Pam Rubenstein

Pam comes from a musical family. Her grandpa played fiddle, harmonica and accordion and told her,”Girls don’t play harmonica.” So of course, she learned harmonica! She and her parents sang in the choir, but in the 70’s she learned guitar and started playing professionally around Florida. In 1993, she was singing with her husband, Danny, as”The Rubensteins” when they met Bhau Kalchuri and were drawn to Baba through him. From then on, Pam and Danny wrote Baba-themed songs and recorded 4 CDs together. Danny went to Baba in 2022, but after this profound loss, Pam found a new well-spring of Baba-songs that are infused with the sweetness of the Beloved. In 2023, she recorded an excellent 18-song solo CD,”Original Sound.” We are fortunate to have her at the Sahavas!

Videos:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu80xQSjCtk
•“Days At Meherazad” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvjqJ3BTdfI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwcOpMspFxc

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Beverly Smith and Jason Homan

Beverly Smith, a professional guitarist and fiddler specializing in folk and old-time music, called the New Year’s Eve square dance at the Meher Center for years. She began singing her lovely Baba songs for the mandali and Baba lovers in the 1970s, toured with old-time music groups for decades and is currently working on a new CD of songs for the Beloved. Jason Homan graduated from the Fame High School for the Performing Arts in New York City before moving to the steamy environs of New Orleans. To our delight, he and his family eventually resettled in Asheville. Over the years he has played professionally and is an extraordinary jazz and rock guitarist and singer. He brings a good dose of spice to this musical duo.

Videos:

   • Beverly and Jason: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Mfdd5Mimg&t=1651s

    • Beverly at Meherabad, India (also has Debbie Nordeen singing”Sweetie Pie”):
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivOeHp9JJMY&t=37s

    • A Beverly Baba Zoom concert:     
         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7MoS3lZiA

Raine Eastman-Gannett

Beginning in 1967, Baba’s red-haired songbird was a mainstay of the Australian Baba group. She and a troop of singers performed exquisite musical renditions of Francis Brabazon’s poetry, often with the delighted poet sitting in their midst. For several years, Francis mentored Raine, Sam Saunders and others in the land down under. After a move to the U.S., Raine enjoyed life in San Francisco as a voice teacher, wife and mom. Now, with countless pilgrimages to India, Oz, and recording studios under her belt, she brings her clear alto and rhythmic guitar back to Asheville. Raine will regale us with Baba-songs cherry-picked from her 15 or so CDs.

NEWS FLASH! She will be joined on some songs by Asheville’s own Bradley Willard, another great Baba musical artist

Videos:

AMBCSC 2005 concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XRJmcDbKT8

    Avatar’s Abode 2018 concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RHoGtODpII

Ward Parks and Band

Ward is undoubtedly the most prolific composer in our galaxy of Baba-singers. From his first trip to India in 1972, to the present, he has written hundreds of Baba-songs, many of them timeless classics such as”Like a Silent Sea is Meher”,”Who Wears the Dawn Form”,”I Sing of Meher”,”The Blue Horizon”,”I Am All For Meher” and”Precious Beloved”. Those are just a tiny sample from his vast repertoire which continues to grow as Ward works almost daily on new and ambitious songs for the Beloved. Over his years in India, he also edited a monumental series of books based on Baba’s early messages including: In God’s Hand, Meher Baba’s Tiffin Lectures, Infinite Intelligence and Creation And Its Causes. Ward also edited one of the versions of The Discourses. Ward’s Asheville band consists of Susan Taylor, Greg and Gay Dunn, Michael Ivey and Chris Barker.

Videos:

   • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivOeHp9JJMY  (From 45:31, all the songs are by Ward; scroll to 1:04:53 for Ward’s masterpiece,”I Am All For Meher”)
 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0O8C6H9Ixo (Susan Taylor sings Ward’s”Precious Beloved”, with Ward on piano)