Kirtan Artists

Dave Stringer
Dave Stringer went to India in 1990 as a film editor and was transformed by the kirtan he heard at the ashram in Ganeshpuri. “The experience of chanting, which was at first total nonsense to me, was strangely compelling, not only musically but in terms of how I felt—completely ecstatic,” says Stringer. About a decade after returning to Los Angeles, he traded his career in film editing for one in kirtan. “I don’t ask people who come to my kirtans to believe in it. I ask them to suspend their disbelief for a long enough time to give it a go and see what happens.”

David Newman aka Durga Das
David Newman took the bar exam in 1992, but less than two months later opened Yoga On Main in Philadelphia. He thought he would wait a year, and if the yoga studio failed he would practice law. He never did become a lawyer. Krishna Das and Bhagavan Das came to sing at the studio, reawakening Newman’s passion for music. Their guru, Neem Karoli Baba, “installed himself in my heart,” says Newman, and chanting became the keystone of his yoga practice. His non-traditional presentation has found fans in kirtan’s birthplace, as he recently signed a deal with a New Delhi–based record company to distribute his music in India. “The kirtan represents my inner world, and my musical presentation represents my present incarnation as someone who’s crazy about guitars and loves the singer-songwriter idiom,” says Newman, who fronted bands in high school and studied music in college.

Deva Premal & Miten
Deva Premal and Miten met in India in 1990 and soon began a journey into love and creativity that has taken their inspiring blend of song, mantra & meditation to a worldwide audience. Miten began his musical career in rock ‘n roll in the 60s and later led the evening meditation music at the Osho ashram in Pune. Deva grew up singing mantras as lullabies and was introduced to the Gayatri Mantra when still in the womb – her parents chanted it for her every night. In 1997, Deva recorded her first mantra album “The Essence” in her mother’s apartment. The album, which features the Gayatri mantra, rose to the top of New Age charts. Now she is called the Enya of mantra, and Eckhart Tolle notes that listening to Deva & Miten’s music is a “portal into Presence”. Deva Premal says of the mantras, “they run around in your head, like a pop song. Only instead of singing some superficial lyric, you’re actually subconsciously walking around the supermarket calling on the Divine.”

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits
At the age of six Gaura Vani left the US to study sacred music in a gurukula or temple school in the timeless town of Vrindavan, India. He learned ancient prayers in Sanskrit and Bengali and to sing and play ethnic instruments like the harmonium and mrdanga. 25 years later he continues to share the magic he received and performs extensively with his kirtan ensemble, As Kindred Spirits, throughout the world from Europe and Asia, to the Americas.

Kailash (Kurt A. Bruder)
Dr. Kurt “Kailash” Bruder (Ph.D., M.Ed.) Unique among chant leaders and spiritual teachers for his penetrating insight into human motivation, interaction, and personal growth, Kailash’s work is a groundbreaking guide to devotional chanting accompanied by a CD of authentic mantras.

Krishna Das
If one artist is synonymous with kirtan in the Western world, it’s Krishna Das. He has been recording since 1996, but has been on a spiritual journey his entire life. Born and raised on Long Island, New York, he has been featured in Time magazine, the L.A. Times, and the Washington Post. The New York Times calls him “the chant master of American yoga”. Krishna Das’s music stays true to the path of Bhakti Yoga (the Yoga of Devotion) while incorporating modern grooves and harmonies.

Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal grew up in Manhattan, and began studying classical piano at the age of seven. A musical experimenter from the beginning, he moved to California at age 18 to become a student of Ali Akbar Khan, India’s “National Living Treasure”, from whom he received traditional voice training. You can hear this influence in Jai’s vocals. At 19, he made a transformational trip to India, where he spent time with the Bauls of Bengal and met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. He formed his band “The Pagan Love Orchestra”, and continues to develop his musical style. In 2002 his seminal release “Mondo Rama” was nominated for a Grammy. He says: “I honestly feel that, since I was a teenager, all my music has been directed—even if not totally consciously—toward inner healing, finding a place of wholeness.”

Ragani
Kirtan is alive and well in the Midwest. In fact, Milwaukee has the largest independent and ongoing kirtan community in the country, and one of the reasons is American-born Ragani. She is a gifted kirtan wallah, who is classically trained in Indian classical music. In 2006, CDBaby selected Ragani’s album, Ancient Spirit (Kirtan Café, Vol. II), as their Editor’s Pick. Her award-winning Kirtan Café albums are recognized for their lush vocals and rich world instrumentation set to the sacred mantras of India. Her songs “[bring] to mind a winning collaboration between Enya and the sadly departed George Harrison.” (Conscious Choice Magazine).

Ragani is co-founder of the International Kirtan Foundation, which helps promote sacred chant. She says “There’s sacredness in everyone’s voice. It’s like hearing your own soul.”

Sean Johnson
Sean Johnson’s music is a product of his roots in New Orleans. His music draws from multiple cultures & religions, the chanting of ancient India merged with the steamy jazz of the bayou. It’s an invigorating merging of cultures. Johnson & his band have been featured in Yoga Journal, L.A. Yoga Magazine and more, and they frequently put on benefit concerts to help rebuilding efforts in their New Orleans home. Sean says; “Kirtan has been called the gospel music of India. It’s got that flavor to it. It’s devotional music from the heart”.

Shantala
Benjy and Heather Wertheimer lead kirtan worldwide as the duo Shantala, with soul-stirring vocals, sacred lyrics and exotic instrumentation. The weaving of Benjy’s Indian classical singing and instrumentation with Heather’s soaring vocals is freshly original and profoundly moving. Together they create music with beauty, passion, and reverence. Shantala has performed and recorded internationally with such sacred music luminaries as Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, and Jai Uttal. In summer 2008, they were named as one of the top “Wallahs to Watch” by Yoga + Joyful Living.

Snatam Kaur
Snatam Kaur was brought her up in the Sikh tradition as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Schooled in kirtan, meditation, and Gurmukhi, the young Snatam Kaur began to develop the devotion and skills that have grown and blossomed into a compelling, profound talent. “I learned about the importance of sound currents from Yogi Bhajan,” she says, “but I also had the personal experience of how the energy of these sacred words can have a very real, positive effect.” Snatam further explored the power of sound in India. After touring and performing Kirtan in northern India, Snatam settled in Amritsar where she studied music with the accomplished ragi (Indian master of Sikh-style kirtan) Bhai Hari Singh. While in Amritsar, Snatam lived next door to the Golden Temple, considered the world’s holiest Sikh temple. Sacred music resonates from inside the temple from about 2:30 in the morning to midnight every day-sounds created by world-class masters of Sikh kirtan. This enabled Snatam to continually soak in the essence of the Sound Current. Upon returning to the US from India, Snatam began her career as a recording artist with a band called the Peace Family. She served as the band’s lead singer and, with two skilled and accomplished musicians – Livtar Singh and GuruGanesha Singh, had her first opportunity to write songs. Two years later she began to develop her own sound and style and embarked on a very fruitful solo career.

Swaha (Meenakshi and Ron Reid)
Meenakshi’s first experience with chanting began in 1988 on her first trip to India to study meditation. Her background was in the performing arts , but her bhakti (devotion) for God came through her experiences of meditation and chanting. She recorded her first CD of Sanskrit and Hindi chants in India in July 2000 entitled “Prayers”. She is currently teaching and leading kirtan with her partner, co-composer and keyboardist Ron Reid, co-founder of Downward Dog Yoga Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Ron Reid has spent many years in the music business performing and writing music for performance, film and dance. His influences are vast, and his connection to the spirit and soul of music is seen in his deep understanding of rhythm in Yoga. Currently Ron directs his studio in Toronto, as well as performing with Meenakshi in their group “Swaha” internationally.

Bhagavan Das