From Soldier to Sound in Psychedelic Therapy: Rogers Masson

Originally published May 21, 2026.

This Memorial Day (Monday, May 25), we're honoring those who gave their lives for our country, and we're also highlighting a timely and remarkable speaker for our Hollers & Horizons Appalachian Town Hall: Rogers Masson.

Rogers is a US Army veteran who grew up in Cullowhee, NC. He is a successful record producer, having worked with many major and independent labels during his professional career. He is also a Grammy Awards voting member and a member of the Audio Engineering Society. He returned to Western North Carolina in 2019, moving to Asheville (where he continues to work in the music business) and establishing Audrey Sound.

Rogers was Patient 001 in the FDA Trials at the Pearl Institute's Expanded Access MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD program in the spring of 2023. Since then, he has been a vocal proponent of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans and people suffering with PTSD. As a result of his MDMA treatment experiences, Rogers created a unique immersive sound experience for psychedelic-assisted therapy, founding the company PsySonics to help this technology reach researchers, therapists, and patients.

Rogers will share his story, and his talk will also highlight that sound isn’t “background” in psychedelic work, it’s an active clinical variable that can shape safety, depth, and outcomes. We’ll explore how the nervous system responds to auditory input in altered states, why the wrong sound can intensify anxiety, destabilize the session, or derail therapeutic direction, and how common “playlist-first” approaches can unintentionally become distracting, pulling attention into memory, lyrics, preference, or performance rather than supporting inner experience.

We hope you join us to hear from Rogers about his life, work, and how psychedelics connect it all. If you’re finding this after the talk, check out our Town Hall Archives for the free recording.