Spirit Voyage

Bhagavan Das' new CD Love Songs to the Dark Lord is mesmerizing, with depth and spiritual resonance....tribal rhythms entwined with the ancient musical legacy of Indian Sanskrit mantras. Love Songs to the Dark Lord features Benjy Wertheimer on drums, esraj and drone; Kali Dharma singing, Caton Lyles on drums and Michael Stirling on drone.

Bhagavan Das started playing music in Europe, hanging out with the yet-unknown Leonard Cohen in Greece, before heading East, hiking overland through Afghanistan and Pakistan into India. He lived as an Indian sadhu for six years and gained worldwide fame from the publication of Be Here Now, by Ram Dass. He's recorded a number of albums including Now, produced by Beastie Boy's Mike D., which brought traditional Indian chants together with contemporary beats and loops. His tour takes him to all the major cities in North America and Europe yearly.

Bhagavan Das is a western Sadhu (mendicant or monastic), author and singer who is well known for introducing renowned spiritual leader Ram Dass to his guru Neem Karoli Baba (as recounted in Dass' renowned book Be Here Now).

Throughout his career, Bhagavan Das has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts and Madonna. His latest collaboration is with Beastie Boy Mike D who produced and co-wrote the music as well as created the incredible samples that surround Bhagavan Das' rich vocal presence on Now! Mike D first worked with the devotional singer when he had Das add vocals to a remix he did for Moby. From that seed an artistic partnership grew, resulting in the ubiquitous Now! sessions.

For those not familiar with Bhagavan Das’ background, he was born Michael Riggs and later changed his name when he left America in pursuit of greater spiritual understanding. In the early 1960s, Bhagavan Das connected with the transcendental aspect of his life and found that there was an interesting interplay between the mundane and the spiritual. Since then he has developed a following through his music and spiritual teachings. Bhagavan Das continues to tour, but if you are not able to see him in person and can not afford to beat the current eBay.com high bid of his Grand Royal album he also released an album in 1971 entitled Ah.