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The second night of the tour was Kitchari Kirtan in Cambridge, MA. KK is hosted by Tom Lena, and takes place once a month. It’s usually on Friday nights, but Tom was kind enough to shift to Saturday to accommodate the free night that we had on the tour.

It was immediately clear, just from walking into the room, that we were in a sacred space. The deep vibrations of all of the kirtan that had been sung in the room throughout the years made it feel very much like coming home; a nice feeling when out on the road.

Here’s Marshall with our friend Noah Krohn, a charlottesvillian who relocated to the boston area.

And here’s Ally, our new biggest fan from Cambridge MA. Ally hung out with us all afternoon, gave us all nicknames, and even helped make the Kitchari! The Kitchari was incredible, by the way. Unquestionably the best food we will eat the whole tour.

Special thanks to Tom for opening his home and heart to us. He helped to create one of the best kirtan experiences I’ve ever had, and certainly one of the most memorable stops on the tour.

What an incredible way to kick off the tour! Because of my deep connection to Yogaville in Virginia, playing at the Institute in NYC has been a dream of mine since I started singing Kirtan. Setting up this particular night was the catalyst for booking this tour.

We had a very easy drive into NYC, and found the institute without any trouble at all.

The folks we met were all helpful and kind, and the presence of Gurudev could be felt strongly throughout the rooms and halls of the building. It wasn’t until after we set up all of our gear and did a level check in the Heaven room, where we would be playing, that they told us that room was Gurudev’s apartment in NYC! What a blessing!

This stop was the first one on the tour where I got to meet up face to face with a friend from the ilovefuzz.com forum, a place where you can find me pretty much every day discussing the joys of guitar pedal related joys.

Meet Steev!

Steev was kind enough to film a bit of the beginning of the set with Marshall’s camera:

The first kirtan tour is just around the corner. Right now the house is atwitter with preparations, interspersed with attempts to relax as well. This morning was spent folding all of the laundry in the world, as well as setting aside the bits that would be coming on the road.

I’m putting all of this aside to say:

Whether or not you agree with or support a/the war, let’s all take a minute out of the day to give thanks to those who have given up free time, holidays, sleep, their kids first steps to graduations, and in many cases, their lives. People like them are one of the reasons we are allowed to disagree with war, after all. Pray (or …wish, if prayer isn’t your thing) for their peace, and safe return.

And say another prayer to the families of those brave soldiers, another to those we have lost, and still another to those that have lost someone.

Om shanthi shanthi shanthi

I want to take a second to put a spotlight on my pal, my homie, my BFF Bruce Stocking. Last week I had the honor and pleasure of attending his graduation from firefighters academy.

Here he is on stage getting “pinned” by his wife, Eliza. The pin is a gold bar with a “thin red line” in the very middle. There are lots of interpretations of what the “thing red line” signifies. One says it symbolizes the camaraderie between firefighters. Another is that the red line represents the firefighters, and it acts to separate good from bad, order from chaos.

I like to think that I’ve dedicated my life to serving others, but there are people out there, people like my friend Bruce, who really take service to the next level. They take it upon themselves to go to a person on what is likely the worst day of that person’s life, and put themselves in harms way for that person’s benefit.

I feel really blessed to be able to spend time around such a brilliant example of selflessness and service. Going forward in my life, when someone asks me what I think “service” means, it’s Bruce I’m going to think of. When someone asks what “one-pointed attention” and “meditation” I’m going to think of Bruce walking into a burning building to save innocent people. Bruce, and people like him, are Karma Yogis without a doubt.

Bruce with his mom, Cathy, and wife, Eliza.

Kudos to Bruce on his Graduation.

Om shanthi shanthi shanthi,

Jdavyd

Hi Everybody, I just wanted to write a quick hello and happy new year message. 2009 was a pretty cool year, with the release of my first chant album, Waves, and lots of live kirtan, in and around Charlottesville; as far north as New Lebanon NY, and as far south as Pensacola Florida. Thanks to everyone for all of your support; 2010 will only be a step up for all of us!

Om shanthi,

Jdavyd