Truly Incredible! Incredible Records, Sebastopol California

Jonathon Lipsin over at Incredible on Main Street in Sebastopol won Outlaw Dervish over by inviting , in his words, the 'Didjeridu Dervish' to throw down at a mid-week show featuring local bluegrass musicos and the Indie Film-maker who is producing a Doc about Jonathon's illustrious life and times. Travis W laid out a couple Solo Didj tunes and even sat in with the band on his first ever bluegrass accompaniment. The crowd loved it and the film is due to screen in various theaters throughout North America sometime this year...
more deets to follow in future posts...
Keep it Wild People, Outlaw D

Outlaw Dervish Solo Didjeridu Invocation at Ecstatic Dance Marin and Oakland

Outlaw Dervish will be making two appearances offering Didjeridu Invocations.

The first will be at the Ecstatic Dance, Marin on Friday 11-2--09, and then also on Sunday 11-22-09 at Sweet's Ballroom in Oakland.

http://www.ecstaticdance.org/links/

Didgeridoo Radio - "DidgHeadRadio.com"

For total didgheads, this is the first web-based radio station to have picked up the Outlaw Dervish vibe. This is also the home of Gerry Priddle - aka CyberDidg - who hosts and co-ordinates a brracing, feverish and wonderful Didgeridoo Festival each Summer in the UK - last year's was held in the Isle of Wight and was apparently a monumental blow-out of epic proportions.

Gerry's support for the Outlaw Dervish album and project has been phenomenal, and he called the CD "... the best we have received (at the station) in a ver very long time!" Gerry was gracious and chuffed enough to do a full program featuring selected songs and he states thatthe program attracted almost the entire bandwidth of listeners for the station - in the neighborhood of 9,000 listeners!

If you dig a variety of excellent Didg Music , DHR is the place to be :

http://www.didgheadradio.co.uk/

Outlaw Dervish on UnderWorldMixRadio.com

This is a very sweet Web Radio Station featuring a wide variety of Indie and Signed artists from around the globe:

http://underworldmixradio.com/hstart/media_q/playlistO.html

Outlaw Dervish was recently added here, look for "All Over" and please click on the "request" button to express your undying fanhood and love of the tunes! Best, OD

Outlaw Dervish College Radio, Relix and Bonnaroo News

The Outlaw Dervish Clan are pleased to be receiving regular rotation on College Radio across the United States after a regional radio campaign early this Summer.
Station locations include KSUN in San Francisco, CA , KLFI in Prescott, AZ, 3WK in St. Louis, MO, KUST in St. Paul, MN and Radio UTD in Richardson, TX, KSCR in Los Angeles, CA and KWAR in Waverly, IA, KWCW in Walla Walla, WA and KRUA in Anchorage, AK. and KXCI in Tucson, AZ.
We also saw an "On the Rise" advert in the July issue of Relix, as well as a spot on the compilation CD included in that edition, as well as a half page advertisement in the 'Bonnaroo Beacon' on pg 11.
As the Summer slinks by Travis W. has been doing some solo Didjeridu sets from Oakland CA to Sebastopol in NorCal and the band is set to play at the Lake of the Sky Festival on August 1st in Lake Tahoe, CA. We are also adding local dates in late August and early Fall in the Bay Area.

Harmonia... Ambiotica, the Orb, Cool Times

Outlaw D served it up special this year at Harmony Fest, making a smooth transit from the previous two years playing at the Goddess Grove to this year's Friday night appearance at the Ambiotica Lounge. The space was remarkably decorated with a gigantic winding one-eyed pollup-serpent and dreamy reliefs hung on the walls with scenes of the Egyptian desert and gorgeous sun-scapes.

We threw down just after Midnight and rumor had it that Alex Patterson from the Orb had floated through during DJ Feral's set. The room was lively and full and the band's set included a kick off sporting a new dub track we have been playing over the past 6 months, called "the Right Kind of Trouble". From there we launched into a host of grooves , "Loopophonic" with its' psychonautical swells and into our soon to be signature Sintir Jam - as yet untitled, and on through to a scorching new Drum and Bass flavored tune also featuiring Sintir. We had a great night and provided proper atmosphere for a flesh-trembling first night at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds.

The weekend roasted on with the highly anticipated Saturday night activities, on the OD agenda was the Techno Tribal mash-down with headliners the Orb. The altar at the back was beautifully constructed and found T-Dawg and Miss Storm hanging there, connecting with old friends, until Alex P came on and drew out the Ultraworld Advents, manning a Time Machine which spun us out in fabulous circles during what I can only call a roots electronica feast.

Next day, wandering and more dancing to Shabaz at the main stage and in the evening a brief and fortunate visit with Alex P himself, during which wewere able to give the man props for an amazing and highly fulfilled set the night before, and during which stories were shared relating to the Muppet Show theme song, and various tid-bits of Orbery from over the years. Alex was in a mood to offer such treats and so we kicked back and listened to tales of various recording and sound journeys which have found their way into the mix over time. One such story recounted how Jaz Coleman, the front man for another of my musical favorites from a ways back ,"Killing Joke" , snuck into the pyramids in Egypt early in the morning to catch the vibe and do a bit of renegade recording there at the break of dawn one day, some years ago. I couldn't have hoped for a more pleasurable and satisfying chat with one of my primary musical heroes and influences and I continue to be extremely delighted by what I can only call a fated engagement. As we parted , Alex offered what I would call his Blessing, in the form of a bit of advice about where to place ones perspective in life and in the music biz, in general.

All in all, the report from OD HQ is that this was, for several reasons the best year yet at Harmony. The band sounded great, with guest trap-man Travis Porter De Leon and Carlos Mario Agurie on Congas. At the time of this writing, we are reconnoitering for our next incarnation and headed well in to the Summer, getting behind the Mule and working at creating our next show. Feels great to have the inspiration of a remarkable start to the Season!

Many Thanks to AnonEvents, the Orb, and Harmony Fest as well as the Beautiful People who came out to play with Us! All Blessings!!!

Travis W and the OD Crew

Times of Trouble

Been feeling lots of earthquakes lately - literal and figurative. Twice over the last two weeks I began to feel the now familiar wobble of ~4.0 quakes while at my computer here in the OD HQ. It starts as a feeling that I am nervously vibrating from side to side, or even as if my heart is fluttering in my chest. I live in the top of an old Victorian in the East Bay, so the effect may be heightened up here in the attic apartment.

Last night at the Whole Foods in Berkeley, I fortuitously ran into one of my long-time best friends and we hung out and chatted and shopped together, and it was great, 'cos we haven't seen each other for some time. When we got to the check-stand the chaps doing the ringing up and the bagging were in a heated discussion about the economy... one of them was clearly leading the discussion, painting a pretty apocalyptic picture of the banks collapsing, people making a run, etc... I admit , I caught the fear for a moment - or several - and then I stepped back into my center and asked myself what do I really think about the idea that it's all going down in flames?

Things are being shaken up right now - big-time - that's not news to anyone. We continue through a muddle of what Michael Meade, author, poet and mythologist calls 'the Slow Apocalypse' and some are given to predictng the final dramatic moments of a scampering William Burroughs'esque nightmare in which the Great Depression is relived through 21st century lens. I am grateful to say that I have been enjoying Meade's book, "The World Behind the World, Living at the Ends of Time" - and heartily so, especially given the cultural air of the world at large at this time, whcih is so adroitly called into focus in this en/couraging book. He addresses our mass cultural heritage of life in the "Chaosmos" and skillfully, artfully weaves a thread through a host of stories and symbollic perspectives on life as we now find it. One of the most heartening aspects for me is the way it is suggested that if we can bend down to take care of the small and almost hidden aspects of life as we find it now, we may just be able to turn the whole thing around, and in so doing, participate in an ageless cycle of destruction-creation-redemption. Folks have been talking about the End in one form or another from the Beginning, as Michael points out, and now is a time in human history that is - in this sense- no different. With this mighty form of inspiration, I am looking for the creative redemptions, in my own life, in the everyday, in the music, in my friendships, in my food, in the fortunate Spring rains, in my nightly dreams... in my communities' shared creativity.

Creation has always depended on letting the old thing regenerate. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes, another great Storyteller, reminds us, along with Meade - existence is perched upon a well-worn and time-honored tradition of a Life-Death-Life cycle. Individuals, great cultures, huge cities and civilizations that have come before us have collapsed in the past and been reborn in exciting, perhaps challenging and also painful new ways. Who knows what exactly is going to happen? I certainly don't, however, I know that I choose to value humanity and this great world of living creatures and beings, great places and elements over the fears and anxieties that seem to be running amok right now - and I beseech others to do the same.

Everything that has come before was created by us... if it now fails and falls away, we have only to recreate a new form, based on the timeless and deep knowing which resides within us and which travels across seemingly unfathomable timescapes and places from the past. May we recall this together, and find some kindness for ourselves and all living beings - the grass, the rocks, the soil, the waters, and more, as we do so.

The Re-Incarnation of Jim Morrison?

In recent weeks, Outlaw Dervish has played some really inspiring shows - inspiring for the delivery and reception of the music and also, inter-dependently - the involvement of the Promoters and the Audience, as well as the other Artists at our shows.

In March, I was truly proud and gracious to share the bill with some of my favorite musicians and djs - Dragonfly, J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science and Janaka Selekta at the Groove Garden's 9th Anniversary Party. Outlaw D got chilly with it in the plush pillow-zone of Planet Fairfax and so many friends came from near and far to support us and dwell beneath the parachute canopies for an eve of blissed out Chillaxin'. We rolled through a set of Downtempo and Dub tunes and the folks lapped it up. Two weeks later we brought our show to Sear Phi in SF and really enjoyed the space there, as well as being able to dial in a formidable live recording on the good old Zoom Hand-held. These folks are creating something very cool and very special... can't wait to see it continue to take shape.

At Sera Phi , I met a man (R) who , it became clear, held the opinion that I might be the re-incarnated form of Jim Morrison. He and I were talking on the street, and in addition to his campaigning with me during the show for some concept photos (where are they!?), he beguiled me with his feeling that I reminded him of Morrison - and insisted that the band are going to be world famous as of this date next year! Everyone ready for that?! People do often comment that they perceive shades of the Doors in our music, and this seems to be a way for folks to digest what I do with the Spoken Word element. What's an urban mystic to do? Admittedly, it's also a bit un-nerving to talk with someone who feels adamantly that I am not only myself, but also the essence and personality of a dead Rock Star! This man's appreciation is and was inspiring and encouraging, all told.

At the same time that it can be quite flattering to receive a comment like this, it is also difficult to know where it is coming from. I am very much of the mind that we are all creators and that the future of Live Performance will be shaped by this understanding. I was seeking to impart this notion to my new biggest fan, and we apparently had a bit of a language barrier. Also, let's face it, how could I not fall prey to wanting to soak up the adoration that comes with being compared to Jim Morrison... after all, I have made many deals over time with my ego - not the least of which being that it gets it's opportunity to shine, as long as it allows me to take care of business, as it were, as regards allowing the more universal aspects of my character to also have their expression. Part of how this got started was the notion that going out and playing shows is like a hedonistic and luxuriant breeze for us musician-types... as R said, "Just show up , plug in some chords and play!" I wish that was all that it entailed, sometimes! In fact, and it is ultimately my pleasure to do so, I spend ~40-50 hours a week on average promoting my music and setting up shows, managing the band, etc... Thanks be to Heaven that I am able to do so!

Whether I remind people of Jim Morrison or not, there's bit more to making the music viable than plugging in some chords and playing folks... just trust me on that!

On that note: upon review by the full band, we'll be looking at offering some free downloads soon, from shows and perhaps also from 'the vaults'...
remixes are on the table for review from the Outlaw Dervish album itself.

Still Breakin on Through to the Other Side, wearing my Cobra Skin neck-tie! OD

Stephen Kent and KPFA Radio, Music of the World, SOMA FM Groove Salad...

There are very few musicians I have followed for several years, and even fewer whose releases I have collected as expansively as I have Stephen Kent's. Stephen is based here in my neck of the woods and does a weekly radio program on KPFA FM, "Music of the World". His Live presence is consistently gratifying and entertaining, whether he plays with a group or does solo material and I would say I have heard him play out something like ~ 7 times over the past eight years. His recordings are diverse and also range from solo didjeridu to group projects and all that I have heard are high quality productions. Kent is definitely one of my heroes for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that he truly holds himself in a delightful and down to earth way, despite his 'certifiable' mastery of the didjeridu.

When I started recording in earnest myself, and came out with the Outlaw Dervish disc, which was so deeply influenced by another of my musical heroes and the Co-Producer/Engineer, Ben Leinbach, I began approaching Stephen for some airply on KPFA. Getting radio play is no small trick for a new independent muso, and having launched into seeking this in various places for my music over the past two years, I can honerstly say that it requires diligence and verve.

So it was with great joy in my heart and big gratitude for my own creative journey as well as Ben's contributions to the Outlaw D disc that Stephen graced us with a rotation on Christmas Day 2008. Not only did he play "We Need Each Other", he also shared with me via e-mail that he has been listening to the album a lot at home and that he was surprised that he liked it! I asked him about that and he said that it takes a lot for him to get 'wowed' by didjeridu music - which makes total sense as he can truly rip with a depth and sweetness on this instrument (and many others!), as anybody who has listened to him play will attest. It has felt amazing to make this music, as it has to receive the praise and delight of some of my musical heroes. I do make the music for myself, in a very real sense, but to see and feel the ripples go out and carry others on them, well... that's also a great feeling, and that probably goes wothout saying.

Stephen has said he will play more of the tracks on the radio, so , I am looking forward to that with excitement and wonder and say a great big THANK YOU to Stephen for an awesome X-Mas gift in 2008...

As far as I can tell , per my tracking of the Outlaw Dervish tentacular reach, we are currently also enjoying rotation on the all Didjeridu station - DidgHeadRadio, out of the UK as well as on Groove Salad, SOMA FM - who have been consistently spinning "Shaken" for the last several months - two more awesome gifts by stations and creators whom I have come to regard highly on the basis of their mannerisms in dealing with me, as well as their commitment to great music.

In 2009 the aim is for some video activity with a soon to be released film for the ~ 5 minute tune, "We Need Each Other" which was shot and Produced by Daniel Watts, and for the Live Show to come fully into realization... Both are fully under way at the moment.

Looking forward to joining you 'in the mix'... Outlaw Dervish

Phat Tuesday Report

My long-destined collab with Mista Killa Watts at Senor Bello's Compound in SF finally came to fruition last week. Despite San Francisco's distance from New Orleans and the potential gap in understanding and celebrating Mardi Gras... 'twas a Phat Tuesday...

Outlaw Dervish sounded great (as widely confirmed by Senor bello and others!)

... we especially blew the lid off of Tuesday night with "We Need Each Other" which lofted powerfully out of our second set. Killa dropped Dabloons from the ship's upper deck as a band of East Bay Super Women arrived and got the dancing started proper. Miss Mardi Storm, Laurie Mimosa, Amy Seidman and others held down the Captain's quarters , taking to the main deck for time to time to assure the passengers of our course and the weather held forth, right up until the moment somebody could be heard to shout, "Land Ho" from the leeward bough.

The band swayed in and out of written material and improvised sounds and made love to the airwaves and trusting Tuesday night party-goers in the newly opened 'warehouse-a-torium'. During the set, Daniel filmed the band and we will be looking that over real soon to see what actually happened, according to the camera... and will be adding the footage to the potential screening material for our up-coming Film and Music Series which we are planning as a new Under-Ground Indie Monthly.

This was Travis Porter de Leon's final show, on an official level anyways, with O.D. and the Samurais of Sound. He is moving on to his own projects , including Band of Mystics. Jason Parmar, of multitudinous acclaimed projects, including, most recently Eliyahu & Qadim , Liquid Gardens and Tina Malia, will be joining our Live line-up beginning with March 7th's Groove Garden show in Fairfax. We are excited about the shift in gears and also had an ace time acknowledging 'Drummer Travis' and his contribution and we are clear that we will want to collaborate somehow in the future. In fact, we closed Senor Bello's after Justine Till arrived and we sat talking and sharing until 4am - past Daniel Killa Watts bed-time to be sure, and slowly wandered out into the early morning, one more great night under our belts and looking forward to the next voyage... deep in the kind of closeness that comes from making music together, sharing what we love and loving what we share

See You Soon, O.D and the Samurais of Sound!!!

Putting the Recess back in Recession...

For the most part, I am not plugged in - at all - to what the media and others are saying about the economic crisis right now. I know that lots of folks are struggling, and that it's not an easy time, by any measure, in the world. I have taken some hits and business is slow, however, I am seeking to put this experience in its proper perspective.

I have been living independently from the 'mainstream' for the last 15 years, after I came to the well-studied and supported conclusion that newspapers and magazines, in addition to TV shows and News , at least in the U.S. , are largely prey to their advertising and sales interests and that fear, terror and scandal are "good sellers". Instead of feeling the need to follow such outlets, what I have done is made a strong effort to pay attention to my surroundings and participate in the reality which I myself can verify with my own critical thinking and powers of perception. I also tend to listen to others I know who appear to be coping well with the life they are creating and do indulge in the alternative press and pay attention to local news some when traveling.

I have faith that this is truly more helpful for a variety of reasons. I have lived through many economic and political climates to date and have found, overall, that when money is tight - the more immediate and palpable values of life become central to human experience. What I mean is that I have had some really great times at highly creative events, listening to music, running through fields, laughing, crying and exploring with others, sharing thoughts, simple foods and drinks - all during moments that the cultural barometer was telling us to be cautious, withdrawn and afraid, even depressed.

When I moved to the Bay Area, in fact, there was a Recession on - not as severe or wide-ranging as the one presently in our faces, mind you. Nonetheless, prior to the rise of the Internet and 'dotcom' culture, SF was quite full of crazy and cool creators (and still is to be sure). At that time - the mid-Nineties, we were aware of the social climate, however, our response was to wildly, courageously and joyously create, despite the factors that we could locate, that were unpleasant or challenging to our existence and that of others around the planet. In my opinion, Burning Man and the Rave culture concomitantly arose out of that spirit of creativity and desire for there to be a way to shape our own existence with our own hands and hearts.

I remember gathering in downtown SF early one day with a group of dancers and artists and political activists for an annual event known as "the Mud People". Somebody went and got several buckets of soft mud and brought it back from the country/desert and made sure it was still wet and we took off all our clothes and smeared the mud all over our bodies. The only 'rule' of this gathering was that we were not to speak any languages we knew. Rather, we were meant to speak or gesture in ways that were totally made up and creatively bent, or suggestive of a primal nature in us.

And so we did. It was a raucously good time, let me tell you! Prior to that I hadn't done anything of the kind. We 'muddied up' and most of us - women and men - were completely naked, in downtown San Francisco, on a weekday, at lunch-time, covered in wet earth. How'd we get away with that? We just did. And, as far as I know, that day not a one of us was arrested or ticketed. We did a journey around the city blocks engaging with people and objects as if we had been transported from a distant past into the middle of this strange and bewildering place - a modern city. The reactions and responses were priceless and still fuel my creativity to this day. We crawled up on statues, went into StarBucks, came out again, and went and hung out with various business-people in the large stone bleachers in the Embarcadero and some laughed, some pretended that we weren't there, others quickly walked away, but most seemed to enjoy themselves and our lively experiment. Complete enjoyment was had by myself, I can say, and could tell also that my mates also had a fantastic time. I would guess there were about 20 of us.

I think I am recalling this now , partly, as it stands out as something we did as a sheerly creative act , during a time of political upheaval and economic stress. That group of people who went out and did this crazy thing together were all scrambling back then to make a living - and some still are today, but, somehow we still - often - had a really great time and truly enjoyed ourselves. Stories are good, you know, because they can remind us of who we are - tise moment and all those that have come before .

Recently I pulled one of my favorite books from the shelf ,
"The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Alan Watts. A pertinent passage just leapt out at me:

"It must be obvious, from the start, that there is a contradiction
in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature
is momentariness and fluidity."

Who knows where we are going or what will happen? How about we start by being where we are, and create together here, the kind of experience we want to have as much as we are able... and see where that takes us? Our biggest resources are ourselves and the planet - we need all that we have and we have all that we need. It's truly a matter of how we go about living now, isn't it? I , myself, am opening more deeply to being here, and will joyously and devotedly bring the music and the creativity in - amidst the grief and pain of loss, as much as myself and my co-creators are capable, 'just because' - it's what we love to do... and in some sense we know that we "must".

The support is here, in so many ways... Thank You! O.D. and the Samurais of Sound

The Meanng of Yo! YO?

"Yo" is a word that first came into my life as a child, and was 1/2 the title of one of my favorite toys, the metaphysical and joyous cousin of the 'Hula Hoop' - the indomitable "Yo-Yo". When MTV started to pick up Rap Artists in the late 80's , early 90's...
I heard it again "!Yo! MTV Raps!"

In connection with Hip Hop and that culture, as a certifiable white-boy , my only reference for the meaning of the vernaculars of that scene was via extrapolation (not exploitation! Yo!) -
I listened very closely to Run D.M.C. , Public Enemy, Ice T, Tribe Called Quest, Ice Cube, House of Pain, the Beastie Boys and KRS One and felt I obtained a pretty good handle on the lingo inherent in the music - "Yo" was like, "Hey, listen up!" and somehow much more as well...
Hip Hop and Rap came and went in the larger culture, as do many sub and pop cultures -
with an almost predictable ebb and flow. Clearly the music and the culture have carried on in pockets and there have been many youth movements and cultures that have amazingly tended the fires of this potent musical form (which is now gaining in popularity again).

For my own involvement, I became very interested in the self-empowerment aspects of Hip Hop when my first band "Exit"collapsed under the weight of youthful innocence and lack of certain skills (that's a whole story of its own, Yo!). In my early 20's I transited from Goth, Alternative Rock and New Wave / Punk into Rap and Hip Hop. I moved from there to Underground Dance Music and stuff like 'the Disposable Heroes of Hip Hoprisy' aided in that organic transform of tastes and experience.

From time to time, over the years , I have come across great music - the Stereo MCs - for example , who have carried on and cross-bred Dance Music and MCing along with the core of Hip Hop styles and their predecessors. Last year I was in Australia doing a Solo Busking Tour of the East Coast all the way from Sydney in the South on up to Darwin and the Gove Peninsula, Nhulunbuy and Arnhem Land in the North and I had a very odd experience with "Yo!" there.

I was statying in Aboriginal Country, where one either needs a permit or a clear invite from the Indigenous caretakers of that place in order to be able to stay, visit or roam. I was introduced to the Gurruwiwi Clan by a fellow named Randin Graves via my Didjeridu teacher Alan Tower. My introduction was fairly rushed for various reasons, and basically I was dropped in the laps of a community of people I knew very little about and who seemed to speak their own tongue much better and more often than English - and appropriately so. However, I knew nothing of their language.

One of the first things I noticed was that they were saying "Yo!" alot. In trying to make sense of this experience, my first thought was that "Yo" had somehow made it's way into Aboriginal culture from Hip Hop. After all, these people are "black" and "marginalized" and couldn't they have picked up that part of global culture and incorporated it into their own?! Maybe "Yo!" had a sort of magical power that manifested in the genetic memory of related groups of people around the world and perhaps it sort of grew out of some deep language meme in the DNA? As time passed and my ability and impetus to ask questions grew (I found myself responding to certain comments with "Yo!" as it just seemed to work) ... eventually, I asked my hostess - a beautiful Aboriginal woman whose name I couldn't pronounce, and the wife of the Jimi Hendrix of Didjeridu, Djalu Gurruwiwi , what "Yo!" meant in their language. The answer was and is that it means "Yes".

Right now there seems to be a renaissance of Hip Hop culture and some of my friends and collaborators, esp from the CypherTown crew can be heard and seen to be saying and writing "Yo!" a lot. It is my pleasure to point out from time to time that, not only is the didjeridu considered to be one of the oldest musical instruments (40,000 years in the keeping) , but "Yo!" is perhaps the oldest version of "Yes!" on the planet that we know of and is a word that would appear to hail from some of the coolest, oldest and deepest people on Planet Earth... "Yo!"

Shower Music

" Outlaw Dervish is Space Funk for the Modern Tribalist, it is Trip Hop that gives you the sense that you are joyously participating in an ancient , yet modern ritual celebration of Life.

It is Didj Hop, it is Groove Music - it is Down Tempo that gets you movin' and swayin' like you just fell into a kind of love that'll last forever.

Outlaw Dervish is the World Music infused Porno Soundtrack that you want to make out with your lover to, it's the Ambient Chill Out Soundscape that you and your best friends want playing at their next party, 'cos it'll help put everyone in a sexy, adventurous mood of wildly appreciative and soulful expression.

Outlaw Dervish is the music you want to take a shower with and get all dressed up to, it is the music that has 'Be Dirty' and Didjeridu and tripped-out Beats and will inspire you to want to make music with every step you take.

Outlaw Dervish is the music at the gathering in the desert of your dreams, where wild dancers and soulful soothe-sayers have traveled for weeks to meet up and play and dance and laze around together, watching the moon play on the nearby ocean and beach until the sun comes up over the horizon."

Review by Lawrence Parlotti,
from Ancient Futurisms Music Review Magazine
"Unusual Beasts , Familiar Mysteries"

Lights Out on the SF Bay Bridge!

CypherTown, Bass Liberation, Sunrise Cocktail Club... there were plenty of ways to celebrate the coming of a new era this week - especially in the city that always loves a party, San-Fran-Freak-Show. I myself, being an Outlaw Dervish, saved it up , mostly , last weekend, knowing full well that I would be out on Monday and Tuesday, with plans for Wenesday too, and sort of recovering from the previous Thursday 'the new Staurday' - whew!!!

So it was, weighty with plans, that I shoved off on Monday to check the "Changing the Future" event, at Temple SF. This is one splendid venue, let me tell you, with a gorgeous atmosphere, replete with crystal lined stairawys to their 'Enlightenment Row Statue Garden' in the basement.

On my way in, a woman on the street greeted me, shaking like a leaf and asking for a ride for herself and her child to a shelter in the South Bay. She seemed totally genuine and also quite terrified of something, and stated that her partner had taken all their moola out of the bank. Supposedly, she had no means of paying for a ride and no ride of her own to get there with. Already a strange night things seemed to be getting stranger. On my drive over the Bay Bridge, everything except my headlights suddenly went dark, and after a few moments , I realized that the lights on the cables had gone out. This fact gave me a sudden glee when I realized it, and the fashion in which they sort of fizzled out was quite entertaining. At the same time, I had to pay an extra amount of attention to the direction I was heading - kind of like being on a country road at night. Of course, there were other drivers and headlights as well. Next, the lights came back on , and then went off again - all very equally 'dazzling'. So , now, here's this woman, and me having made arrangements to try and get into the venue early so I can set up a short Didjeridu Invocation and she is askng me for a transport at least an hour away, and is clearly in distress.

I ended up giving her some money - I know , yes, I know dear reader, perhaps a 'scam' of sorts... alas, I worked for 11 years in the Mental Health Field, and for 2 of those years worked in a Domestic Violence Shelter for women - the first male staff member, in fact, I was. My gut was telling me that this woman really needed some help and I gave it. Wait! What are we talking about here? Isn't this like, my week in review and aren't I meant to be talking about the new wave of Hip Entertainment that is sweeping over the Bay Area? Well, yes, and for me, often, going out on the town involves these kinds of interactions. So it's not lost on me that I was on my way to a party to celebrate the Exodus of you know who - and the Arrival of none other than our man, Barrack Hussein Obama. All that took place seemed quite fitting, and symbolic really. It also all fit quite well with the atmosphere of a Mercury Retrograde (for more on that , if you don't know what that is, check out www.aquariumage.com by Ralfee Finn, she usually gives a great breakdown on personal and planetary astrology and explains siad event very helpfully).

As it turned out, when I arrived at the door, the club wasn't even open yet, and there was more thrilling entertainment to behold while I waited to go into the venue. Some Hippie Hip Hopper characters outside decided to set up a table and serve drinks out of their van, which was quickly shut down by the perhaps all too power-driven security team. The erstwhile bar-tender of this festival-style refreshment stand got upset about it all and decided to query the bouncers , which they did not fancy - at all. They decided to threaten 'dude' with refused entry , and he kept insisting that he was only "serving Green Tea Man!" Well, let's just say that this was not the kind of entertainment we had gone out for this evening, that it was quite typical Bay Area fodder, of a sort - and appropriate to the evening, in a sense: people acting out the former political regime in order to say one final "Goodbye", for the time being.

All this already, and I hadn't even entered the place! Some nights, you know what I mean?!
In any case, I did eventually get my groove on, and even though the party took a while to ramp up, it truly took off to a stellar pitch. Jonathon Human started up towards the beginning, and having met him a few times, and also checked his vibe - Evolutionary Poetics - I really wanted to hear what he would pop with. Great stuff, reminds me of a crew from the late 90's Sweet Acidopholus and also Drew Dillinger , yet definitely has a voice all its' own, and very much a Hip Hop 'flava' ~ with a Cosmic twist. I bounced from the main room to the smoking patio and ducked into the basement off and on until things really heated up. I also very much enjoyed Mezmetics, who were a right and proper Hip Hop crew, throwing down some hilarious, fluid, provocative raps and also a killer multi-lingual (Japanese?) MC. Along with some political theatre and sizzling imaginative word-smithing by Mic Crenshaw and other crews, there was definitely a sense of the audience either not getting it, or not fully digging it, and it was my impression that folks were waiting for the Goddess Alchemy Project to come on and bust it and that this crowd is/was geared for their vibe - deep , spiritual , NorCal to the hilt, truly original and fresh, and as always , in my experience powerful and stirring...

Was another great night and there were loads of Fashionistas - the new? cross-over here in SF is in full swing - fashion with a social/spiritual consciousness all wrapped into one - 'One Love'! There was a bevy if photographers and videographers filling the place, but most , if not all , with a real atmosphere of kindness and willingness to connect with the dancers and other peeps about them. I hung on tight until about 2:30am when I felt I had to give in and go home, to rest a little , at least, for the actual Inauguration Eve Festivities! I didn't make it on for my Didjeridu Invocation, but had a grand night out anyways, and made a plan with Jonathon Human to collab in the near future.

So, Tuesday night came along and my Sweetness and I rolled over to Shine, where some great pals had planned a "Bass We Can" shindig , featuring their community of electronic music DJs and splendiferous gang members. We were met wearmly by a couple of dear and close pals and we spoke a bit about our feelings of relief and joy around the changing of the guard. For myself, the excitement has worn off, but the deep gladness is here, and it's fairly obvious that it's true that we all do have a lot of work ahead. By the way, this fits perfectly with the astorlogical assesment of this year - the Year of the Ox! Shine looked great with the lights on! Go figure... Shine, lights, etc... People arrived decked out in absolutely fabulous red, white and blue gear, as well as the token upstarts in totally unrelated colors... "I'm still an individual man!" No worries here, I get it. After the first DJ started, we thought o sort out when the Didj Invoke would take place and I smoothly and graciously landed it , with Ethan's help in the middle of his set. I really wamted to say something, because a) I am a wordy bastard and b) what happened in Australia last year was so totally cool and very much related to the Inauguration...
alas, "...sometimes words don't say enough, and sometimes they say too much..."

Goodnight my lovely New America... by the way, no matter what comes to pass , we'll always be partying our little booties off here in good ole' San-Fran-Freak-Show for one reason or another! If the last 8 years has shown me other things (and they hae , believe me), to be sure, it has shown me the indomitable spirit of Northern California, over and over again!

Where does it All come from, where is it going?

It's been a big and wild 3 years, giving my life over to what I can only call my Soul's Deepest Desire... ahhhh, the Music! Ahhhh, the life of an Outlaw Dervish! Even outlaws have to pause and reflect from time to time - otherwise we may get into the wrong kind of trouble.

So it is that I am looking back over the last period, re-assessing, re-evaluating and relishing the fullness of aspects of my devotion to creating a life based on my creativity. Many folks in the music industry (and be ye not fooled mateys - this is business at its' most business-like!) have been commenting that there is more freedom and opportunity now than at any other time in this field , at least in the history of music-making and selling in the United States if not beyond. What is meant by this , is that independent artists are in a greater position than ever before - with the advent of playing-field leveling technology - to promote and sell their own craft. The record companies are and have been 'going down in flames', and with their apparent demise, the impact they have had on choosing and defining listeners' tastes has rapidly fallen away. It brings forth to my mind a line from a 'Naughty By Nature' rap - "Hip-Hop Hooray! Ho , Hey, Ho!". In other words, it's due time to celebrate the ability to get somewhere meaningful and potent with one's craft and on the basis of one's own self-ascribed worth and talent. Interestingly, as Obama takes his appointment in the White House, I am aware of certain parallels between the political climate and the climate in the music business.

Our new President has said, "We are the change we've been waiting for...". I choose, now, if not previously, take this on as my own mantle in life, in general, and think it fits amazingly well with where I find my self as an artist. There have been many personal and collective victories and defeats in my efforts over the recent span of my re-vitalized musical career, and there would seem to be no better time to take this phrase on as a sort of personal/collective mantra.

Highlights of recent years would include the following :
playing Grace Cathedral with a group of sacred musicians myself and my girlfriend put together, performing at a variety of festivals here in the Bay Area, and receiving Radio Airplay around the world and locally on DidgHeadRadio.co.uk, SOMA FM - Groove Salad and KPFA's Music of the World with Stephen Kent, have all been amongst the visible 'outward' facing rewards. There have been many truly enjoyable collaborations as well, which have given me so much, in terms of actual moments creating together, and being transported to that place which only music seems to be able to take me. I recall, especially, making sweet sounds with Jason Parmar, Dana Dharma Devi, Ken Becker, Lucia Comnes, Aharon Wheels Bolsta, Alan Tower, Jef Stott and Estas Tonne. These folks all gave me something 'in the present', as well as food to think upon and nourishment following our times spent performing and creating with each other.

With a new , more solid and on-going line-up - I look to the future of Outlaw Dervish with trust and faith in my heart and soul. In my life, in my profession, there is much work to be done... and much 'sacred play' to create. Changes come and go, along with new people and new sounds, and it all seems to want to grow and grow again, and this , to me is the vitality that keeps creativity fresh, and the music interesting. So, too, with the economy at the moment... collapse and crash, as well as the media hype of circumstances therein, have been felt by almost all, if not all of us here in the First World... as well as in many other places here on Planet Earth. In the 'Music Biz' folks are talking about selling less music and a decrease in touring opportunities. Outlaw Dervish has been doing a lot to promote CD and Download sales, and it's been pretty slow and quiet on that front. Nonetheless, I am also aware of a sense of excitement about the potential for a further re-defining of and perhaps even re-creation of the larger economy, as well as the more immediate impact upon possibilities for our burgeoning act.

I believe , and sense , that it is necessary and possible to extend the creativity myself and others apply to our craft, towards the areas of finance and well-being. Along with this , I offer my perception that we might be entering a time where there can be more of a shared use of our resources. Rather than a small percentage of 'topsters' raking it all in and keeping it for themselves - perhaps we are now re-organizing our wealth and seeing the dawn of a more co-operative economy where resources are shared and put to more immediate and sustainable uses. I am no techinician when it comes to such things, but I do have a 'gut' instinct that this direction is at least on the table with the work that Alternative Communities and the Green/Sustainability Movement are providing, where new models of economy are being suggested, and implemented. I offer this here, as a reflection, as much for myself as anyone that might be reading through this... and begin now by taking action on an everyday basis , while continuing conversations with loved ones, co-creators, friends and communities about how to re-structure our lives in this time of great transformation.

With that, I remind myself it's (past) time for lunch, and also to say that I am incredibly excited to see what will be crafted and honed this year, out of the music and feel able, for a time, to re-dedicate myself to,

"...this spinning and inebriated devotion,
that can only happen out beyond the temple walls, and because of them...".

All Blessings, 13 Thank Yous, No Evil, Long Life, Honey in the Heart,

Travis Wernet, aka 'Outlaw Dervish'

When we want to feel...

What do we turn to when we want to feel something? When we want to touch further into and beyond our everyday, lifelong tasks, needs and challenges? Or when we long for some way to fit what we are experiencing into a context that 'makes sense' - when we want to fly with our eyes closed, want to ruminate on love, grief, magic, loss, beauty, excitement or fear? I myself have turned to music and poetry, more than anything, when I want to feel deeply, the experience of being alive...

Outlaw Dervish was born out of this turning, as well as the respect/full ashes of Pele's Tears - a project that seemed to come together out of nowhere. In late 2006 myself and a cohort were discussing the possibilities for collaborating together and almost right away he found and secured a live show for us. The performance was to be a session between four creators - a rowdy, charismatic Drummer, a transporting, awe-inspiring Dancer, a firey and passionate Flamenco Guitarist and myself, a Mystical Spoken Word Poet and Didjeriduist . At the time, I didn't have a lot of expectation about that gig, and saw it as much more of an opportunity to kind of 'jam' and have some fun. The evening was a knock-out amongst knock-outs and we ended up bringing the house down. That one experience led us to at least one years' worth of effort to get even slightly close to what we created that first night.

In the meantime , I was recording a Downtempo ~ Trip Hop album with the 'Surgeon of Sound', Ben Leinbach. Eventually I realized that much more than an album, the collection of songs we were creating could become the calling card and actual set list for what I wanted to do on stage. Hence, when Pele's Tears became something that was no longer supportable, for various reasons, I decided that the next project would bear the name of this latest CD I had co-created with Ben. We completed and released that album in June 2008.

That music was and is also born from the dawning realization that I had about the status of one of the great poet's to come out of the Sufi Mystic Tradition in the 12th century... Hafiz. A poet who is still read, contemplated, felt and enjoyed today, and a controversial word-smith who gives us lines such as ,

" I am like a heroin addict in my longing for a sublime state ".

Coleman Barks , who is well known for his translations and stirring presentations of the poetry of Rumi - perhaps the most well-known Sufi Mystic Poet and the most widely read poet of all time - refers to Hafiz as "the Bad Boy of Persian Poetry". While writing, saying, performing and studying my own poetry, a humble offering, to be sure, when compared to such as Hafiz and Rumi, I nonetheless became acutely aware of my own status as a sort of outlaw poet. Slightly before birthing Outlaw Dervish, I had been traveling in India, studying and practicing a form of therapeutic healing / energy work called Clarity Breathwork. At that time, I was going through an experience of feeling that I somehow - as always? - didn't fit into the structure of the culture I was participating in... and perhaps, at the end of the day, didn't really want to. This was even moreso apparent to me as a Westerner who stood out like a sore thumb there. I cannot think of anytime that I was in India in public when there weren't groups of people noticing me and pointing fingers, (and laughing!) and wondering about the 6'4" blonde skinny man with facial piercings walking about in Indain clothing. I have always chosen trappings that set me apart and attracted attention, and in this strange land I seemed to be the ultimate stranger. While I was in India, my own sense of this became clear to me as it never had before - the feeling of not fully belonging to any socially agreed upon group or community , and the sense that I had to define and accept my own experience and the ramifications of it for myslef , was right in my face at every moment. I think that this life-long identity has flowed from a sense deep inside that we can call into question our experience through a variety of channles. The more I have reflected upon it , the more it has seemed to me - and it still does - that the true place of a poet is to adroitly, adeptly and articulately comment upon the nature of things as she or he sees them, both inside the soul and outside in the world at large - for the sake of some inclusive and compassionate truth. Along with this comes a real disposition towards a delight beyond delight... an urgency towards ecstasy and finding ways to touch into the realm of time beyond time, Eternity, as William Blake and many others have referred to it. One of my own poems uses this kind of language to refer to identity and experience,

" Our deepest longing is for this, skin of a skin of a silken wind,
rising up out our deepest yearning wells,
sailing upon the mere moment of a voice, singing,
'HEAVEN HOLDS A SENSE OF WONDER, AND I WANTED TO BELIEVE' ".
(the last line is a quote from Silence, by Delerium)

In witnessing such moments as the one which brought these words forth to describe a realationship with the sacred , I feel there is a kind of threat involved in recognizing that this human leaning towards spiritual connection often contains the crazed elements of obsession which one finds in romantic and sensual expression. One begins to get a sense of how a dervish can become an outlaw (and vive versa?), especially when using such metaphors. Add to this the way Hafiz describes his longing for God (or, as Sufis sometimes refer to the Divine - the Friend, the Beloved) through the portal of addiction.

Dervishes spin in a ceremonial whirling dance, praying while they do so, seeking to open their hearts wide and full to that which is so far beyond understanding that poets give it such descriptions. Outlaws are found on the perimeters of society, because they do not fully accept and participate in the shared and agreed upon reality (comforts?) of the people at large. And sometimes the outlaw and the mystic are one in the same, because what they come back with, after the dance, out of the prayer, form feeling the music of the ceremony - and even during simple, everyday moments that suddenly become transparent, is so startling and challenging to the common ideas humanity has about the Sacred and Life, that the only place for them in this world is on the fringes...

Sometimes, however, the fringes and the center collide and mix and it becomes hard to tell what is the mainstram and what is the slipstream. As some have pointed out - this is the moment when things really start to get interesting. Stay tuned for some exciting collisons!