Advocating for compassion and getting paid.

I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it. Thomas Aquinas:

Monday is the 20th annual World AIDS Day an event that hopes to bring light to the continuing Pandemic of HIV disease and AIDS. In my community there will be an event with speakers, information, free testing and me providing music. Check my calendar for details. As a musician, and like many artists, I get asked to provide music and entertainment for many causes. Recently a radio interviewer was commenting on how I am at so many benefits and fundraisers performing. With a chuckle in her voice she said that obviously I’m not getting paid and why do I do them and how do I decide on which ones to support. I could feel the resentment rising in me like yesterday’s enchiladas so I took deep breath and said I would do more if I could afford it and that I let my Heart decide. That ended that line of questions thankfully.
The truth is that I do get many requests to use my music and to perform for so many causes that I have lost track. Nonetheless, I decided years back that I would be an advocate for compassion whether it be for Relay for Life, Animals, Hospice care, HIV, Cancer, Prisoner rights, Native Americans…you name it I’ve leant my music, time and talent to it. Sometimes it has only been me and organizers who showed up but hey I was there. When I lived in Albuquerque I worked for the All Indian Pueblo Council as my day job while playing bars, clubs, festivals etc. with my alternative band The Peat Column at night. Through an IHS grant I would visit all 19 New Mexico Pueblos doing HIV/AIDS outreach and education. Oh yeah that went over well. Tribal councils would schedule a presentation with me at 6 pm then sometime around 1 am would tell me to come back tomorrow. This is the Indian way of making someone prove their commitment. Oh man it paid so poorly, (we called it Rez wages) that I fell behind on student loan payments so they garnished my wages and after rent I had nothing left so my car was repo’d. Them were some lean days brother. I had to leave and find another job on the bus route and buy a used, ancient Honda civic wagon. I did write a good blues song out of the whole experience to good for that.

That job came after being a volunteer for an HIV speaker’s bureau that took me into prisons, schools, medical schools, and government and teaching programs. I had lost some friends to AIDS and have always volunteered places. The thing about compassion is it is free from judgment. You feel that empathy regardless of circumstance. We tend to think in the West that AIDS is a gay, white male disease but the current reality is that: *

• More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
• Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphans.
• At the end of 2007, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Around 67% of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.

These statistics affect us all. Think of the 11.6 million AIDS orphans in Africa. It wouldn’t take much for a war lord with promise to offer a direction to these children that makes them feel empowered and loyal to a really destructive way of life and if you follow events in Somalia, The Congo, Nigeria etc. you know that is dangerous. In developing and transitional countries, 9.7 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.99 million (31%) are receiving the drugs. See while in the prosperous nations people are seeing AIDS as a chronic, manageable illness, citizens of less prosperous nations die of simple things like dysentery and diarrhea—something we might take for granted. Mother Theresa received a check for $500 from a wealthy British man who read about her plight in then Calcutta and he received a very quick letter back. He expected a florid thank you note instead he found a scrap of paper saying, “We need much more than that.” That is the thing about compassion—it is selfless and reminds us we are connected and certainly not alone. We are, as indigenous cultures know, are interconnected.

Next Friday there is a CD release fundraiser that I am so honored to be a part of. It is for La Casa which is a shelter and program for domestic violence victims and their children. New Mexico has a pretty big problem with that and I’ve done programs for them in the past. I was really humbled to be asked to be included and am looking forward to the CD “Peace Begins at Home.” Here is a link to a story about it. http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-sunlife/ci_11090673
The number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to 33 million today, and is still growing. There is no room for blame when it comes to compassion unless you point the finger at yourself first. Be an advocate for compassion and the world will soften. Like the Dalai Lama said; “Compassion is the radicalism of our time.” And to close with Mother Theresa’s famous quote; “We cannot do great things, only little things with great big love.” Remember that when you feel overwhelmed. -Randy

more info: * http://www.avert.org/statindx.htm

Transcending DNA & Thanksgiving through music!

This year began with a set of concerts in a museum in January and in November another performance in another one. These are those great museums with life sized figures, sound, lighting and information plaques. I really like these places and get immersed in the past. Turns out both places have permanent exhibits about the first peoples of the area collectively “called ‘Paleo-Indians’ (meaning "ancient" Indians), appear to have occupied the Americas, including the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, for 10,000 to perhaps 40,000 years – a period of time longer than that for all the succeeding cultures combined” *

The fact that one of the most well-known spear head led to the idea of the “Clovis Man” around 15,000 years old was found a few hours north of where I was born has been on my mind as I reflect on these museum exhibits, the Thanksgiving holiday and my work as a Native American flute player and musician. My own family’s ancestry had always been murky and shrouded in stories of Apaches, a great-grandfather who was a Seer in the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico, Aztecs, Mayans and Spanish and Germans who came to the new world via the Yucatan area. My ancestors didn’t take genealogy notes as they scraped by crossing back and forth over the Rio Grande. In order to be as truthful as I could I took a DNA test to determine my origins? The results are complex and there is a link on my website’s Bio page. Suffice to say that indeed my Amerindian heritage is ancient Mayan, Apache, Athabaskan, Dogrib and a few Central American tribes. What does this mean to me? I don’t know. Is this my culture? I don’t think so. I think a culture is first of all a shared language then shared values like how they care for their dead (something pretty important to archaeological research) and a shared history—their stories.

It turns out that DNA tests only test “two of your many” ancestral lines. You would need to test your mother’s male relatives and cousins in order to piece together the most accurate “probability” of your lines. Whew! Time and money baby. I’m satisfied knowing the little I do and decided to let things be and not pursue tribal enrollment. Funny thing is that DNA tests don’t reveal your spirituality, religion, political affiliation, language or any of the myriad “choices” we make in life. Does being Native American make me a better musician? A better flute player? Who knows? I often get the comment that a listener could tell I was Indian because of emotional playing. Hmm. I believe music transcends all that I am--thankfully. I have this notion that every experience I and my ancestors have is distilled through my music. What I mean is when I’m playing my egoic self is put to sleep and every joy, happiness, struggle, grief and spirituality is focused into a note. Musicians like Les Paul, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald understood that and often talked about the importance of the one note you are playing being the most important.

So maybe in order to transcend through music the musician needs to transcend the cellular memory and be a prism, an instrument. I like that idea and don’t feel so alone knowing that all my ancestor’s work, struggle and resilience is supporting the music coming through. I can also blame them when I forget the notes. Ha ha.

Thanksgiving is here and I know it hasn’t been about the historic Pilgrim and Indian shared meal in a very long time. It is symbolic, a metaphor. As we gather with our families and friends we take part in something that every one of our ancestors has done—the sharing of bounty. So transcend any guilt or judgment and pass a little appreciation and love with those yummy mashed potatoes. I’ll be in Phoenix with my Flutes and Hang in tow hopefully making the holidays just a little more peaceful through music.

Happy Thanksgiving and Safe Travels.
Randy

https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/participate.html
http://www.dnatribes.com
* http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_paleo.html


Here is a little video of a song “Calling Snow” from Winter Colors, 2006.

Email Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g6OlsENbRk

What the Luck?

“Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work -- and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't”.- Lucille Ball:

“I don’t believe in luck, but I could sure use some.” – Randy Granger

I’ve been hearing luck attributed to success lately. Roger Moore said on a morning talk show recently that it was just luck that he got the James Bond roles and further that the idiom of success being 33% talent, 33% looks and 33% luck but that he thought it was actually 99% luck. A few other interviews I’ve come across lately all pointed to similar ratios of luck being most important. A major-label Native American flutist said he “just got lucky” when I congratulated him on an extended feature on Echoes the New-Age Radio program. I’m suspect of this attitude and make it a practice to never wish anyone good luck opting to say I know things will go well for them and reminding them to enjoy themselves etc. I meet a lot of musicians who know about the Hang and how challenging (understatement) they are to get right now. They always say how lucky I am to have one. I remind them I did Pay for it (maxing my credit cards) and tracked down how to find a used one. So lucky? If that’s another word for determined I guess so.

I don’t feel lucky. I do feel grateful and fortunate often though. I’m grateful I’ve driven over 11,000 miles this season and not been in an accident—especially through places like Oklahoma and Chicago where driving is a combat sport. I’m very glad my snarky mouth didn’t get me into too much trouble or get me punched out. I’m fortunate my carelessness with my instruments resulted in zero loss even while singing CD’s for an hour while my Hang and Flutes sat behind the stage for all to procure… Dang I need some roadies. Any takers? Ha-ha

John Lennon said that life is what happens while you’re making other plans. So true. I’m tempted to change my bio on my website and MySpace to a more truthful one like: “Randy…..an overly talented musician mired in self-doubt and prone to panicking at the lack of interest in his music and a total Gig-whore who will play at your house-cleaning for a discount.” Wouldn’t that be funny if all the musician profiles were that revealing? I had been feeling self-indulgently depressed so last week I vowed to make my performances about sheer enjoyment. It helped. Last weekend at the Dona Ana Renaissance Faire I gave up any expectations about the future and dove into the moment. It worked. I had such fun and even with over 450 vendors, five stages and between 35,000-40,000 people all of my performances drew excellent crowds and I made some nice coin. Yesterday I dragged myself down to our weekly Farmer’s Market a huge 10 block open air local growers and craftspeople market, and with my Hang and Native Flutes I Busked up a storm. The Hang is such a people, and money, magnet and I had crowds just circling me with all ages, races and types. No one was Republican, Democrat etc. everyone was just completely puzzled and smiling about this flying saucer that makes music. I must have said, “It’s called a Hung, from Switzerland…etc” several hundred times. I came home and ordered 1000 postcards with all my info to pass out at gigs.

Its funny people always talk to me while I’m playing and engrossed in my music. This used to irritate me but I have a better perspective and attitude now. The late Studs Terkell (he died on Halloween this year) said that “In our impersonal world of ours pretense is put at a premium.” I think my lack of pretense is why I’m approachable. That or they think I’m homeless. This summer I witnessed how unattractive pretention is in performers and hope all of you will set me straight if I get that way. I know working hard, being prepared, being authentic and working on your craft are what you do because you call yourself a musician—however, I would sure enjoy having an honest manager, a decent booking manager, a supportive record label and as much radio play as possible and I for one would love to be on the Echoes playlist. In the meantime I continue to make music because It is what I do and so far people enjoy it. Thankfully! The NMSU Dance Program recently commissioned a song from me they will premiere in December. A local NPR radio program asked me to compose a new theme song for them. I have a song on the INAFA 2008 Compilation CD. Yeah! My CD was #12 on the New Age Reporter charts. I’m playing at the El Paso Museum of Archeology. I'm on a Fundraiser Compilation CD for La Casa a shelter for abused women and kids, a serious problem here and I love what I do so even if I never get invited to perform anywhere ever again at least I can take my music to the streets any given day and bring people joy. Lucky me.

A couple of photos from the Renaissance Faire.