I recently caught up with Richard String for a wide-ranging conversation about music, food, and the many ways the two have shaped his life over the years. It was one of those chats that felt expansive and grounding at the same time—the kind that lingers with you long after it’s over. His latest album, Appreciation Skin, is exactly that kind of experience: colorful, textured, emotionally varied, and deeply human. That conversation also inspired me to step into the kitchen and make one of his most nostalgic dishes—a hearty pot roast—perfect for winter days. Check out the recipe below! 

Released on September 22, Appreciation Skin marks Gavin’s return after a long break, and the response has been overwhelming in the best way. As he shared with me, it’s been a genuine joy to be back at it after stepping away, and you can feel that gratitude embedded in the record itself. While the entire album is worth a front-to-back listen, a few tracks immediately stood out to me. “Get Out of My Room,” “Bear the Weight,” and “Concerning Hobbits” quickly became favorites—each one offering something different in tone and emotional weight. “Photorealism” was the first song that really pulled me in, but what makes this release special is how fluidly it moves between moods. It doesn’t sit in one lane. It wanders, explores, and invites you to follow.

 

 

Though his name is Gavin, he releases music under Richard String, and that duality feels fitting. Richard String emerged almost as an alter ego over time, while Gavin has lived many musical lives since moving to Nashville in 2012. Gavin’s path into music wasn’t apparent at first. Growing up in Sarasota, Florida, he was immersed in sports—especially basketball and baseball. Standing at 6’5”, he was very much “the big kid,” focused on athletics. Music entered his life almost accidentally, through a friend with a drum set. Wanting to be cool, he started hanging out and smashing drums, much to his dad’s skepticism. What began as a whim quickly took hold. Soon, punk band rehearsals were happening every day, with his now fully supportive father locked away in his office while they played for hours, loud and imperfect and full of promise. He joined his first band in the sophomore year of high school and stayed with them for 10 years through college, cutting his teeth during the height of alternative music. After that chapter closed, he spent time in Bozeman, Montana, before eventually landing in Nashville as the artist Gavin Shea. Over time, he branched into producing and started a studio that ran for nearly a decade. His own art took a backseat as he poured energy into clients, collaboration, and building something sustainable.

Richard String—the project—started to take shape in the margins: on off days, between sessions, during borrowed moments. Collaborating with friends, experimenting, singing, producing, and constantly switching genres. That constant genre-shifting—working with acoustic writers one day and fully produced tracks the next—quietly rewired his creative instincts. For about three years, Gavin stepped away from music almost entirely to care for his family and tend to parts of life he’d long neglected. Ironically, that distance is where Appreciation Skin began to form. The songs didn’t come from studio sessions—they arrived fully formed in his head during a period of emotional heaviness, grief, and transition. His father was passing away, and Gavin spent long stretches walking in the woods, thinking, processing, listening.

These songs came together in my head over the course of a few very challenging years. Honestly, I was running from music when they started showing up, but I guess I needed something positive to focus on.

When it finally came time to record, the process felt freeing. Rather than searching endlessly for parts, he was selecting sounds. Rather than forcing productivity, he followed his impulses and explored. It allowed him to rewire not only how he builds records, but how he relates to music itself.

Learning to give music a fair portion of my life (instead of the lion’s share of my existence) has been an extremely healthy shift… I once found comfort in making these, and I now feel comfortable doing it again.

 

 

You can hear that balance throughout the album. Trippy synthesizers, drum machines, smooth moments, and heavier passages all coexist naturally. It feels cohesive without being predictable—a grounded, mature record that still takes risks. That sense of rediscovery extends beyond music. The artwork for Appreciation Skin is a painting Gavin made when he was six years old. Years later, while helping care for his mom, she pulled it from a box and said, “You were a painter when you were a kid.” It was a powerful reminder that creativity has always been part of him—long before studios, touring, or production schedules. After 25 years in music, revisiting painting feels less like a pivot and more like an expansion. At his core, Gavin is a poet—someone who thinks in layers, textures, and emotional resonance, regardless of medium. Excited to hear more music from Richard String, and be sure to download Appreciation Skin on all streaming platforms.

 

Follow Richard String on Instagram

 

 

 

When it comes to food, everything circles back. Gavin loves food in all its forms, viewing it as another kind of art. Day to day, he eats intentionally—whole foods, hearty proteins, vegetables, simple meals. Protein shakes, one‑bowl dishes, and a focus on balance over restriction. But when he goes out, flavor always wins. Still, nothing carries the weight of nostalgia quite like pot roast. It’s a complete meal in a single bite—meat, vegetables, nourishment, comfort. He enjoys Thai food, Asian cuisines, and French classics like beef bourguignon and coq au vin, yet pot roast holds a deeper emotional resonance. When his mom cooked less, and the kids were grown, it became the reliable standby—nothing fancy, just warm, filling, and familiar. And for Gavin, it carries its own history: his mom would make pot roast as a rare treat when he and his siblings were young. She was a single mother running her own business, money tight and time even tighter, so whenever she managed to make one, it felt like a small celebration. Everyone gathered, everyone fed, everyone home. Much like Appreciation Skin, pot roast is simple on the surface but layered with memory, meaning, and the quiet comfort of being cared for.

Snack nostalgia hits hard. Gavin has embraced the greatness of Uncrustables, even crafting elevated homemade versions—like a Thai-inspired one with peanut butter, sriracha, apricot, and basil while working on a project for a bar he’s been with for years. He’s also a lifelong Goldfish cracker enthusiast, and when he’s backpacking or hiking, he prefers dried foods, hearty stews, and practical comfort meals that sustain him during long outdoor days. Desserts are selective but meaningful: cheesecake instead of cake, apple fritters with milk, the occasional pint of ice cream, and fond memories of a peanut-butter-and-jelly-inspired layered dessert made by friends in the culinary world. Add Lord of the Rings in the background, and that’s a perfect night.

For this feature, a classic pot roast felt inevitable. I made it with baby gold potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and a beautifully tender cut of beef that just falls apart. Warm, colorful, nourishing, and comforting. When I enjoyed this dish with my family after preparing it for the feature, it became even more special—we paired it with freshly baked bread from an upcoming feature with Dr. Noise, toasted and buttered to soak up every bit of that rich broth. It was the kind of meal that grounds you on a cold day: whole foods, bold flavor, no pretense. Much like Gavin himself, it’s honest, layered, and quietly powerful. Appreciation Skin is available now on all streaming platforms. Check out the recipe below! 

 

 

Classic Pot Roast 

Serves: 4–6

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 3 1/2 to 4 hours 

Ingredients

  • 3–4 lb beef chuck roast
  • Sea salt & ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, thickly sliced
  • 1 16-oz bag of baby carrots
  • 3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
  • 1½–2 lbs mini gold potatoes, whole and washed
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

 

Directions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
  2. Generously season the roast lightly with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sear each side 1–2 minutes, just until lightly golden — no dark crust.
  4. Remove the roast from the Dutch oven and set it aside.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium-low. In the same Dutch oven, add the onions, and cook for about 3 minutes until soft and translucent (not browned). Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
  6. Return the roast to the Dutch oven. 
  7. Pour in beef broth. Add thyme and bay leaf. Cover tightly.
  8. Place the covered pot in the oven. Cook at 300°F for 2½ hours.
  9. Remove the pot from the oven.
  10. Add all the veggies: carrots, celery, and potatoes. Nestle the vegetables around the roast, not underneath. Re-cover the pot.
  11. Return to the oven and cook another 1½ hours. 
  12. Remove the pot roast from the oven and remove the bay leaf.
  13. Let the pot roast rest for 10 minutes before serving—spoon the broth over the meat and vegetables. Serve and enjoy!