Michael Waters live, at home. "Big Dave" (candlelight sessions)

Michael Waters invites us on a private journey through the soundscapes of his practice. Filmed in fall 2010 at his home, in Victoria, British Columbia.

track info :
Composition series: The Medicine Path
Drawn from the energy of Dave Lockett (Ronin Niwe) an apprentice to Guillermo Arevalo in the traditional medicine ceremonies of the Amazon. Holding a gentle even keel, with a surprising intensity and breadth.

Website www.ladybirdmusic.com and www.creativefloodgates.com

Michael's Bio :

My pathway has been unusual - 20 years playing as a spiritual practice before composing two songs, then another thirteen years before finally reaching a correct approach to composition, resulting in an unbroken wave of
composing since October 2004.

I was born in 1954 and raised in a remote logging and fishing community in the coastal forest of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We had no road, no telephone or television, no churches or restaurants. We did have ocean, forest and sky, and all the birds, animals and fish in them.

This immersion in nature is without a doubt the foundation of the music I am playing.

I chose to avoid playing as a profession when I was twenty, as I did not want to harness the music with earning me a living. I spent ten years travelling the world, learned other ways to make money, and kept the music free.

During this period I gained a spiritual foundation that I recognized I could build on for the rest of my life, and that was from my own occidental cultural heritage.

Although not directly addressed to music, this practice enabled me to reach a balance of energy that I see as fundamental to creative work.

More recently, I worked with the medicine traditions of the Amazon, and this shifted my approach to one where the obstacle of self-judgement was finally removed. This liberation meant the capacity to compose and play without interference became possible.

I often characterize this shift as being like finding out there is no Santa Claus - you can't go back!

Now, some 37 years later, with this maturing of the music, I can no longer approach it as a search, having built a pathway to its source.

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[RetroGamerr1991]

It may be just me but I hear a lot of Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold in your music. Do any metal bands have any influence on your music?