Jackson Wellsprings
2253 Highway 99 N
Ashland, OR 97520-9657
(541) 482-3776

Bay Area artist Singing Bear may have grown up in Ohio, but with his conscious style, it comes as no surprise that he has found his audience in California, dense with New Age spirituality. His unabashedly awakened lyrics may prove too far out for some, but given a chance, Singing Bear’s superb musicianship and sensual vocals just may win over new fans and lead to new awakenings. For those already in a similar mindset, his new album

The title track of Gold quietly shimmers in with pads, acoustic guitar and Singing Bear’s hypnotic voice. Drums and harmony kick in on the line “lift me up” in a wonderful moment of prosody and the song turns danceable. The lyrics advocate reaching for dreams, not allowing anyone to get in the way of his and then promising not to get in anyone else’s way either.

“Believe” keeps the dance vibe going with a funky New Age rap about saying yes, and a soaring melodic chorus about believing and accepting the blessings of day-to-day life. The instrumental solo rocks out with wah-wah electric guitar. “Relax Intuit” begins with a scorching blues harmonica and chronicles the struggles of a seeker’s path, first breaking out of the programmed ideas of the system, and then frustrated with whether or not he is “meditating right”. As Singing Bear continues to find his way, the more he looks, the more he embraces the mystery. The song encourages him to relax, use heart and intuition to guide him through life, because spirit always knows what is for the highest good.

An atmospheric rock intro opens “Again”, which speaks to the hard times of today and the fear of what might come, but asks why be afraid of what we don’t know? The only constant is that everything is going to change again and again. Singing Bear declares he would rather sing out of tune than not sing at all, rather die trying than live a lie and asks us to go deeper into our own hearts. Slowing things down even further, “Beautiful Life” starts with sparse acoustic guitar and pads. Drums, vocal doubling, and harmony on chorus fill out the song to dreamy rock. As the lyrics “It’s a beautiful life, such a beautiful life” repeat, we believe, because Singing Bear acknowledges that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. We all run ourselves in circles and fall down from time to time, but we have each other to remind us to rise up again with gratitude.

The rolling, shuffling, rhythm of “Walking and Dancing” picks up the pace with an infectious dance beat, a head-bobbing bass line and a hot electric guitar solo. Keeping things hot, the sensuous reggae of “Reach Back” with a thick bass line and tight drums, speaks to how we all grow on the same tree, are fruits on the same vine. If we reach back to the moment of creation we all started from the same seed. Smoking horns on the solo section turn the heat up a notch further.

Before burning us up completely, Singing Bear cools it down with “H2O”. The song opens with an American Indian Elder offering a prayer of thanks to water for how it sustains and nourishes all life on the planet. Very atmospheric, watery synth builds below Singing Bear’s almost chant-like continuation of the theme before breaking into a funky love song to the ocean. Following up with the slow, mellow rock of “Earth Song”, Singing Bear claims he didn’t write the song but rather just joined in with what the planet has been singing since the beginning. He elaborates to say we’re all singing Earth’s song whether we know it or not, and because of this there will always be music. Bluesy organ adds an extra layer of soul to the already soulful vocals.

Perhaps wisely, the well crafted track listing of Gold saves the most “out there” songs of the bunch for the end, because by this time you are already a Singing Bear fan, prepared for whatever ride he takes you on. “Molecular Transport” starts out with a red-hot wailing harmonica. A seventies style ska flavored guitar vamps behind a lyrical ride through parallel universes and third eye openings. “Mind Sex”, encouraging mental foreplay, is a super funky throwback to Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”. An extremely deep voice both harmonizes and adds sexy commentary throughout, while an ethereal synth line floats over the low funk bass, giving further emphasis to the merging of spirituality and sensuality.

With a tight band that effortlessly moves through a variety of dance genres and a clear, confidant, and mesmerizing voice, Singing Bear is sure to continue building a devoted fan base. Having the musical chops to hold his own playing next to someone like Jason Mraz, some may misguidedly counsel Singing Bear to mold his lyrics into something more commercial, but in an age over-stuffed with commerciality, what the world needs is more Singing Bears.

Review by Heather Miller-Rodriguez

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the
Garbage Truck.’

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around
full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it
and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just
smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and
spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The
bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take
over their day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with garbage,
spend the day with garbage and go to bed with garbage…so,

Love the people who treat you right.

Pray for the ones who don’t.

Life is ten percent what you make it…

and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

Google Maps

James and Mary from Maui Yoga and Kickboxing will be teaching a Thai Massage Class at 7pm

Music with Singing Bear starts at 9pm

This concert will be outside on the beach … weather permitting.

We will be performing with the full band.  There will probably be an afterparty as well … Location TBA …

A Night with Hyim and Singing Bear on April 10th at El Rincon in San Francisco.

El Rincon
2700 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103-4216
(415) 437-9240

Click Here for Map

MysticGardenParty.com
MysticGardenParty on Facebook

At this year’s Feb 23rd – 25th Gathering we’re featuring:

MUSICAL LINEUP:
Chris Berry (of Panjea & CB3)
Youssoupha Sidibe with Al Torre
Hot Pink Purple (w/ Anahata Sound)
The Human Revolution
Freedom with Al Torre
Alexa Sunshine Rose
Scott Huckabay
Diane Patterson
Cosmic Tickles
Stephen Roush
Nicholous Iris
Singing Bear
Fantuzzi
Maesyn
Shiner

Here’s a little video of Phil Lindsay talking about why he produces Mystic Garden Party.

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Note: Our amplified stage only goes until 10:00 PM & after that we go to the nectar of the camp fire for great late night magic!

Our Tentative Music Schedule:

Tuesday:
5:00 – 6:30 Hot Pink Purple (w/ Anahata Sound)
7:00 – 8:45 Chris Berry
9:00 – 10:30 Human Revolution
10:30 – 11:30 Maesyn
Late Night Campfire includes: Human, Maesyn, Aloha Family Allstars with Davino, Shiner, Stephen Roush, & more

Wednesday:
5:15 – 6:30 Singing Bear
6:35 – 6:45 Alexa Sunshine Rose
7:00 – 8:15 Scott Huckabay
8:30 – 10:00 Youssoupha Sidibe with Al Torre
Featured Late Night Campfire includes: Alexa Sunshine Rose, Fantuzzi, Diane Patterson, Singing Bear, Youssou with Al Torre

Thursday:
5:30 – 6:20 Fantuzzi
6:25 – 7:00 Nicholous Iris
7:15 – 8:30 Diane Patterson
8:45 – 10:00 Freedom with Al Torre
Featured Late Night Campfire includes: Stephen Roush, Freedom, Al Torre, Diane Patterson & lots of spontaneous family magic til DAWN!

We will be playing Friday at 5 and Saturday night at 12 midnight and 1 am.

Here’s a video from last year’s Source Festival … Their website is at SourceMaui