyzed the 26-year-old.

“Basically, my skull was a little bit too small for my brain so the base of my skull was pressing against my cerebellum and redirecting the flow of cerebral spinal fluid,” Rios said.

Again, thanks in part to the cancellation of a national tour due to COVID-19, Rios finally had time at home to invest in the lengthy surgery and recovery he so desperately needed. He had Chiari decompression surgery in late June 2020, which was covered by the subsidized health coverage he secured through HAAM. The health navigators at HAAM also helped Rios figure out his health insurance coverage, recovery plan and decipher confusing medical bills.

“HAAM was super professional, but I felt like I was being helped by a friend.” Rios said. “Knowing that I had people behind me to make sense made the whole situation less overwhelming. HAAM is such a beautiful organization and resource for musicians.”

Rios had a long, but successful recovery. Follow-up MRIs showed that the cyst that could have upended his life was gone.

“It’s amazing to know that I don’t have a cyst anymore that could have been life changing in a horrible way. And my brain now sits where a normal brain sits which has improved my symptoms,” said Rios.

As excited as Rios is about his improved health, he is even more excited about what the next few months or years will bring in the world of music, especially here in Austin.

“I think we are on the cusp of a musical renaissance that it is going to be historic,” Rios said. “Contributing to HAAM and supporting musicians in this moment is like a gate-opener for the future. It’s such an optimistic thing to invest in as live music starts to open back up and we can be together in person again.”