Planetary Gig Talk

Billy Presnell started playing music when he was really young, about five years old. Piano was his first instrument, and he got a guitar when he was eight. Billy says, “Music has always been a part of my life,” and he was still learning to talk practically when he first started. He has played many different styles and instruments, though he says, “when I read The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten, it changed the way I approached accompanying people; kinda changed my priorities in making the entire musical piece the goal, as opposed to me playing well with somebody.” He also began attending and volunteering at Wooten Woods music camps, and made so many connections. He learned that being a good person leads to good musicianship, and that will change your life in a positive way. He understood that he didn’t have to impress people, but that it is more about serving the music. Billy says that, when you play, if you put the intention of healing and providing positivity and peace into your music, it can change the world. He hopes after the pandemic that people will really going back to seeing live music.

Julie Rust grew up in a house where there was a lot of music; her father played trumpet and her mother was a big band singer, and Julie grew up with a piano in her room! She realized that she wanted to play piano at age seven, and was writing songs by the time she was sixteen, majored in Music at college, and ended up playing coffee houses all over the country. She says that she writes songs by listening to her heart; her music is like a thread of love that flows through her and helps her stay connected. She says music healed her and taught her that she is love, and she hopes her music can help other people realize the same thing. She also says that even if a musician is just playing at home, even that music makes a difference and is changing the world. Julie says things really started happening for her when she stopped trying to force her career. She started doing what she calls Sacred Space Experiences with particular songs and meanings for individuals in a room. Now she also creates virtual Messages from the Light for individuals., and recently Audible Insights on various and random topics. Please check out https://www.julierust.com

Vivienne Aerts grew up in The Netherlands, and started piano at age 5, and by age 12 was the choir conductor. After performing all over, she got a scholarship from Berklee College of Music, majored in voice and the global jazz program. While there, she met Kenny Werner, author of the book Effortless Mastery. Since then, she has performed often with Kenny and administers the Effortless Mastery Institute at Berklee. She says that, as Kenny writes in the book, to become a master musician, playing needs to become effortless, where the music plays itself "from the space." She says one can train their mind to play from that space, from the now, which is similar to mindfulness, where you watch yourself play. "It is really a cognitive exercise in letting go," she says. The western world has forgotten wthat we can practice effortlessness. She feels there is a community building around Kenny's concepts of effortless mastery. More about Vivienne is at www.vivienneaerts.com.

Qiaoli Wang remembered the old Buddhist music from growing up in China, but then she had to opportunity to help preserve the music for posterity, and she did it. She listened to the call to make a movie about the monks in an ancient monastery who still played music that was over 1,000 years old. She says, "The music itself refused that I make it short." There had been no audio or video of this old music, and she said the process of making the film was like a pilgrimage. The monks saw their beauty in the music. Qiaoli says, "The essence of music actually is to make people appreciate their own existence." The film opened prior to the pandemic, but will continue in theaters hopefully soon.

Peter de Koning from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is a drummer and also the creator of Live Earth 2020, which will happen on August 29-30, 2020. Peter was only 6 years old when he started tapping on everything and was 8 when he got a drum kit. His sisters were in the marching band and it inspired him, so he joined marching bands and then the drum and bugle corps and it became his passion. He says, when he is not able to play for a while, he can really feel it; he needs to play and move with music and there are moments of flow with the marching band that are so great. His new project, Live Earth 2020, came about when he was doing sustainability work in Montenegro and decided to ride a bike back home to Amsterdam with his drum kit trailing behind the bike, as he rode through Croatia, Bosnia, Italy, and Austria. “The purpose of it,” he says, “was to give some concerts at beautiful locations for the earth.” He would get his drum kit out at a place that he felt was good and play to honor the earth and things that had happened at those places. Then, he came up with the idea of Live Earth 2020; “Why not organize … a concert for earth to pay tribute to the earth?” He says that Victor Wooten talks about the intention of playing music and Peter believes that playing for Mother Earth with the intention of honoring her and showing gratitude will be very beneficial. The goal is to gather 1,000 musicians and indigenous peoples from around the plant to perform and conduct ceremonies almost at the same time. He hopes artists will find nice places in nature, or wherever feels good, to give a concert, or dance, or make some art to pay tribute to Earth with that intention. It is free to sign up and participate at the website www.liveearthconcert.org. Peter says that he feels music and dance are the closest spiritual connections we can have. He sees in the future also addressing reconciliation with the earth for all of the awful things that humans have done and to focus on the good after the pandemic. He believes it is important to pay attention to the artists and the freedom thinkers to achieve a better world.

Anni Beach grew up in a musical family; her mother was a harpist, her sisters were musicians, as was her husband. She took piano lessons as a child, but the mandolin really grabbed her at age 50. She would take her mandolin to class as a substitute teacher, and one day a couple young boys came to her house and asked her to play some more music. That was the start of the Jam Pak Blues 'n' Grass Neighborhood Band, which has been playing, learning music, and performing from Anni's home as a base. Her goal, and that of the some 25 or more kids in the band for the last 25 years, has been to bring joy and make themselves and others happy through music! One important key is that they all have a common purpose to be happy and help other people be happy, and learn music and songs and be together. Also, she says, "There are no stars, everybody is on an equal footing; ... we help each other." She also encourages others to start music communities, however big or small; "Don't worry about it; just start," she says! "If you have your music and you can be happy, what a joy!" Anni emphasizes that we all need a purpose, and that even right now, in the pandemic, we have great virtual platforms to really talk with people, to keep learning and doing. She says, the more we try to create musical communities, share resources, learn from and help one another, the better we will do. "I believe our lives are going to change for the better," she says.

Dr. Pramod Kumar is the Founder of the Devi Music Ashram in Rishikesh India. Dr. Kumar is a philosopher, but his focus is not on metaphysical matters but on solving practical problems. He does not play music, but loves music. Dr. Kumar says music is the highest form of harmony of sound, which is very powerful. Harmony in music brings peace to the mind. Dr. Kumar’s children were very good musicians growing up, and he supported them and gave them the space to learn music; many in India do not encourage their children to play music because of the economics. He later wanted a place where all aspects of humans can grow, from the musical to the practical to the spiritual. Dr. Kumar says that music can solve many problems of man. Indian classical music in particular can uplift consciousness. He wanted a place where people from all over the world could come to learn music, art, yoga, etc. and the Devi Music Ashram provides an environment for them to do that while spreading love, music, and service. He believes we can combine the best parts of the West with the best parts of the East.

Biko Casini is the percussionist with my favorite music group, Rising Appalachia. Biko turned me on to The Music Lesson book by Victor Wooten and that changed my life and led to the founding of the Planetary Gigs Society. Biko is a profound player and spiritual thinker. Biko grew up in an intentional community outside Nashville, where he lives now, and he says it gives him the space to dream about what is possible when humans come together, sharing responsibility of stewarding the land. Biko’s father played guitar – all the time, many different songs, from many different countries and in many languages, like a troubadour. When Biko was 15, his brother carved him drumsticks and that started his lifelong craft as a drummer and percussionist. Through several interactions and his travels, he realized that for him music was a way to be of service rather than strive simply for personal success, and his quest has been to find a place or situation where music could be a key to unlocking healing energy. He has found that with Rising Appalachia, which is like a spiritual community because they are all working on similar goals. So many musicians have been funneled and co-opted by the music industry to serve the profit motive. Rising Appalachia focuses on the experience and the wild magic of music. “Music has given me more than anything else in my life, but it has also taken more than anything else,” he says. Biko is focused on an intention to create cultural and ecological learning and rejuvenation centers, with music being a huge part of that. He says concerts and festivals can provide energy for restoring ecology. Arts and creativity, he says, should feed the ecological restoration of the world and cultural renewal, which is the great work of our time. Biko says we all carry cultural trauma and music’s job is to connect us to what’s real inside of ourselves and then to help us be able to restore the external ecology. This also seems to me to be very much consistent with the music and message of Rising Appalachia, led by sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, and they have all meant so much to so many people.

I met Neeti Kumar at the Devi Music Ashram in Rishikesh, India. She teaches classical Indian singing and dance at the ashram. I have been so enamored by the concept of music ashrams; there should be millions of them! I posted some short videos of performances at the ashram, including a couple of Neeti singing. Neeti’s family has been coming to Rishikesh for most of their lives. Neeti and her sisters were always singing when they were little. Their father had a music teacher come to their home. About eight or nine years ago, they decided to start a music ashram to celebrate music, to create a nice atmosphere to develop oneself through music, art, and culture. Neeti says that humans have many different aspects – ethical, spiritual, biological, rational, etc. – and the Devi Music Ashram allows people the freedom, space, and opportunity to develop all these aspects through music. The Devi Music Ashram is different than most ashrams, which have a guru or teacher who sets the rules and the way of thinking. But there is no guru at the Devi Music Ashram. There are many teachers at the ashram, such as yoga, singing, sitar, meditation, dance, etc., but the gurus are music and nature. She says Indian music is like an ocean, every day there is a news opportunity to be better and have more understanding. She says it is very important for humans to have music in their lives, because music heals in so many ways. She also thinks it would be wonderful for there to be more music ashrams; people need that very much, she says.

Sandro Shankara is a very spiritual musician from Brazil, who leads musicians, pilgrims, and seekers on tours to sacred places like the Amazon, the mountains of Peru, and India. I met Sandro in Rishikesh at the Devi Music Ashram. We really connected and I was able to interview him on zoom. When Sandro was 17, he found Indian music, having played classical guitar before that. He plays many instruments, including guitar, ukulele, and table, sitar, and harmonium. Since a very young age, he has prepared himself through music to bring people peace. His mission is to unite the scientific knowledge of healing with mantras, and to connect more and more people with their inner being. He says it is important to drop the individual me, the ego, and join the global harmony. With so many modern distractions, “the most powerful tool to connect us to a space of calm and inner peace is music.” Sandro believes a new moment has arrived and together we will create a better world. Follow him on Instagram, where he posts about his trips and music. Also, he has four CDs on Spotify.