I am not a musician, but a lover of music.......I use music to motivate me, on my way to work I play soothing music that usually does not have lyrics. I listen to Yanni most of the time, but like that ambience kind of music, It calms me and I have a greater will to do the things I have to do. I can not play a song with a fast pace unless I want a traffic ticket,lol. Music is the doctor  for the soul. Sometimes I play only piano because violin makes me anxious. If you have any questions you can contact me at kateesquilts@aol.com

thanks, Katee

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Katee, thanks for your thoughts.  Music definitely feeds the soul, and I know what you mean about faster paced music creating a lead foot while driving.  Of course, I love driving on the open road, soaring like an eagle with the tunes playing.
 

I agree. Not many people know this, but Black Ether actually began as a means for this artist to find some kind of solace following the events of 9/11, a day where i lost 11 dear friends. I went a little off my rocker that day, having witnessed the tragic events first hand and after several months of not being able to function, i turned back to the thing that I had abandoned some 5 years earlier...my music. It gave me the focus that i needed and an outlet to express my emotional state freely and without repercussion. Music has always offered me a place of peace and serenity.

I distinctly remember being 13 years old living in a virtual war zone and turning to Santana's Borboletta as a way to cope with the randomn violence that all too often shook my world at its roots. I truly believe that that album kept me sane in an insane environment as it had a way of calming me through escapism just enough to be able to deal with my reality.

All these years later, I find myself in the reverse position, where my work has had a very profound affect on people's outlook and provided many with the inspiration to march on in the struggle we call life. It's the most fullfilling aspect of this artist's life, that I can do for other's what Borboletta did for me. The hundreds of little notes of thanks Ive gotten since I started the BE project mean so much more to me than the number of listens or the number of CDs sold.

Im part native american. Music has a profound significance in my way of thinking and in my culture and Ive always seen it as a means to portray the human heart at its apex. I refer to it as the LifeSong, that which sustains my spirit,  as much a part of who I am as the bones, sinew and flesh that make up the physical being. Its always right there, in the back of my head, the song playing endlessly for as long as I can remember. I sincerely believe that when that stops, when the last note is played and there's no coda to renew it...then my time here on this earth is done.

While for me, its a creative process more than a ritualistic one, there is one thing that I do that Ill share. At the end of every day, before I find my dreams, I play my grand piano...not anything in particular and never the same thing twice. Just whats flowing through my spiritual conduit at that particular moment, the LifeSong in its purest form, uninhibited, unproduced, unpolished. Its the truest expression of me that there is. Its my way of re-connecting with my spirit. Ive been doing this for over 30 years and Ive never recorded a single note of it. But without it, I am nothing.

 

Yes, Black Ether, an affinity for Native American music is shared by so many.  Many times at the end of a long day I'll pop in R. Carlos Nakai and let his flute wash over me.  Ah Nee Mah is relaxing....connecting as well.  Universal Spirit blesses us all with so many instruments.  Depending on the mood at the time, Native American music sends out such healing and I never tire of her messages.

What a wonderful outlet for surviving such tragedy.  Tell us more about the music you create please.

 

I too turned to my music in a time of great upheaval and stress. I used to be a filmaker / actress / writer. When things crashed and burned in that part of my life, I transformed into a musician (I had always been a singer / fiddler but never pursued it as my profession). It was the begining of an amazing transformation which is still occurring today. I write music and perform it mainly with the intention of lightening those around me - lifting and lightening their spirits. And I am always thrilled to hear from a fan that they had just that experience! I think one of the things that people find unusual about me is my wry sense of humor about human darkness. I generally find human behavior pretty amusing - especially mine! But sometimes it's not about finding the humor, it's about finding the love. I do that too.