embodied mysticism and joyful solidarity in music...

Back in 1984 - can you dig that !?! - Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul released their second album: Voice of America. For those not part of the scene, Little Steven was Springsteen's lead guitarist for nearly 15 years. He left the Boss during the Born in the USA sessions to explore his own vibe. The man formerly known as Miami Steve had gone full tilt boogie in the 80's with a killer blue-eyed soul album that was followed up by his world-music pastiche of songs of solidarity. I wore out two cassette copies of Voice of America, drove some friends crazy playing the vinyl version of Men Without Women and could never get enough of his 1985 compilation Sun City: Artists Against Apartheid. I still own - and regularly play - CD versions of each of these gems.

One song that continues to feed my heart is: "Solidarity." It has been wafting through my consciousness for the past week. 
We played a summer concert in Sharon, CT recently that was artistically very satisfying. It was also an important validation about the value of doing what we do: creating a safe space for different kinds of people to come together and enjoy being together. 

We do challenging songs - it ain't just a Jimmy Buffet concert - with existential questions of meaning in our music as well as some in your face songs about new spirituality as well as the consequences of our religious bigotry. We also do some sweet, soul music, too with a few shake your booty tunes. Like Little Steven put it: "Everybody wants the same things don't we, everybody wants a happy end... everybody wants to be forgiven and find shelter from the storm: look at me I'm not your enemy, why can't we walk on solid ground, we don't need to be fighting each other, what we need, what we need is: SOLIDARITY."

In times like our own, being real asks us to call out the evil, embody joy and solidarity and find safe ways to bring different people together again.