My pathway has been unusual - 20 years playing as a spiritual practice before composing two songs, then another thirteen years before finally reaching a correct approach to composition, resulting in an unbroken wave of composing since October 2004.
The methods I learned on the way were mainly through my work with Alexandro Jodorowski in my twenties, and Guillermo Arevalo in my fifties.
It is like arriving at the sea after so many years following the river downstream.
I was born in 1954 and raised in a remote logging and fishing community in the coastal forest of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We had no road, no telephone or television, no churches or restaurants. We did have ocean, forest and sky, and all the birds, animals and fish in them.
This immersion in nature is without a doubt the foundation of the music I am playing.
I chose to avoid playing as a profession when I was twenty, as I did not want to harness the music with earning me a living. I spent ten years travelling the world, learned other ways to make money, and kept the music free.
During this period I gained a spiritual foundation that I recognized I could build on for the rest of my life, and that was from my own occidental cultural heritage.
Although not directly addressed to music, this practice enabled me to reach a balance of energy that I see as fundamental to creative work.
More recently, I worked with the medicine traditions of the Amazon, and this shifted my approach to one where the obstacle of self-judgement was finally removed. This liberation meant the capacity to compose and play without interference became possible.
I often characterize this shift as being like finding out there is no Santa Claus - you can't go back!
Now, some 37 years later, with this maturing of the music, I can no longer approach it as a search, having built a pathway to its source.
This means that for me personally, the best way to play music with significance is to play it for as many people as possible, while I am still here. Thus, I am building a career as a professional musician.
The experience I went through that brought me the Medicine Path compositions has also completely changed my experience of public performance, so thankfully this is now a joy to do. I have also been immensly touched by the response I receive from the next generations, and see their interest as a prime motivator.
The guitarists who have reached me the most are Leo Kottke, John McLaughlin, John Renbourn and Mike Oldfield.
The musicians who have been my navigational stars are Atahualpa Yupanqui, Mozart and Guillermo Arevalo. Blessings to them all.
