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JOHN SHELDON

MY JOURNEY IN MUSIC


           Playing music has been a lifelong pursuit, a journey through a world I never could have imagined.


           I have played guitar on large stages, and in dark hovels, in rock clubs, roadside country music dives, at weddings where I didn’t know a single song that they wanted. I have been fired for playing original songs.


           I have also played in mountains, by rivers, in forests, and swamps, where I was drowned out by the calling of frogs. Every place has a vibration, an individuality.


           I have sat for days in the desert, fasting, listening, not playing a single note.


           Always, something was leading me on. As soon as I became comfortable with what I was doing, I began to lose interest. There was something out there, a sound, at the edge of my hearing, but there nonetheless. I followed it.


           Lately, that sound has led me to create THE RED GUITAR, a story with music, which I perform in small theaters and intimate gatherings. It is like a tale you would hear around a fire long ago, except that it came directly from my life.


           I also have been exploring long improvisations, usually connected to a spirit of some kind. The spirit of the water, the wolf, the tree, the hillside outside my studio window, the rainstorm that makes its way across the valley.


         

          I created a piece called “Earth Blues,” a sound played directly to the crust of the earth, as it sings back its story of being pierced, drilled, exploded, trampled on, by a race that has forgotten who they truly are: the children of this incredible planet. Another piece about the earth, “Planet Song,” explores the sound, on 12 string guitar, of the earth going about the business of healing itself.


           I can still get lost in the tangled agendas of this world, but that sound keeps coming back, luring me out of myself and into a bigger world of synchronicity, grace, and deep magic from the dawn of time. My words are my own, and they are not. The sounds from my fingers, the same. The journey continues.


         

          My view of music has changed. It is not just entertainment anymore, but a way to connect to the energies of spirit and to invite them to our presence.


          I used to think I was playing music to get somewhere, but it turned out it was really a journey of healing myself.


          I now commit every note I play and every story I tell as a prayer and dedication to this beautiful, sentient planet we live on.


          I invite you to join me.

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