The HH Readers Interview Wanderlust Teacher John Friend the Founder of Anusara

-How does one obtain enlightenment through the practice of yoga? - Gene Douthit
JF: Any time that we tap into our hearts and get a moment of recognition that we are all connected as ecstatically whirling, infinitely creative, auspicious consciousness then we have a moment of enlightenment. Anusara yoga teaches us that the access to the experience of enlightenment can be gained anytime and in relationship to anything. The gateway is the middle place, a flowing union point between contrary compliments. We use Universal Principles of Alignment to harmonize with the flow of life and Spirit so that we are able to access this gateway to the recognition of our true essence.

-What has your practice taught you about yourself lately? - Sarah B.

JF: After 35 years of practice, my understanding of mantra and its power has deepened, offering me new revelations.

-Who has your greatest teacher been? - Erin Connolly

JF: My mother has been my greatest teacher. She taught me how to see the vast possibilities of my life and to see the creative diversity in nature. Yet she also constantly pointed out the universal connections between religions and between various philosophies on Spirit. She showed me how to see the deep order in apparent chaos. Lastly, my mother taught me to keep a positive attitude and to see every day as a holiday.

-Who were your top 3 non-yoga influences in putting together your Anusara philosophy? - Charles Hussein Faris

JF: My top 3 non-hatha yoga philosophical influences are Theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky, Wicca, and Quantum Physics.

-How do you balance your family/friends/significant others with the concept of non-attachment? - Corinne Elizabeth

JF: I honor and respect the other as an embodiment of the Divine. I wish for everyone to be free to artistically express themselves. Each individual has their own karma and needs the space to fulfill their svadharma. Any close or intimate connection with a loved one is a blessing from the universe that is ultimately beyond our control.

-How has your past relationship with Gurumayi led to where you are today in your practice? - Jessica Sommar

JF: It is through my relationship with Gurumayi that I experienced that everything is a dance with the Shakti, or the power of Divine Consciousness. Yoga comes from the inside out. In the hatha yoga practice, the asana are expressions of a feeling or heart quality that is physicalized within the poses.

-Tell us about your fabulous partnership with Wanderlust and the Anusara events this summer. - Taraleigh Weathers

JF: Our partnership with Wanderlust has evolved since its flagship event in 2009. This year we have 2 dedicated Anusara yoga events, one before Wanderlust Vermont and one before Wanderlust California. The Anusara Grand Circle <http://anusaragrand.wanderlustfestival.com/home> is on the Summer Solstice in Stratton, Vermont on June 19th - 22nd. It will be a gathering of yogis from all over the world. It is Anusara's first large-scale community wide event on the East Coast! The Anusara Inspired Gathering <http://anusarainspired.wanderlustfestival.com/home> is July 24th - 27th. It’s the first time I am holding an event for both Anusara-Inspired and certified Anusara yoga teachers, where we will come together as both teachers and students to dive deep into our curriculum. I am super excited for these events and for the main Wanderlust events - how wonderful to be able to practice and hang out together in the heart of awe inspiring nature.

-What is your favorite healthy snack? - Taraleigh Weathers

JF: I like apple with a nut butter.

What the HH Readers Think of Camp Bisco

• I love ILCC and the bikers! I love that I don't have to walk 10,000 miles from my tent to the stages. I love chillin under the trees. I love all the fun art installations they have each year. I love the wide range of musicians that play. I love making fun of the sully Bisco wooks. I love that it's so close to home!
  
  Randy Kramer Pierce
  

  
  

  I love that everyone loves everyone. Everyone gathers for one sole purpose and that is: to free the soul, feel the vibes and take in all different forms of art in whatever crazy mindset the weekend happens to bring to you. You can walk into camp with $5 in your pocket and walk out rich with memories, connections and a never ending love for all that is Camp Bisco...and duh! The Biscuits themselves!!

  
  

  Missy Mertens

  
  

  I like that it is a non stop dance party in the land of the heady. I love that there are much less annoying ass hippies than most festivals. I like watching the wack jobs roam around at 5am.

  
  

  Greg Walton

  
  

  I love the music and all of the secret special things the Biscuits do to make sure that we are all having the best time of our lives. I won't tell you what those things are because you have to get your butt to Camp Bisco this year and see for yourselves.

  See you there!

  
  

  Taraleigh Weathers
• 

  
  Get your tickets to Camp Bisco by clicking HERE!
  Join the party in Mariaville, NY from July 7-9

StrangeCreek is Steppin' it up!

Close to two weeks after this year’s StrangeCreek Campout Music Festival I’m still glowing! Going back to Camp Kee-Wanee for me is like taking a trip ‘home’ to see friends and family I get to celebrate life with once or twice a year. I’ve been extremely fortunate to watch this festival grow over the past several years. With each year this festival gains momentum musically and a following faithful fans, so much so that this year is the first year the festival sold out! Not only has the festival grown, but the festival grounds have grown as well. Some of you may not know that the venue used for StrangeCreek is a summer camp for kids. Over the years the dedicated Wormtown Trading staff has helped to make huge improvements to the camp, clearing out tons of poison ivy, creating safe pathways for the campers to enjoy the creek, and building new cabins. One of the attributes that make the Wormtown family so special is that all of these improvements are done by volunteers who head up to camp early or agree to stay late to work their tails off to not only make Wormtown Festivals as fun (and safe) as possible, but also to help enrich the experiences of hundreds of campers.

In true Wormtown fashion the Worms are working hard at building three new cabins for the upcoming Summer Camp Season. These new cabins will serve as ‘home rooms’ for the campers to start and finish their days in. I love watching the evolution of the last set of cabins built by Wormtown. The campers have left their mark on our late cabins. (Be sure to check out the handprints, artwork, and messages left inside the cabins by the campers) reminding us that the camp is filled with love and joy all summer, not just on our special weekends spent there.

Not only have the Worms helped improve the grounds, but through the collection and redemption of cans and water and ice sales Camp Kee-Wanee benefits financially as well! Thanks to this income they have been able to keep the cost of camp extremely low which help allow more kids to experience the magic of Camp Kee-Wanee!

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the line up for Wormtown in the fall, and help support this great community! Check their website for all the latest updates http://www.wormtown.com.

Just a friendly reminder of how important it is to clean up after ourselves after our stay at Camp Kee-Wanee, the campers deserve a super clean and fun experience!

by Erin Connolly

Jade Rocks Desert Rocks in Utah

Why Desert Rocks...Rocks!

When you think of a desert there may be a few words that come to mind to describe it; hot, dry, brown, lifeless, or even death. After attending Desert Rocks Music Festival in Moab, Utah this past Memorial Day weekend the words I use to describe a desert have changed drastically. Although it was very hot, the weekend had nothing dry, brown, lifeless, or anything close to death about it.

We arrived a little late to the festival on Friday afternoon and were greeted with smiling faces and a blistering sun. The festival organizers were completely prepared for the heat and the sun. There were always ample amounts of drinking water for festival patrons to rehydrate and cool down with. Even though the festival was relatively small, organizers even provided showers.

At many other festivals I have been to Monday morning has looked like a war scene. With trash and beer cans and bottles everywhere left behind from the previous nights’ activities. Coordinators did a fantastic job of having plenty of trash and recycling receptacles though out the grounds. We all felt a little better leaving the desert as we found it...clean and green.

Lifeless, I believe, would have to be the last word that would describe this desert. Whether it be the joyful sound of music until sunrise or just the smiling happy faces of everyone attending, the weekend was full of life. The musical performances were out of this world. Everyone from Hot Buttered Rum, who threw down for two nights in a row, to some of smaller names like DARKO and Quintana, that welcomed the sunrise with many of us, all made this weekend overflow with life.

All in all Desert Rocks is by far one of my favorite festivals I have been to and plan on continuing attending for years.

www.desertrocks.org

By Jade Konitzer

Soulive Launches the Royal Family Affair

Get Down with the HH's at a 3-Day Get Down on August 12-14 at Stratton Mountain, Vermont

Featuring Soulive, Chromeo, Big Gigantic, Lettuce, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Karl Denson and many more...

In celebration of its 13th year as a band, the preeminent soul funk trio Soulive has announced the inaugural Royal Family Affair -- a three-day music festival from August 12-14 set in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. In the last decade, Soulive has toured the globe playing with some of the world's most celebrated musicians from The Rolling Stones to Dave Matthews, from Stevie Wonder to Joshua Redman. Now, as has become customary with their acclaimed Bowlive and Royal Family Ball blowouts, Soulive brings all of their diverse friends together for a weekend long event.

Joining Soulive at the Royal Family Affair are future funk luminaries Chromeo, electronic powerhouse Big Gigantic, fellow Royal Family Records label-mates Lettuce, Break Science, Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers and Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 and modern day funk legends Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Karl Denson. Additional highlights include a special one-time only performance by a power trio consisting of organist John Medeski, saxophonist Skerik and drummer Adam Deitch, as well as sets by Zach Deputy, Paper Diamond, John Brown's Body, The Pimps of Joytime, The London Soulsand Jennifer Hartswick. Additional guests will be announced shortly.

Along with performances taking place on two stages and a late-night venue, the Royal Family Affair will offer a series of intimate clinics and musical workshops with the many luminaries performing at the festival. These up close and personal meetings with the artists will take place in large indoor studios set up with musical gear. They’ll provide a fascinating window into the creative process for musicians and fans alike. Confirmed events include a guitar seminar with Eric Krasno, a percussion clinic with Alan Evans and Adam Deitch, a horn clinic with The Shady Horns and a composition/songwriting workshop with Neal Evans.

The Royal Family Affair will take place at the Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Bondville, VT. One of the best-known skiing locations in the Northeast, Stratton is easily accessible from NYC, Boston, Western Massachusetts, Albany and Burlington. The event will take place at the base of the mountain with picturesque views and a lively village featuring restaurants, bars and retail stores. Festival attendees are encouraged to stay at any of the extremely affordable lodging properties right on site. All lodging is within walking distance of the stages and rates start as low as $39 per person per night.

Beyond the great music, Stratton Mountain offers a huge variety of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. Play tennis, go hiking or kayaking, or ride the gondola to the summit - you'll enjoy views only the highest peak in Vermont's Green Mountain range can provide. In the village, Long Trail and Wolavers will offer free daily tastings of a wide variety of fine local micro-brews, and the wide variety of local restaurants will offer affordable, fresh and tasty local cuisine.

Single day ($29.50 - $34.50) and 3-day ($89.50) festival passes are on sale now through the Royal Family Affair website (www.royalfamilyaffair.com). For those looking for a VIP experience, two tiers of VIP packages are available, offering benefits ranging from exclusive viewing areas, complementary beverages, a meet & greet with the performers and backstage access. VIP packages start at $199.

So who is in????

Phish Utica DVD

Yesterday 100 lucky Vermonters and me had the privilege of being some of the first people to experience the Phish Utica DVD. Merrill of Merrill's Roxy Theaters in downtown Burlington, VT generously handed over his theater to Phish and the WaterWheel Foundation for the night. 100% of the proceeds benefited music department of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Burlington. I heard we raised over $1500 for the cause. Go us!

The original show took place on October 20, 2010 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, NY and it was the show to be at and of course one of the only shows I missed on that tour. The show at the sold out auditorium which is the size of a high school's basketball gym has been buzzed about ever since it happened. Way to go Phish Inc for picking a show where not that many fans got to experience and now they do!

I would suggest gathering all the money you have left after you buy all your tickets to go see the band and purchase this DVD immediately! The crew did a great job shooting the band from all angles and they even added a new camera that was set up right near the fabulous Chris Kuroda in order to capture the amazing Phish light show. One of my favorite parts of the DVD is Trey's smile. He obviously knows how awesome the band was sounding and you could tell that he was excited about it. He gives us tons of giggles, smiles and oh yeah faces throughout the entire show. It made me happy to watch and I felt proud of those four men from Vermont.

If you don't like the song Guyute then you might not like this show. Fans refer to this show as "Guyutica" since they played and teased this song many many times. I personally never thought it got old and got excited every time I heard Trey play that famous lick.

The DVD is available for purchase at Phish.com

The Infamous Stringdusters at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT

A man and a woman went on a date to Higher Ground in Burlington, VT to see the Infamous Stringdusters. They were blown away!! Check out their reactions.

The Woman (Taraleigh Weathers)

I am not the biggest fan of U2. My husband thought it would be funny to trick me into liking U2 when the Infamous Stringdusters did a cover from the band. He asked me if I liked the song which I said I did. When I found out it was U2 I said, "Well if U2 played the song like this then I would like it." That is how awesome the Infamous Stringdusters are! They took a song by an extremely famous and well respected band and I liked their version much better.

I seriously love this band now and want to see them every possible time I can. They had me at hello. One thing that I especially loved besides the fact that they are all extremely talented musicians and cute boys was their performance quality. They went from playing in one big long line of awesomeness to playing to each other in a circle just like they were around a campfire and we were along for the ride. I loved how they were constantly changing positions on the stage. I bet if all the band members had paint on their feet, the entire stage would be completely covered. They interacted with the audience and I felt personally responsible for how awesome the show was because they made me feel as though I was part of the band. I'm not special. They created this feeling for everyone in the crowd.

My advice to you.... GO OUT AND SEE THIS BAND!!!!

The Man (Dan Weathers)

On a cold and rainy night on an evening in Burlington, VT, bluegrass fans were warm and dry dancing their tails off to the Infamous Stringdusters. This high energy band really gets the crowd moving. While this band plays very traditional with an upright bass, dobro, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and guitar they also have a wide range of influences beyond bluegrass and country covering bands like U2 and the Police. Right off the bat you could tell these were all top notch musicians. Every note was concise and the singing came through clear. I really enjoyed watching the musicians interact. You could tell they loved what they were doing and they enjoyed watching each other as they ripped through searing solos throughout the night. As a fan you will either have fun dancing to the grooves or just sit back and marvel at the way this band tears through high paced songs never missing a beat. For me, I can't wait to see more of what these guys can do.

Check out their website for tourdates!

CLICK HERE