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MP3 Bob and Wendy - Dharma Dream
11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, NEW AGE: Meditation
Details:
Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds
I’ve reviewed Bob & Wendy in the past and have always enjoyed their CDs. In fact, it was this group that made me realize I actually liked Americana music. Back then I thought that was just a new word for country.
This album seems to have swayed a little from that classification. I think this is more straight folk. Contemporary folk, not protest song-folk. At any rate they’ve put out another great record.
“Will o’ the Wisp” is a great song with which to open the CD. Wendy’s comforting voice is in top form here. It’s so nice to pop in something that you just know you’re going to like and hear that familiar voice again.
The songwriting, as usual is superb. Slightly dirgy, grungy and so unique. I’ve heard hundreds of records in the past year and nothing sounds like this. Honestly. They use not only guitar and voice, but also strings including the cello and mandocello (I’d never heard of it either, but it’s lovely).
The lyrics are as well thought out as the tunes. The liner notes say that Wendy wrote these as part of her spiritual journey. The themes are lovely: Loss, discovery… Sad at times, but always intriguing.
I was happy to hear “Still Small Voice” again as that was the first song I ever heard of theirs and I still love it. It was track one on their first CD, Behind the Blue.
“Beginner’s Mind” is another new favorite of mine.
If you take a listen to the tracks here and like what you hear, you’ll like the whole record. Then if you do, pick up their others as well. You won’t be disappointed.
Posted on January 18, 2006
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New Times Music Review
San Luis Obispo''s News and Entertainment Weekly
Finding her way: Wendy Liepman talks about her new song collection
By GLEN STARKEY
Last week, SLO Town''s favorite folk duo, Bob & Wendy, released their fifth CD, Dharma Dream , to a standing-room-only crowd at Linnaea''s Café. The couple is an enduring fixture of the local music scene, known for their sensitive performances, Wendy''s thoughtful lyrics, Bob''s amazing cello work.
Bob and Wendy call their new CD “a collection of songs inspired by an evolving spiritual journey,” noting that “in her lyrics, Wendy contemplates desire, impermanence, karmic conditioning, and mindfulness.”
Indeed, the recording is filled with spiritual musings, such as on “Crescent Moon,” where Wendy sings, If you pose the question “Why?”/ Don''t expect a quick reply/ Lose yourself, free your mind/ A perfect peace is what you''ll find.
In the liner notes, Wendy writes that the 11-song collection “is thematically related in that it describes my evolving spiritual journey. Some songs describe struggles with ego and desire. Others speak of a longing for truth and awakening.”
Dharma Dream , produced by longtime musical collaborator Salvador Garza, is available at Boo Boo Records and https://www.tradebit.com. Learn more about Bob & Wendy at https://www.tradebit.com Wendy engaged in an e-mail interview with New Times .
New Times - In “Will o'' the Wisp,” you sing about desire for happiness and how difficult it is to find and how fleeting when we find it. Buddhism suggests that relinquishing desire leads to happiness, but that seems very unAmerican, uncapitalistic, etc. Your song doesn''t seem to offer a solution, but do you have any secrets to finding and holding onto happiness?
Wendy Liepman - Finding happiness is easy; holding on to it is impossible. The only secret is to appreciate the beauty without expecting it to last. Not easy.
New Times - The lyrics to “Crescent Moon” sound like poetry. In a song like that one, which comes first, the lyrics or the music? Can you describe how one informs the other?
Wendy Liepman - From talking to other songwriters, I believe that by writing the lyrics first, I am in the minority. Often, after I have a verse or so, I get out the guitar and sing the phrase repeatedly while trying interesting chord progressions until something starts to gel musically. Then I play it for Bob, and he helps me rein it in.
New Times - In the album''s third song, “Liberation Bound,” the album title ( Dharma Dream ) is found in the final line of the song, “I have come to live the dharma dream.” Can you explain more fully what that means to you?
Wendy Liepman - There is a famous Buddhist verse, the “Heart Sutra,” which states, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Quantum physics says the same thing. That which we think of as solid is constantly changing and is beyond our limited perception. Like the old nursery rhyme, “Life is but a dream.”
New Times - “In My Wake” sounds like every relationship I''ve ever had. Is this autobiographical? I sort of hope not, because you two seem to have one of the relationships that give others hope for their own ... .
Wendy Liepman - No matter how loving and committed the relationship, we still bring along our baggage, our personal demons. Actually, both people in this song are different parts of myself: One is the person who gets irritated and reacts, the other is the person who is beginning to be aware, who knows better, but strikes out anyway.
New Times - How do we acquire a “Beginner''s Mind,” as described in your song?
Wendy Liepman - Give up your preconceived ideas. Catch the judge and critic in the act, and fire them. Walk silently in nature, read poetry, meditate.
New Times - “Little Buddha” is yet another song that seems more interested in Eastern religious ideas rather than Western. Has part of your spiritual journey led you further away from Western and more toward Eastern ideas? If so, what about Eastern religious philosophy do you find so attractive?
Wendy Liepman - For better or worse, I have been thoroughly conditioned by Western ideas. The bright side encourages creativity, freedom of expression, and curiosity. The dark side pushes consumerism, egoism, and nationalism. I am certainly influenced by both sides. I have become attracted to Eastern philosophy''s ideas of interdependence, respect, and appreciation of nature, and the path that leads toward selflessness and compassion for all beings. Also, being continually reminded of the truth of impermanence makes it a little easier to let go without such a struggle.
New Times - “The Veil” is one of those songs that can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. What does it mean to you two?
Wendy Liepman - Reality is obstructed by our perceptions, desires, aversions, and by all of our past experiences. I know that never being satisfied is part of the human condition, and yet I continue to look externally for happiness. I am the only one who can remove the veil.
New Times - “Haunted” seems to suggest that we should let go of our dreams and desires. While certainly a Buddhist idea, it flies contrary to what we teach our children: If you want something bad enough and work hard enough, you can achieve anything. Of course, that strikes some as completely false and others as true. Where has your spiritual journey led you regarding this idea?
Wendy Liepman - Buddhist philosophy encourages us to put our wholehearted effort into working towards what is beneficial. Just let go of the outcome. In other words, don''t get angry if you don''t get what you want right now. Perhaps through your efforts you have influenced others and the repercussions will be felt beyond your immediate experience.
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