RockOm Blog
Thank You, Good Night
Posted on November 17, 2009 at 10:35 AM
If somehow you reached this page without first visiting the splash page at www.RockOm.net, please click on this link to read about RockOm's decision to go on indefinite hiatus. Thank you again for all your love and support!
Songs About: SURRENDER
Posted on November 16, 2009 at 06:25 AM
Why is it that it most always takes a major crisis in our lives to bring about the wisdom and ultimate peace found in the act of surrendering? Here are some songs (with reflections) that can help us open to the idea of surrender with new eyes, ears and hearts. FLASHBACK: What is Sacred Music?
Posted on November 14, 2009 at 09:59 AM
In RockOm's short existence on the web, we've posted a number of compelling articles and blog posts that have since found their way into the inner archives. There are many new readers and users since those "early days" and so occasionally we will pull out old posts for you to read (or re-read) and meditate upon. Here is an excellent article posted during RockOm's very first week by a musician in France named Joseph Rowe.
The dictionary definitions are not enough for those of us who are alive to the sense of the sacred which we find in so many unexpected places ... and are often disappointed not to find in so many expected places. Perhaps a better question is: what is the sense of the sacred? What does this word mean to us in a universal sense, in the context of our contemporary world of pluralism and multiculturalism, a world in unprecedented evolutionary crisis?Stripping Away
Posted on November 12, 2009 at 01:38 PM
In this week's podcast episode (#66, "Stripping Away"), musicians Carly Simon and Heather Maloney share interviews with RockOm. Carly talks about stripping down her hits for the new album Never Been Gone and singer-songwriter Heather Maloney shares about the stripping away process that occurs in meditation.
CLICK HERE to visit our Podcast page to download this and other episodes of the RockOm Podcast. While you're there, be sure to hit the Subscribe link to get automatic downloads of episodes as they come available. What's Rockin @ RockOm: 11/10
Posted on November 10, 2009 at 08:41 AM
As it turns out, Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter Carly Simon has a mystical side that is rarely made public. She shares with RockOm this week about using music to connect with others, as prayer and as a way to heal the world in Carly Simon Hears the Voice of God. Also in this interview you can preview and find out details about her latest album, Never Been Gone.Also be sure to check out our new Featured Track of the Week from indie-folk rocker Heather Maloney. Hear Heather's song "Let It Ache" - about realizing that pain is just part of the human experience - all week long in the right column of the home page.
Meditation as Modulation
Posted on November 9, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Modulation, in music, is the act or process of changing from one key or tonal center to another. According to Sufi Master Pir Vilayat Khanodulation, modulation is also great description of what happens during meditation and other forms of spiritual discipline. More thoughts on the subject, including an exercise for this week, after the jump... RockOm Round-up
Posted on November 7, 2009 at 07:44 AM
RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on this week around the world in the areas of music and spirituality. Today's batch of articles includes: the potential end of Christian music?; Dhani Harrison dedicates album to yogis; Blasting the US with punk Islam; An Israeli metal band; and Yusuf Islam previews his new musical... Previous Posts
Let's Talk About Your Big "But"
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 05:01 AM
Welcome!
RockOm is an online community to celebrate, share and explore the common ground of music and spirituality, inclusive of all faiths and all musical styles. We at RockOm have created this venue to be a haven for spiritually-inclined musicians to share and promote their art, for listeners to encounter the power of their musical expressions, and all to forge new friendships, help each other, and discuss and further explore the bonds of music and the spirit.
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RockOm ViddlerFeatured Track of the Week
by Heather MaloneyVisit Heather at...
MySpace.com
Buy the new CD
At the age of 21, Heather Maloney began her musical career performing as a jazz singer alongside Grammy nominee Hui Cox in Manhattan. Her varied musical interests over the years (Joni Mitchell, Bobby McFerrin, Billy Holiday, The Beatles, Phillip Glass, Ravi Shankhar) began to shape a sound that would become distinctly her own. After studying classical operatic vocals, classical Indian and jazz, she booked it up to the woods of Massachusetts to focus on her growing interest in meditation. Heather has been living at a meditation retreat center for the past two years, where her current album, Cozy Razor's Edge, has slowly brewed in her solitude - a compilation of folk/indie/pop-rock songs directly affected by her experiences in meditation.
Featured Track: "Let It Ache"
Click to Play
"I was sitting a week long silent meditation retreat and my heart was aching. For a couple of days I was coming up with a number of stories as to why it was aching. Then came a moment when I said to myself, 'Oh this is just heartache. I can be with this. I don't need to figure it out to make it go away.' This song serves as a reminder that suffering and pain is part of the human experience and it's OK. Not only is it OK, it's fertile ground to grow from." (Heather)
Most Recent Featured Articles
Reclaiming the Bible with Live's Eddie Kowalczyk
The rock quartet known as Live is one of the most popular and enduring alternative rock acts of the past two decades. Frontman Eddie Kowalczyk shares with RockOm about his spiritual journey, rediscovering the Bible, the power of performing acoustically and more... Carly Simon Hears the Voice of God
Academy Award-winning songstress Carly Simon shares with RockOm a unique look into her new album Never Been Gone and opens up on her thoughts on the healing qualities of music, chant, meditation, the beauty of the human voice, prayer in its various forms and much more. Derek Webb: Art w/o Agenda
Derek Webb's controversial album Stockholm Syndrome has made enormous waves in the Christian music scene for its honest - and often biting - foray into sexuality, the church, government and culture as well as for its use of "explicit language." Derek shares with RockOm about the provocative new album, next steps for the music industry and the role of the artist. REVIEW: Sting's "Winter's Night..."
"For we are gathered here to celebrate and explore the music of Winter, the season of frosts and long dark nights." So writes Sting in the liner notes to his latest recording, If on a Winter's Night..., a concept album centered on the darkest and most contemplative of the seasons. Articles from the Archive
It's About the Experience: An Interview with Ken Block
"I don't think spirituality has to be boring, not at all," says Sister Hazel frontman Ken Block, "and I don't think it has to be fearful." Check out RockOm's exclusive interview with Ken as he shares about recent projects, charities and how to be a band that connects with its fans. The Evolution of Jai Uttal
In the world of American yoga/kirtan music, a small handful of prominent names rise to the top, one of which is Grammy-nominated musician Jai Uttal. Thunder Love, Jai's latest release (out on Nutone Records), marks a turning point in his career on both a professional as well as personal level. RockOm spoke with Jai about dreams, new directions and his latest album, Thunder Love. MMW and the Power of Creation
Billy Martin, drummer of the avant-groove fusion band Medeski, Martin and Wood, talks about their Radiolarians Series, the band's willingness to take chances and the "motherly" power in creating something new. I'm Gonna Let It Shine: An Interview with the Legendary Odetta
Odetta, the "Queen of American Folk Music" (anointed by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1961) is one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, with countless artists indebted to her pioneering ways. RockOm had the extraordinary opportunity to have an exclusive, one-on-one with Ms. Odetta where she shared her thoughts on singing and music, the civil rights movement and even Barack Obama. Don Campbell & the Spirit of Sound
Don Campbell, the author of 22 books including The Mozart Effect, has been a leader in music's transformational powers for 30 years. Don recently spoke with RockOm about his latest book, Sound Spirit: Pathway to Faith. 
