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!