AWAKENING Videos 1, 2, and 3...

September, 2017 -
From the Awakening album, ‘Ocean, Carry Me’ was recorded at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, CA, and features performances from Naomi Charanpal and Johanna Beekman, with footage from out in the desert at Joshua Tree and on the shores of our Pacific Ocean. Feeling blessed to be coming to the realization that we each, like a river, are flowing in to the sea and ocean of connectedness with each other, and with a ‘power greater than ourselves’…
 “Hallelujah,” the first video release from the “AWAKENING” album, honors many of the Paths that we take that lead us home, towards the Divine, towards God. With lyrics and languages that honor practices including Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, and blessed Amma ji, the message is clear ~ it’s all leading to that same, sacred place.
And, blessed to be able to share with you now this video release from the ‘Awakening’ album – a mix of Krishna Das’ ‘Govinda Hare’ and the traditional ‘Maha Mantra.’ After recording these kirtan one instrument and vocal track at a time, it’s hard to describe the blissed-out, resonant energy happening with these beautiful souls all together at the Rio Theater last month... Deep, deep bows and gratitude to everyone there that day, and in the studio this summer, and special thanks to Greg Gilholm (Director of Photography and Editor) for bringing this vision to life, and to Krishna Das for bringing this channel to the Divine to us all. 🙏

AWAKENING has arrived!

9/01/17 -

AWAKENING has arrived, here and now 🙏 Rising out of the ashes and unfolding one song at a time over these past two years, this redemptive, joyous mix of yoga, mantra, ambient, and meditation music is right on time to be released in our world today.
Feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone tagged below that helped make this album, the videos, and the live gatherings soon to come. Feeling the love, the healing, and little by little, an awakening. I hope that this music finds its way to your ears, and it it’s to be, your heart as well…



The AWAKENING album:
CDs/Downloads
Amazon: http://a.co/3AIjHET
CD Baby: https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/MichaelJDowney
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/awakening/id1271020515
Sample/Streaming
Bandcamp: https://michaeljdowney.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify (“michael j downey awakening”), Pandora, et al

AWAKENING almost here...

August, 2017 - AWAKENING almost here...

With the September 1st release just around the corner, many people have been asking "what kind of music is it?" After many failed attempts, like "Well, it's mantra/devotional/ambient/new age/meditation music...!” I now usually just answer "It's the kind of music you hear in a yoga class..."  
The making of this album has been a process of rebuilding and redemption after a difficult time a few years ago. And the support and love I've felt along the way is exactly what I hope is passed along through 'Awakening.' Here's a glimpse...

With Charanpal Kaur, singing "Ocean, Carry Me"

And a choir of angels singing recording "Hallelujah" at Indigital Studios and at the Rio Theater for the music video shoot.

And happy to share with you the sweet voices, bhakti bliss and laughter that these four multi-talented yoga teachers brought to the ‘Awakening’ sessions this summer at Indigital Studios. With release day coming on Friday, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude at the generosity of these women, and everyone involved in the making of this album. With Emily Perry, Daniela Kosmalski, Hannah Muse, Aruna Peters, Will Kreiser, and many others

Awakening, coming Friday, September 1st Amazon.com, Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and more!

"Awakening" Album Coming September 1st...

6/29/17 -  And so it begins. After almost a year of writing, arranging, recording roughs… I get to emerge from my cave and gather together with such a stellar group of musician/singer friends to make “Awakening” happen. This album, a mix of devotional/mantra and ambient/new age/meditation music, is being made with the gracious help of two all-star womens’ choirs, Naomi Charanpal Kaur, Johanna Beekman, Susan Shloss, Andrew Foehner, in the capable hands of engineer/mixmaster Will Kreiser at Indigital Studios here in Santa Cruz. Here in the photo, Will is uploading the Awakening tracks onto their system, where we’ll begin our work on Monday. So grateful for this abundance…

When I was a kid, I'd spend hours setting up a really intricate Hot Wheels track, complete with hills, loop-de-loops, jumps. And then the moment comes that all that's left is to set the car at the top of the track... and release! That's kinda what today was like

My spiritual. sonic. Sister… It’s like #gettingthebandbacktogether. Yes, there’s the nose-to-the-grindstone effort, then absolute, resonant, on-the-beam ecstasy, and then just crackin’ each other up as our Midwest roots start showing. Thank you as big as the ocean, #kundalini_priestess Naomi Charanpal Kaur, for being the perfectly fitting last puzzle piece for ‘Ocean, Carry Me’. And thank you once again, Will Kreiser, for being the wizard of making things seem effortless and seamless and bringing it all to a level beyond.

After driving down from the North Bay this morning, Susan Shloss arrived at the studio before me and was warming up when I walked in. What followed with the most soul-stirring, gut-wrenchingly beautiful 3 hours of sweet violin tracks on 4 songs for the Awakening album. Yes, there were tears. Man-tears…

When the student is ready, the teacher appears… It was just a couple of years ago that I first experienced Andrew Foehner's playing (‘how does he make those sounds?!’), and this week, here we are. As Will Kreiser, the engineer, set up mics and Andrew got his tablas and djembe just right I began to be aware of how each beat entails this complex unfolding – that initial slap, that unfolds into this deep, bhakti boominess that reaches deep, deep inside. You root me, brother… deep bows.

And now, as mixing begins, the fine-toothed comb that brings it all together, it's like a fogged mirror slowly clearing, unearthing this gift that I'd only imagined, and for the first time, holding it in my hands.