Wildly Diverse New Visionaries Album by Youth Emphasizes Spiritual Community-Building
As we launch into the holidays and the New Year, these devotional songs by diverse Baha’i artists designed to uplift souls will bring hopeful, uplifting, prayerful messages to families and friends. The youth that composed and perform the songs on the 21-track double Visionaries CD range in age from 15 to 25.
But Visionaries, the third CD in this unique series, is much more than just an album -- it is a catalyst for inner and outer change. The wildly diverse music speaks to the individual spirit, and it also has a collective message for improving our communities.
The Visionaries album grew out of an extensive, worldwide youth artist and mentor collaboration as the third installment of the Badasht Project, also referred to as Sounds of Spiritual Community. The Badasht Project explores how the use of beauty, music and the arts can serve as a stimulus for inner transformation, and encourages local communities to take stock of their artistic resources, and then explore how to put those talents to good use.
The project hosts house concerts, arts-oriented youth meet-ups in parks and public spaces, and utilizes music to enhance any event or occasion, with spiritual themes that lead to a lively sense of reflection for those who participate. Rather than thetypical subjects of most youth-oriented music, Visionaries features themes that relate to happiness, unity, and being of service to others.
Visionaries is produced by the creators of the Badasht Project, JB Eckl and Eric Dozier, who primarily use workshop settings, schools, concerts and on-line tools to implement their work. Eckl and Dozier have fused gospel, folk, rock, hip-hop. Americana and World Music sounds that emphasize community singing in the music on Visionaries. Along with the first two Badasht albums, Visionaries is designed to be easily learned and replicated by youth and community groups.
The double album has unique goals:
· Giving youth the musical and artistic tools to spread messages of spirituality, peace and unity in devotionals, children’s classes and youth group activities;
· Inspiring a deeper appreciation and network of support for music and the arts among children and youth.
· Using the arts to express ourselves in our diversity of thought and culture, in addition to spreading joy and happiness throughout our communities.
The Visionaries songs are full of hope:
“In the darksome night of despair, my eye turneth expectant and full of hope to the morn of Thy boundless favor and at the hour of dawn my drooping soul is refreshed and strengthened in remembrance of Thy beauty and perfection;” excerpt from, “Take Me Home”.
The Badasht Project returns, with a 2-CD set of 21 songs dedicated to youth everywhere, featuring an ever-greater circle of collaborators spanning every genre from electronica to bluegrass to rock to Americana to hip-hop. Visionaries features young artists, some already well along their path, others recorded here for the first time—as well as a few more ‘seasoned’ folks—creating music ranging from the purely devotional, using passages from the Bahá’í Writings, to the personal and introspective, in the inspired language of the heart.
An online resource where people can learn to use their creativity to translate the Bahá’i message to the world - whether by learning songs, finding relevant passages compiled from the Bahá’i Writings and recent guidance, or participating in discussions with others on the creative path.
The Baha’i Faith has no clergy and invites everyone to take part in a life-long process of independent investigation and learning about how lofty spiritual principles — such as the elimination of prejudice and the equality of women and men — can be translated into a new social reality. The central teaching of the Baha’i Faith is the oneness of humanity, meaning that the long-promised age of global justice and peace is finally within humanity’s reach. Translating this vision into reality may take several generations of focused effort and learning. The primary purpose of BahaiTeachings.org is to help advance this humanitarian process.
