Kirtan From the Temple of Light

After the interview Frank said, "I forgot to say how much fun we have!" Making music is joyful, and sharing the experience with others, even more so.

I thought I would add just a bit to the interview by describing the orgin of our group. I began going to Kirtans about 4 years ago. Although a bit familiar, I had no idea of the wide range of Kirtan, the styles, artists, and the communities. My wife Kim and I went to Bhakti fest in Madison the summer of 2013 and that really lit a fire and we went to more local Kirtans. There we met Frank, a gentle, kind soul with a passion for Kirtan. Somehow Kim and Frank talked about playing some Kirtan for fun. I was on board as well as our good friend Dave. None of us (other than Frank) were really musical but we shared the passion for Kirtan. I bought a harmonium and learned what I could with on line lessons, friends, and just experimenting. We went to a couple drum workshops and Dave and Kim bought Jumbais. So we had all the pieces. It was fun getting together but at that time we still thought it was for fun. Then Kim was sharing our new found passion with a yoga instructor we knew long ago and she asked us to play at her Yoga retreat. Nervously 3 of us agreed (It didn't work for Frank then). That was Nov of 2014. But we so enjoyed sharing and creating a sacred space we decided to move that direction. So we practiced about 8 chants and played for the first time as a full group last May in Stillwater. We've tried to play monthly since. We have done home Kirtans, benefit Kirtans, yoga studios, and last year organized and played for a larger New Years festival. We offer any donations to a charity (we take turns) and with my turn last Nov I decided to help Northern Spirit Radio and included a note about adding Kirtan to "Song of the Soul". I did not think it would be our group, but Frank did a great job. Shanti, shanti, shanti.