I have been writing this blog entry in my mind for the last week, ever since I went and returned from Burning Man.

At BurningMan in Black Rock City, August, 2011, I learned the importance and bliss of warming up a stage.  I played in 4 shows with Danyavaad and the Shimmy Sisters, and one time with Mark Zabala.  Every time we played music, we would begin with the audience sparse to none, and end with a FULL PLAYA filled with people!!!

In warming up a stage, it is important not to be distracted by how few people seem to be paying attention, especially at a festival, where people can have the attention span of goldfish. Don’t get me wrong, there are organized people there.  They have the stage lineups and a watch, and they stop doing whatever else they may be doing to come and see your show.  (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  I have so much gratitude.)

But then, there is the empty room, or dome, or space in front of the stage leading to the Esplanade.  Horses are shot and burned with flaming arrows, core projects from all over the world are burned in tandem around the Man!!!  Don’t forget the fireworks!!!

All these amazing spectacles are not distractions;  they serve to change and charge the energy of the crowd;  the mass entity of consciousness flowing like rivers in between art and stages.

People want to hear YOUR music.  They support what you bring, and everything *you* bring to the table.  Do not be distracted by the emptiness;  it is your blank canvas, waiting to be painted with your sonic gift to this universe.

We are all individuals, but our voices are waiting to be heard by people who want to be inspired!!!

Every time I played music;  people listened, and appeared.  While playing, several times I went into the place where everything stopped existing except the music;  and the dancers and audience held that space.  Trust the silence;  it is what cradles the sound.

-Thank you to Danyavaad and the Shimmy Sisters;  another GRAND ADVENTURE, and there are many more to come….now that I’m “officially” in the Band!!!  I love you guys.  We are going to have so much fun.

-Thank you to Sacred Spaces, Tedx, the Hookadome, and Dustfish for hosting our music.  Every space was beautiful and exciting in its own way.

-Thank you to the Transmorphagon, my playa home-away-from-home (near the Black Rock Lemonade Stand!)  Thank you Mark Zabala for our random and awesome musical collaboration, and Krista Richards for jumping onstage and singing your heart out.  Amazing!!!

Now that the past is marked in all its glory and substance, with lessons learned, laughter laughed, and braids FINALLY pulled out, we look to the future….

Saturday Night, September 17th…..Wobble hits Spin with Hedflux, Hobotech, Treavor Moontribe, and Philly B. I am SO EXCITED to play music with Philly B again!!!  It will be right after my birthday, so I’ll be bringing extra special mojo with me for the playing music and the dancing.

Philly B and I go on early, at 10pm, but I won’t be nervous about the initial scarcity of dancers on the floor.  I know you’ll converge on us,  like a wave hitting the shore.

SEE YOU SOOOOoooooOOOOooOON!!!!!!