Allowah & Truly Helpful Music

Aloha Friends,

Here's another track from my new album, One Life. It's a song that I wrote half a lifetime ago while sitting on U of Penn's campus. I had been getting deep into yoga and reading the Bhagavad Gita, reflecting a lot about the war within ourselves. I found this cool riff and then the rest of the chords flowed. I think I probably thought of the first line then and there, and then labored over the rest later, I don't recall anymore.

A couple of years ago, I finally got a chance to record the song, and it interestingly came in the same week that Russia invaded Ukraine. Not too long after, Christopher Nolan's great film, Oppenheimer, came out. J. Robert Oppenheimer was famously thinking about the Gita as he watched the first atomic bomb test in Los Alamos in 1945.

Recently I did a YouTube video about the two verses from the Gita that Oppenheimer was thinking about. Here they are, starting with:

"If the light of a thousand suns
were to rise in the sky at once,
it would be like the light
of that great spirit."
(Bhagavad Gita 11.12)

Just a little later, he thought about the verse:

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
(Bhagavad Gita 11. 32)

The truth is that Oppenheimer later said that while he thought of those verses, he didn't actually say them.

As for the second verse, I believe that Oppenheimer may have been confusing or conflating it with verses 9.19, and 10.34, where Krishna says: "I am death." (Oppenheimer did not have the power of the internet at his disposal : )

I always thought that I would include a verse from the Bhagavad Gita in the "Losin' the Illusion" song, and kind of last minute, I asked my good friend and amazing sound guy Yoa YoîkYasî at StarFrog Mastering to add Oppenheimer's "I am become death" line, along with the sounds of an actual atomic bomb. I think Yoa did a great job with his assignment.

All in all, the song is a reminder to myself that peace is an inside job, and that I can fight life and the world, but it's all about finding the peace within, while also doing my part to promote peace in the world -- and inner peace is also a big part of my part.

You can listen to the track here:

Losin' the Illusion, by Allowah from the album One Life

Aloha! 🌞

Turns out this song was pretty prescient…

Months before the whole “WEIRD” meme hit the scene in regard to the GOP, this song was bringing the MAWA slogan (“Make America Weird Again”) to the earwaves…

https://open.spotify.com/track/1WsKUVzb0Ri6eshFVwmcZ5?si=jTa45QSBQ72sHkXtDFhBzg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A3Dd5yGYvS2r8iw9nGTrOFX

The Attitude of Gratitude Song · Allowah · 2024

Aloha Friends,

Here's one of the catchier tracks from my new album, One Life, for your listening pleasure...

https://allowah.bandcamp.com/track/crazy-for-you

And here's something I just wrote about the album as a whole:

First, thank you for stopping by & tuning in. I want to share with you a little bit about this album, and I'll do my best to keep it brief and to the point...

This is a bit of an unfinished symphony in that I decided to release it before fully completing all of the tracks. Even the ones that are complete could, to my mind, still use some work, specifically in the area of mixing and mastering, but also added instrumentation and vocal tweaking, etc.

Just for the record, the more finished and complete tracks are: Into Her Presence, Losin' the Illusion, State of Grace, The Attitude of Gratitude, and Choose Once Again. Everything else is just not quite there yet, yet...

That said, I do think that there is much that is of value here, and that is why I decided to put it out as is.

This album is essentially a concept album based around the theme of "Oneness." You can hear that theme played out on almost every track, and if you don't hear the word "One," then you will hear something about one's good friend and faithful companion, Love.

The idea for the title came from the title track, "One Life (God 3.1)," which I feel is one of the strongest tracks on the album. Early on I played it for the producer, Julian Sundby, and he suggested that maybe the album could be called "One Life," too. I said, yeah, maybe.

And then on the day that we officially began recording, as I was on the way to the studio, I drove up behind a car with the words "One Life" written on the back. I took it as a sign, and that's where the concept of the album really started to take shape.

Some of the best musicians from Nashville flew down to Florida to help with this album, including a true guitar hero, Darin Favorite. You can hear his masterful playing from the very first track, "Foreverture," and on just about every track thereafter. I'm truly awed by Darin's musicianship. To see him in action is basically to be blown away.

Essentially, I brought the songs with all the basic parts worked out, and Darin and the guys then one-upped it into something well beyond what it was. For example, I had a basic idea for One Life, and the Nashville cats added some choice parts that I then had to go back and write lyrics for -- it ended up being far better than I could have imagined.

That said, I do feel that something is generally lost in the studio that you could really only get from hearing the songs live, either with a band, or perhaps better, with just me playing the songs the way that I originally wrote them.

And on the other hand again, I'm amazed at what the boys did, and how quickly they put it all together. They are true professionals. That's why I wanted to change the name of the artist for the album to "Allowah & the A-Men," because they really are all what are called "A-listers" in the business.

I would say that this album is really 13 tracks with 5 demo bonus tracks, and most of the bonus tracks are at the tail end of it.

If I had to choose the 6 strongest tracks in order of quality, they would be:

1. Let's Get Hitched
2. Losin' the Illusion
3. Crazy for You
4. Into Her Presence
5. One Life (God 3.1)
6. The Music Now

The one track that I would really love to record professionally, and willl at some point, is "All I Know," which I feel is the best-written song. Darin actually helped with the version on the album -- I recorded my parts in the bathroom on my iphone, and he added the guitar and bass and mixing at his home studio.

Overall, I feel that these songs are profound artistic statements coming from a place of deep engagement with spiritual principles and practice. The album really is just one long presentation of nonduality, couched in a popular format. I'm not exactly patting myself on the back, but this is not such an easy thing to pull off -- and I'm not so sure that I did, but hey, at least I tried.

You might also say that the album is all about the illusion and reality of Love. I would like to think that it moves the musical conversation forward a bit Please read what I wrote in the liner notes for "One Life (God 3.1)" to get a better sense of what I mean by this. I used the word "God" only sparingly and when I did, with specific intention. I don't care for music that is too preachy, and maybe this comes off that way a bit too much, but I would say it's more of just a personal affirmation and reminder than anything else; and in any case, the good thing about music is that you can always just turn it off! But I do hope you'll listen to appreciate the more subtle nuances of the presentation.

I chose the Rock format because it was the music I grew up with and I would say that "Classic Rock" is in a very strong sense my Bible and the soundtrack to my life. You can hear echoes of some of my biggest early influences in this music: Pete Townshend and the Who, the Beatles, Dylan, Beck, Hendrix, Clapton, the Stones, Santana, Blue Oyster Cult, the Doors, and many other great artists of the '60s and '70s.

This album is dedicated to my late parents, Beverly and Fred, and to my brothers and family.

Again, thank you for listening. I would like to think this is all just from my heart to yours, and from your heart to God's. But that's just the music talkin'... I'll meet you there. One Love

Aloha!

Here's an impromptu version of a song from my new album, One Life, with a bonus dance from Beata (not featured on the album ; )... https://youtu.be/dW0eSPNZ85A

We want to thank everyone who made the album possible, especially all the great musicians who played on the songs. Big thanks also to The Fort Studios in Fort Myers, and to my friend at StarFrog Mastering who helped to mix and master the songs Yoa YoîkYasî.

And thanks for checking out the music.

The Attitude of Gratitude Yes-I on Big I Song from Allowah’s new album, One Life:https://allowah.bandcamp.com/album/one-life

Aloha Friends ❤

Today I'm finally announcing the official release of my album, One Life. It was originally envisioned to be an orchestral Rock concept album, and it is that to some degree, but due to the prolonged process and limited budget, I decided upon an earlier release sans orchestra.

As it is, I still feel it is very good and has some real moments.

The album has 18 tracks and if I had to pick my top 5, they would be:
1. Let's Get Hitched
2. Losin' the Illusion
3. Crazy for You
4. The Music Now
5. Choose Once Again

You can buy the album for just $8.08 on Bandcamp (link below). Please do. It's very inexpensive (for 18 tracks) and it will definitely support the cause of creating more great music. My motto & battle cry has been:

"I've only just begun to write!"

Lots of great music yet to come, including with Beata & Sonny!

You also probably can't imagine all that went into this project, not to mention the $. It was a lot. So I hope you will consider ordering it.

Some of the best musicians in Nashville flew down to help lay down the tracks, including a really excellent guitarist, Darin Favorite. You'll hear some amazing guitar work on the album, thanks to Darin, and the drums & bass are none-too-shabby either. ( I will be posting photos and stories in another post.)

The album was largely recorded with Julian Sundby at The Fort Studios in Fort Myers, and engineered by Dirty Frank. At some point, the relationship with the studio broke down, but at the 11th hour an angel buddy came to the rescue, and that was Yoa YoîkYasî, who offered to mix and master many of the tracks at a reduced price. Please check him out at StarFrog Mastering, he's really excellent, and also an epic musician himself with a ton of music that he will be releasing. Yoa also had a genius idea to use AI with help in mastering some of the songs for which I did not have all of the original files. The result is, again, not too shabby! Really good, actually. Thanks, bro! : )

Anyway, would love to hear your feedback on the music, and like I said, I will be saying some more things about the music in the days to come.

Peace ❤ Rock On 3~' Allowah

Dear Friends,

Here's another song from the album I'm about to release. It's a song dedicated to my mom, Beverly, who always was very supportive of my musical endeavors. In the photo, she's holding me and my twin brother, Ed, probably very shortly after we were born.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2KRgAmFybuxwpqJiPtj0cS?si=9a6e7ac4fc534367

Thank you for listening & supporting. Peace

The Music Now Allowah · Song · 2024

“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.”

So sang John Lennon in his song “God,” which was on the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, released in 1970. The Beatles had just broken up and the song was a declaration that he had no need for belief-laden/driven concepts, concepts which included “the Beatles.” Other such concepts which he no longer believed included (among others): Jesus, Elvis, Yoga, Buddha, Gita, and Hi**er. All of those concepts, he suggested, were not real to him. What was real was what he knew: Himself – he and Yoko. Here is a link to the song and the lyrics:

You will note what John left out: He doesn’t say that he does not believe in love. In fact, he suggests that he does when he brings in Yoko. I think Bono picked up on this when he wrote his riposte to Lennon’s song, which he called, of course, “God Part II” (on Rattle and Hum, released 1998). Not only does the song reference Lennon in several places, but it also has a similar lyrical structure, with each verse ending in the line: “I… I believe in love.” Bono seemed to be essentially
affirming Lennon’s message, and in the song Bono also defends John’s character, which took a hit
after his murder with the publication of Albert Goldman’s damning biography of the Fab Four leader. It’s not commonly known that U2 actually started as an overtly Christian rock band, which is why the verse

I don't believe in Goldman
His type like a curse
Instant Karma's gonna get him
If I don't get him first

seems rather un-christian, unless you understand the somewhat playful tongue-in-cheek nature of the song, and Bono’s blatantly pointing to his own contradictions.

You also can’t miss the fact that nowhere in the song does Bono say, “I believe in Jesus,” or “I believe in God,” or anything remotely like that (no doubt purposefully so)… unless, of course, your definition of love includes those concepts.

And yet, a third song that was a response to both Lennon and Bono’s songs does clearly mention God and Jesus, and that is Larry Norman’s 1991 song, “God Part III” (on his album, “Stranded in Babylon”). I know, you’ve never heard of Larry Norman (I hadn’t either), which is kind of unfortunate as he really was a great songwriter and also hailed as one of the founders of Christian Rock. (The album to listen to by him is definitely his 1972 album, “Only Visiting This Planet.”). Norman’s song borrows the formats of the two previous songs, while declaring without a blush at the end of each verse: “But i oh i believe in God.” It’s clearly a Christian message, with the author at the end even affirming his belief in physical resurrection. But it also has its share of Rock star attitude, and while it’s not necessarily a put-down of Lennon and Bono’s songs, I tend to think Norman saw it as an improvement – God is in charge, guys, enough with your apostasy.

But Lennon and Bono definitely had a good point: God is not such a reality to most of us as love is. That’s why many of us probably find “I believe in love” a little more accessible (and dare I say, acceptable) than “I believe in God.” John would probably say, well, that’s fine for you, but God is a concept that we made up; it’s something we might put our belief or faith in, but can anyone tell you what God really is? No. But some have tried. And this is where enters to the center an even lesser-known artist, one you’ve (almost) never heard of: The Great Allowah. And his new song, “One Life (God 3.1),” which is a response to all three songs mentioned above…

Allowah’s song is also not a supercession of the previous songs as much as it is a bridging of the gap. In it, he sings, “God is just Love, and therefore so am I” (taken directly from A Course in Miracles), by which he means that God is only love, and the “Love of God” is more than just a concept. It’s an experience, it’s a reality, a knowing. And in sharing this idea, not only do we return to the wholeness and unity that is our true reality, but we also invite others to do the same. And God knows our heart is calling us to do this to be a beacon of light and peace to our war-torn world.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0nqG0WOtgTMYs7vVgMCsOr?si=isX1lyqLSq6LL9g6TnPWOA

Dear Friends,

I have kind of a big announcement to make... Yes, we're moving to Hawaii, and sad to leave Florida, but we have a good opportunity waiting for us in the land of aloha.

The announcement is that I have a long-awaited album that will soon be released. The album is called "One Life," and it has certainly been a labor of love. For better or for worse, I was not able to complete the album as I wanted to, but I still feel that it's good as is. It was meant to be more of an orchestral rock tribute & a tribute to my parents, but as it is, it's much more sparse and not completely mixed and mastered in the most optimal way.

Here's one song from the album, it's the title track, "One Life." This song has a story behind it, and in the coming days I will be telling that story.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0nqG0WOtgTMYs7vVgMCsOr?si=0ebffc5176174e9e

I would love your feedback if you care to give it. My dream is to keep recording music, but the next album I would really love to do is with Beata and Sonny!

Rock on

One Life (God 3.1) Allowah · Song · 2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/58tkmfGCpKHJ6v6m/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Yesterday Kirtan was a blast! 🎼🎶💕
We are so grateful for all of you who came and participate in the circle. It was truly MAGICAL! 💜
The energy was so warm, and peace, love and smiles were right there!

We are so grateful for moments like this

Namaste 🙏

https://youtu.be/JyhkJ_pPOj4?si=g-lguZ-eh9DPZ4rf

Another Dickey Betts Tribute~ Medley in A

Dear Friends,

You have heard that a key ingredient to success is consistency. While I have not personally been consistent with a lot of things, I do try my best to be consistent with my family. And I have also been consistent with reading and teaching A Course in Miracles this past year (see video, one of the latest). I'm starting to recognize that one of my greatest gifts is in using my voice, and particularly in private consultation with those who are spiritually oriented and in need of some direct personal guidance. I have already had success in this area, otherwise I would not put this out there. But if you feel so called, please do reach out. I offer a free consultation, and then we can take it from there to see what your needs are moving forward.

A Course in Miracles Read & Discuss: “The Quiet Answer” The ego’s prop agenda…

Hey there everyone, thank you all so much for the sweet bday wishes yesterday 🤩 Here’s one little song we did for you and for our little family here…. 💫💖💫

“Happy Unbirthday to Me” ~ Allowah Original Recorded on my bday, January 28, 2024.Listen also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/65HdoZyDY87eR1jBRrTWPW?si=c2bbb178d8314fe6Happy Unbirthday to Me...