I am rocker. A roller. A closet punk. I know. I’m a lot of other things too. Don’t judge. Of late I’ve been rocking it pretty thoroughly.  This weekend Mr. Furnace and I were privileged to go to the birthday party of Roger Fisher, the founding guitar player for _Heart_.  A breath of the heart you could say.  We were there because Mr. F is the manager for a Seattle band, X-15/Life in General, who also played.

It was a small affair, maybe 250 people.  Roger is a super sweet guy with a lovely world view.  He wanted to please us, to give us maximum pleasure, and pulled out all the musical stops. His new stuff is really something else, man, I love me some electric cello.  Since our local news station showed up to film some of it, I feel I can say his name on my blog.  He was certainly a breath of the heart.  What a generous, sweet, nutty, nice guy.

Original musicians from Heart, Steppenwolf, War, Moby Grape, The Daily Flash, and The Kingsmen were there among many others. For those in my age group and some years older, this was an incredible line up, just really something else. These are talented, seasoned, players who have their chops DOWN.

Each session was brief but man, did we have a musical feast.  I mean, we had front row seats to see a few of the original Kingsmen (including the guy who wrote it) do Louis Louis, the original guys, right there, playing for us and talking with us later. The others were just as stellar but everyone knows Louis Louis. I tell you, it was EPIC…  There were many others but those are highlights.  Hours of music.

I’ve also been listening a LOT lately to Duff McKagan’s Loaded band, totally punk/rock blend. Duff is a local boy made good from my crowd. He has a book out where he talks about his journey into addiction and then into recovery.  I really related to it and relate to his music, especially his lyrics. His band kicks some ass too, his drummer is on FIRE.  That is a breath of the heart too.  He’s not for everyone. Don’t judge.

Today I need another kind of Breath of the Heart…  One that is a little calmer, a large pendulum swing to the other side…  I have a vacation coming up, a short 5 days but it is eagerly awaited. I want some down time, some quiet time.  This called me. Thought I would share it with you.

Krishna Das – Breath of the Heart – Kashi Vishwanath Gange