Notes From the Road

Here is Guru Tara Kaur and I. Her name means beautiful star of the Guru. She truly is that. We had a great time together in Virginia Beach where we stayed at her house.

Sat Nam everyone!

Since my last blog entry we had a concert in Winston Salem, a concert and a workshop in Asheville North Carolina, and two concerts in Atlanta Georgia. I found out a couple of things about Winston Salem… that this is where the headquarters is for the cigarette company named after the town, and it is where Oprah Winfrey has one of her homes. We stayed at a Best Western right there in down town and it was beautiful to see the city lights, and much quieter than most cities I’ve ever been too. Unfortunately I made the mistake of telling the hostess at the front desk of the hotel that we would be doing our vocal exercises in the morning and would appreciate relatively isolated rooms as to not disturb any of the other guests. She sent us to an isolated building… where the heat didn’t work. Hence my beautiful cold took birth. That night I slept with my coat on… brrrrrrhhhhh. I had been doing so good. Oh well… sometimes things just happen like that. I have to say that we had an absolutely lovely concert in Winston Salem. It was in an antique gallery which was a renovated warehouse of some type. There was beautiful artwork all over the place and a great Christmas tree. I was envisioning Oprah Winfrey walking into the hall… that would have been cool. Hey if it ever happens I’ll let you know. The best part of the whole evening was that our hosts are from the Hare Krishna tradition, so they served prashaadam, or sacred food to everyone who came to the concert! That has never happened before. It was some of the best food I’ve ever had… real comfort food. I would like to give a big thank you to Arci and Dulal Chandra for hosting us so beautifully. Many people came to our concert who had never seen us before and it was an amazing evening.

Anyway, we made our way to Asheville. Folks… that town is up in the mountains. Holy moly, it’s snowed….wind… ice… the works. Growing up in the West Coast I was not prepared. The next time I visit Asheville in December, you can bet I’ll have long johns on even before we arrive. That’s when my cold got real comfortable and took up residence in my throat. We found ourselves in another Best Western… this time the heat worked. So I bundled up and drank tea and did every thing I could to get better. We had an absolutely beautiful concert. People really chant up there in Asheville. I’m very grateful to Namaste Yoga for hosting us.

By the time we made it to Atlanta I did one concert at the Kashi Ashram… and that was it. I sounded like a frog. We considered all sorts of options like having GuruGanesha sing for me while I lip synced. Just kidding… We thought about canceling the concert… but that didn’t sit too well with anyone. Finally we decided that GuruGanesha should take the lead and take the jatha (band) with him. GuruGanesha went to a local Gurdwara and did an arousing version of Dhan Dhan Ram Das Guru and the Mul Mantra. I heard people really enjoyed it. For the concert that evening everyone who came to the concert was told that I wasn’t going to make it… that they could have their money back if they wanted it…. Or they could stay for the whole thing and get 50% off at the end if they wanted it. Well… everyone stayed and they had a great concert. I knew that GuruGanesha and the band would have no problem delivering a beautiful evening. I couldn’t really go to sleep because all I was thinking about was the concert. It was really odd being home. So, I stayed up until they came back. When GuruGanesha walked through the front door I knew by the look on his face that it had been a great evening.

Anyway…how about a moral to this story? God is everywhere, in charge of everything… and the music goes on…especially when it is dedicated to peace.

Peace Ya’all. (That’s what they say down here in the south).

PS. I'll be at Winter Solstice soon. I'm really looking forward to seeing my sweet husband. He's coming for our concert in Altamonte Springs and we are doing Winter Solstice together. Winter Solstice is a gathering sponsored by 3HO that takes place outside of Orlando Florida with three days of White Tantric Yoga, two days of amazing yoga and meditation classes, morning meditation, evening music at the Yogi Tea Cafe... lots of fun. If you are interested in learning more visit: www.3HO.org. Safe travels to everyone going to Winter Solstice and to the many other places of travel during this holiday season.