I grew up in a time when music was the language of change
and rebellion. Artists were recognized not by how well they
fit the current trend but rather by what they had to say. In
a time when war filled the nightly news and the truth was being
repackaged by the media, music was a wake up call to the youth
of America.
The music I grew up on encouraged me to turn away from the dominant
discourse of the day and to follow my heart. The unspoken message
hidden between the lines of every song that called to me was
that if I followed my heart, I would never get lost. I followed
the call and I have been on that path ever since.
Through the turbulent times of my youth, rebellion and defiance
danced with freedom and expression. We were all alone and we
were all together, all finding our way. So we all formed rock
and roll bands. Each band was a tribe, the music was our ritual
and the songs were our colors. And though each tribe had its
own colors, we were all part of a greater community. Together
we dreamed of a better world. We were the seeds of change.
I played in bands and designed conceptual music performances
to create a context around the songs. As the politics of war
became big business, the dream went underground. Popular music
became more about escaping then evolving.
Still, a prophesy of a better world was passed on by the
courageous and the brave. Just before Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated, he told us that you can kill the dreamer
but you cannot kill the dream. When John Lennon told us the
War Is Over if we want it, we began to realize that the real
revolution was going on in the hearts and minds of the true
believers.
For a while I wrote film and television projects, seeking
a way to give the songs a greater voice. I began creating
theatrical productions around my music. Music is the blood
that runs through the veins of pop culture and movies are
the mirrors to the way we live. Live theater holds the possibility
of combining the best aspects of both forms.
I wondered where all the brave dreamers had gone. I discovered
that live theater can still be a meeting place for the gathering
of the tribes. Here in the dark, we can meet each other in
the magic of the moment and together we can catch a spark
of the dream.
The vision that sparked Season of Change came to me in November
2005 while I was performing a year long run of SoulJourney,
an original theatrical music work about a spiritual being
having a human adventure.
Through that year, the media bombarded us with visions a fearful
and frightened world. I witnessed a world in need of healing.
The question began to rise in me: What can I do? As I began
to live with this question, it suddenly occurred to me that
everyone was living with the same question.
As the desire for change grew in my soul, these songs began
to rise from my heart. I began to see others willing to take
a stand for a better world.
Season of Change was born out of the spirit of my youth and
the voices of America’s musical roots. The songs reflect
traditional blues, early folk music and Americana. Season
of Change is about all of us and about the courage to be the
change we want to see.
Season of Change is the opening of the heart that frees the
mind and changes the world.
-Ed Munter 2006
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