As we enter the final season of 2023, I lay back and reflect on all the kirtan music we played this year. Not only the 50+ concerts that we hosted around Colorado, but also the daily practice at home, the mornings and evenings filled with music. This year has been all about getting out there, booking as many shows as possible, shaping up the band’s dynamics, and turning our passion into a long term career.
Destination: Kirtan Denver
Most of the kirtan events we hosted where held at yoga studios in Denver, including Denver Yoga Underground, Samadhi Yoga Denver, and Yoga Center of Denver. These studios have seen us grow, show after show, and we continue to look forward to our next kirtan there (Yoga Center of Denver coming up on November 25, and Samadhi Yoga on December 2nd).
We are sure to host many more kirtan events and live music in Denver next year. Our goal is to host at least 108 concerts in 2024, and to play at every single yoga studio in Denver.
It has not been easy to book these events, partially because we are a new kirtan band, but also because many yoga studios in Denver closed during the pandemic, and many have continued to close after. Our Denver kirtan project has been all about bringing more life into the Denver yoga community, and hold space where we can all come together and remember our divinity through the ancient practice of kirtan music.
We Want More: Kirtan Boulder
Booking kirtan in Boulder has proved to be even more challenging than booking kirtan in Denver. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get a single yoga studio in Boulder to welcome us into their space. Many of the studios I used to frequent where also forced to close down during the pandemic, and the ones that are still open didn’t show interest in collaborating with us, mainly because they either already have a kirtan band that plays kirtan music at their studio, or they were corporate yoga studios without the capacity to welcome our band.
Although I felt much disappointment finding all those doors closed, I trust that soon we will be able to bring more kirtan to yoga studios in Boulder, but so far, the only kirtan in Boulder we were able to host was at Congregation Nevei Kodesh, the same place where Mike Cohen offers hist monthly kirtan events.
And to be fair, we did get to book kirtan in Boulder County, including multiple shows at Prana Tonic in Golden, as well as our upcoming kirtan at Soul Tree Yoga on December 9.
Coming Soon: More Medicine Music
In addition to playing kirtan music, we also started booking Boulder concerts to share medicine music and Divino BetSatori original songs. We started by hosting kirtan events because we figured that would be the easiest angle to build a following and get people to join us. Now that the kirtan music train is on the tracks and chugging along, we are able to continue opening up our schedule to share more medicine music events. These might look like private ceremonies, house concerts, and the casual drop-by Pearl Street Mall.
This will be a new challenge, but we have a long list of possible venues, and have already been taking steps forward to books some live music Boulder shows.
When it comes to medicine music, it might be a bit harder to promote. I get the feeling that more people know what kirtan music is, than medicine music, and while kirtan can easily find it’s place at yoga studios, I find medicine music to be less popular, and often reserved for plant medicine ceremonies. Our goal is to bring this music out from closed doors, and into our communities, for all of us to rejoice in the healing power of these spiritually charged songs.
Divino BetSatori: Back to My Roots
On top of all the kirtan and medicine music we’ve been playing, I also started playing live music in Boulder at Rincon Argentino. This is an idea I had for a while, and was finally able to make it happen. Super grateful to Cristian for opening the doors for us to come and share a blend of our music, and some Argentinean classics from the 90s. We are hoping to make it a regular thing, but for now we are just droping by here and there.
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