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October 10, 2010
Master Chant Artist & Singer-Songwriter David Newman - Q&A
“A rising star in the international sub genre of chant artist or mantric musician.”
--NPR’s All Things Considered about David Newman
Q. You perform in towns and cities around the world hosting “kirtans,” which are an Eastern, call-and-response chant style of music. But you play acoustic guitar, so it has an element of folk music to it, and the audience sings along. To what do you attribute the recent popularity of these kirtans?
A. Kirtan is a yoga practice, so kirtans’ popularity is connected to the rise in popularity of yoga. As more and more people become interested in yoga, they’ve been exposed to kirtans and to more and more great musicians presenting. In my experience, kirtans are a model of inspiration, and that has contributed to their popularity.
Q. Do you think there is a spiritual dearth in the country today? If so, why?
A. I don’t think there’s a dearth of spirituality in this country today, but I do think there’s difficulty finding time and resources to practice spirituality—which, by the way, is not the same as religious practice. Computers, cell phones, distractions and other challenges in the world, the economic challenges of making ends meet—sometimes it’s difficult to find the means of support for spirituality. And on the flip side, there is a lot of support for getting directly connected to one’s sense of spirit, and I feel that’s one of the roles I play with my music.
Q. For many people, religion is an integral part of everyday life. Do kirtans fall into the same realm as Christianity or Judaism or Islam or any other religion? Or are kirtans different?
A. Yes and no. The practice of kirtan is a tradition that was born through Indian spirituality, so there is a connection to Hinduism, but kirtans are also an aspect of yoga. A yoga posture is helpful to the body regardless of your religion. A headstand does not equal a Hindu practice, even though yoga comes out of the Hindu tradition. Kirtan is really an ancient technique, singing and listening, that helps spiritual searchers. But kirtan is open to all people of all faiths and all paths.
Q. So Christians benefit from kirtans too?
A. Kirtans help to inspire feelings of devotion. If you’re a Christian and come to a kirtan, the feelings of devotion will contribute to your faith. Kirtan is a vehicle for faith and devotion, and open-heartedness.
Q. When did you experience your first kirtan and how did it make you feel? Was it love at first note?
A. My first kirtan took place during my law school years, when I went to an ashram. Certainly it was something that felt good and resonated with me. No getting around it, kirtan has a strong spirit, an almost tactile sensibility. Hundreds of people were at the ashram, and the music and song, all of it—this was my background. I felt intrigued and touched by it, and over the years my relationship to it has deepened.
Q. Your latest album, To Be Home, was recently released on Nutone and produced by three-time Grammy award-winner Trina Shoemaker, who has worked with Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris and others. What was it like working with Trina?
A. Working with Trina was a joy, both on the level of personality and on the level of her expertise. She had never been exposed to kirtan, and it was exciting to watch her attune and adapt her style—within an hour—to my style. She has a tremendous amount of grace and patience; everyone felt comfortable around her. A lot of musicians and chanters stopped by. It was a festive atmosphere, and she was very easy-going about that, not controlling at all, allowing grace to flow in a supportive way. It was an amazing musical experience.
Q. What is “home” in your view of it and as expressed in the music on To Be Home?
A. “Home” comes from the title song, which I wrote when I’d been away from home and on tour for a long time. Home, to me, is intimacy and family, feeling my own energy. There are many, many different beds when you’re on tour. The comfort you feel at home is not just skin-deep. As a traveling musician and spiritual practitioner, I need that feeling of being centered and at peace. When I find a place of peace through stillness, that’s the deeper sense of home. Being at peace with the universe. But each person finds it and experiences it in a different way.
Q. Do you see yourself as a troubadour?
A. I don’t know definitively, but I feel like a gypsy at times. Perhaps that’s similar to being a troubadour. I didn’t start this traveling life until I was forty years old. It’s fun, because that’s an unusual time of life to begin a new path.
Q. You founded one of the first yoga centers in Philadelphia, Yoga on Main in the Philadelphia suburbs. Why do you think yoga centers have become so popular in the dozen or so years since then?
A. Yoga has become more popular because yoga integrates exercise, meditation, spirituality, breathing and community. Westerners have begun to discover the wide range of benefits. Yoga centers are amazing places, so different than gyms with their gym mirrors. Yoga centers give a very different feeling, some of them with candles, colors, smells; there’s an ambiance that brings you to a state of peace. And it’s nice to have a place where others feel the same thing, or they’re on a similar path as you are, that sense of community. Yoga centers are beacons of light. People can go and really connect.
Q. What kind of music do you listen to in your free time? Do you listen to the radio?
A. Sometimes I listen to the radio, sometimes to my iPod. I love all kinds of music—chant music, kirtan music, folk, jazz and classical, the singer-songwriter tradition that combines poetry and music. I studied music when I was a kid and continued as an adult; I don’t discriminate. I love all kinds of music.
Q. Do you consider the music you play—a mix of call-and-response chant and folk music—to be New Age music, or have your coined your own phrase for it? Does the term “New Age” still have meaning in 2010?
A. I don’t consider my music to be New Age music except that New Age is synonymous with relaxation and finding peace. My music has elements of world music, folk music, in the singer-songwriter tradition. Sometimes I joke that my music is “country and Eastern.” Not long ago I had a dream and heard the phrase “kirtan Americana,” so I guess that’s what I’ll call it for now.
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Special Note to Media Only: For media inquires and to interview David, contact Christi Cassidy at 505-986-1142 or the main Mantra Public Relations office at 212-645-1600. High-resolution photos, music and additional information can be downloaded HERE.
*Permission is granted to use or reprint this interview in part or in whole. It has been created to be reprinted.
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www.davidnewmanmusic.com
www.nutonemusic.com
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