Thanks to Our Performers!

© Richard Sauers

Thank you to the PATH FOR PEACE performers who inspired us with their words and music of peace!

The performers included:

Alex Arndt presents folksy alt-rock that reveals the heart of a thoughtful, loving, and peaceful songwriter. Alex has performed at such hot spots as Las Vegas' House of Blues, The Key Club, The Viper Room, The Knitting Factory, Highland Grounds and Fais Do Do in Los Angeles, and many more in many cities. In 2007 Alex and his band performed live on San Diego's FM 94.9. Alex has also performed live on FOX and ABC news stations in San Diego, Las Vegas, and L.A. The Alex Arndt/Acoustic Minds Peace Tour begins May 16 in support of a U.S. Dept. of Peace! For more information, please visit www.myspace.com/AlexArndt.

Four performers from Byakko, LA will perform several INs (mudras with toning). Byakko is an organization dedicated to world peace. It's work is rooted in the universal prayer for peace, “May Peace Prevail on Earth”, advocated by the late founder, Masahisa Goi. The INs are universal in nature and they blend harmoniously with other spiritual practices.

Denise Carlin, M.S., a song and storywriter and creative living coach, has assisted hundreds of children, teens, and adults to shift the ways they operate. With her publishing company, Change the Story, Denise shares her creative works and self-development tools that help us calm, entertain, and inspire ourselves to change the story of our lives to love. Her most recent release, ICY COLD LEMONADE, is a CD of refreshing original songs for children. You can taste a sample before you purchase, when you visit Denise’s website: www.ChangeTheStory.com.
Denise's MySpace: www.myspace.com/denisecarlin

Johnny Didge describes the sound of the didgeridoo as the sound of Mother Earth calling us home. The didgeridoo offers the sound and breath of the creative pulse that lives in every one of us. He was first enchanted by the music in 2003, and today both makes and plays didgeridoos, as his way of sending peace and love to all.

John Flick, a longtime resident of Redondo Beach, is an engineer/cost analyst who also loves making music around the South Bay – singing in choirs, in a classic rock band, on the street, and at hospitals, nursing homes, and with meals for the homeless. He’s active in Health Care For All California, in outreach work at his church, and is an ardent peace monger.

John's wife Betty Calame is a retired psychotherapist who now seeks self expression through comedy improvisation and writing. Her first published piece will be in a chapbook at Botanic Gardens in the fall.

© Richard Sauers

Lifelong Redondo Beach resident Augustin Garnier finds a perfect marriage of his family values of civic duty and vast musical training to the cause for the Department of Peace. While he can be found laying down the mother-beat for the non-profit organization Free to be Me Drum Circles often throughout the South Bay he states, "Nothing could be more important for our times than the creation of the Department of Peace to bring a fresh and logical approach to the responsibilities of the American promise and dreams."

At her downtown Los Angeles loft, Tonya Lee Jaynes teaches families to play drum sets together. Carl Fischer Publishing is releasing her book, Say and Play the Drum Set with "The DRUMPHONICS,” in May 2008. Tonya performs with a wide variety of performing artists, playing everything from orchestral music to musical theater. She also creates participatory drumming and percussion events for various occasions, including the monthly labyrinth walks at UCLA Harbor Hospital. For more information email her at tonyajaynes@aol.com

Kamala Kirksey is a yoga teacher in the South Bay area. She is also a member of a kirtan band called BhaktiMa. Through their singing they help to raise funds to feed the homeless. Kamala also conducts trance dance events. Love Life and Play.

Peter Marinkovich is a San Pedro native now living in Lomita. He has studied philosophy, theology, and has a degree in special education. He has a love for the human condition and themes of wellness and peace often appear in his poetry.

Tamsin Rothschild is a poet and performer, with a refreshing enthusiasm and love of life. Through her work she captures the multidimensionality of human expression and her brightness brings a warmth and authenticity to her performances. www.tamsinrothschild.com

Lisa Teasley is the author of acclaimed novels HEAT SIGNATURE and DIVE, and the award-winning story collection, GLOW IN THE DARK. Teasley’s awards include: Gold Pen, Pacificus Foundation, May Merrill Miller, National Society of Arts & Letters, and the Amaranth Review Awards. Teasley’s work has been much anthologized, appearing in publications such as Real Simple, Christian Science Monitor, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times magazine, and National Public Radio. Her homepage is: www.lisateasley.com.

Wanda VanHoy Smith is the author of two books for children, a paperback sold at school book fairs and a hard cover, Ash Brooks Super Ranger, published by Charles Scribners Sons and now on Amazon. She made a left hand turn near the millennium that led to poetry and has not turned back. She is a member of the Redondo Poets and has been a featured reader at book stores and other Southern California venues. She has been published in about a dozen anthologies and other places like LA Jazz Scene. Being a word not a number person she hasn't counted her poems or chapbooks but suspects there are too many. Walking a path for peace is a great inspiration for writing poetry.

© Richard Sauers