RIVER by Shannon Michael Terry

When writing the lyrics to this song I was reminded of the times I sat next to the river’s edge listening to the harmonic layers and rhythms in the sound of the water. My attention focused on the varying frequencies and rhythmic patterns continuously hooked by another and another...and another. This became a meditation practice for me and deepened my ability to listen and hear.
My intention in creating the music was to plunge the listener into the river’s journey while flowing down its various changing intensities with a sense of calm and power - a feeling of being overtaken by a force greater than oneself and a need to surrender in order to survive.
There’s an old Daoist story that sums it up nicely:
A young man standing up on a cliff looks down at the raging river. He sees an old man standing by the edge of the water and suddenly the old man takes off his robe and he jumps into the rapids. The young man, in sheer panic races down the cliff, down below the rapids to get to the waters edge. As the old man walks out of the water, in a panic the young man looks at the old man and said, “What were you doing?” The old man looking at the young man said, “practicing my faith”.

Trust the current. Enjoy the song.

Born in Los Angeles, Shannon is a multi-disciplinary artist with a background in the visual arts, film, music and sound. As a multi-instrumentalist, Shannon’s main instrument is the Array Mbira, a 120-note instrument that combines the metal plectrum of an African Mbira and the Tetraktys, a mathematical idea and metaphysical symbol that embraces principles of the natural world and Cosmos.

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