Salem Jones is one of the best female rock singers and songwriters on the planet. She is also my friend, and a few weeks ago she posted some really deep food for thought on her patreon page. I found it so relevant and relevant for the times right now that I asked her to share it for All Things Vocal, and I’m grateful she said yes. Listen to her voice it on the podcast, or read it below.
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Guest post by Salem Jones:
An artist’s job is many things, but at the deepest level, it’s to balance. Sure, it’s a calling to express and to draw awareness but ultimately the deepest goal is to balance. It’s not to be “revered”, to be “famous”, to be “known”, fawned over or wealthy. (That’s “celebrity”, a whole different animal.) As for being a rock artist, something that I’ve been my entire life…Rock is a thundering proclamation. It’s the circus, a loud lightning-lit dance, an explosive spectacle, and there can be purpose in that. But we are living in a time when the world is quite the crashing spectacle itself, a cauldron of growing confusion & chaos, and an (rock)artist’s job – the aforementioned deepest job that we have – is to attempt to balance that.
So now is not the time for screaming hardcore displays of death, fear, and destruction, or any attempts to break physical sound barriers with one’s own perceived might. Now is the time to step into being a fulcrum and to find and listen to our inner silence. To let the heart guide us to whatever needs to come out in service. When the world is roaring with chaos, and we are present to being a balancing fulcrum, chances are the sounds that we will bring through will be atypical to what we have brought through in the past. Don’t fear that.
Hear the sounds of the ego dissolving. Be vigilantly silent, ever still. Just be. Let the inner worlds speak to you – perhaps through you if they choose – as if your life depends on it. If service to the needed balance is to come through you, it will. Be present to it. For it. Be nothing so that you can be everything you came to be, whatever that is…
About Salem
Salem made history by being the first Canadian singer (and the second female singer in the world) to record a duet with The Voice of Rock, Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes. The song “Go Home & Melt” was played by indie radio in over 38 countries around the world and Hughes loved her voice and songs enough to suggest they work together again. Further to the respect this singer has, Paul Rodgers of seminal rock band Bad Company, actually handed his microphone to her to sing solo in his finale during a concert at Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium in Sept. of 2011.1ST was also lauded that year by A&R industry veteran Michael Moore.
- The best place to find Salem and One Soul Thrust music is their Youtube channel – where you can support them at their “Buy Me A Coffee!” link.
Video of ‘The Fight For Love’:
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Denise Wakeman says
I appreciate hearing and reading these thoughts from Salem Jones. I feel this is a lesson for all of us, even if we're not "artists" in the traditional sense. As a business owner, this speaks to me and how we can bring balance to ourselves and those in our communities. Thank you, Judy and Salem!
Judy Rodman says
I love that you get this and see how universal concept is! We are all artists in our own way and that is certainly true of you.
Anonymous says
Oh my gosh, this is POWERFUL and so universally applicable across every imaginable profession or calling. I will be sharing widely. It made my day and I look forward to meditating on the image and thinking about how I can be a fulcrum in the world. “ Now is the time to step into being a fulcrum and to find and listen to our inner silence. To let the heart guide us to whatever needs to come out in service. When the world is roaring with chaos, and we are present to being a balancing fulcrum, chances are the sounds that we will bring through will be atypical to what we have brought through in the past. Don't fear that.”
Anonymous says
wonderfully spoken thank you