Carlton's Story
I grew up in a
family where everyone played a musical instrument as a hobby.
The only instrument that became more than a hobby for me was the
guitar. I starting learning acoustic guitar when the Beatles
came out. I could hardly wait for my hair to grow long enough so
I could get on stage like them and have thousands of girls
screaming! My plans were foiled when my father refused to allow
me to have long hair. The fact that I was ten years old might
have been an obstacle too! I continued to dabble with the guitar
but I didn’t bond with it until a great teacher, Greg DeCastro,
came into my life. He introduced me to blues, jazz, and Bob
Dylan and other folk masters. Most importantly he taught me how
to express my feelings on the guitar and how to improvise lead
guitar. I was hooked! During this time I was also having my mind
blown by live performances I saw of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix,
Ritchie Blackmore, and the other greats. But it would be another
7 years before I got my hands on an electric guitar.
This
picture shows what happened to me then! Whoa!!! By then
one of the rock songs I wrote and recorded with my band,
“Crash Landing”, had won a contest and was played on
LA’s biggest rock radio station. Several Hollywood
producers were interested in signing the band. But there
was a catch. They all wanted the band’s image and
further recordings to be based on that one song.
Ironically, I wrote that song as a satirically
provocative spoof when I was feeling angry at the music
industry for what I perceived as its indifference to
rock music that would really open people’s hearts and
minds. I would have to “sell my soul” to get the record
deal. Yet I pursued it while rationalizing that once my
band became famous I could dump the record companies and
produce the music I really wanted to. I envisioned my
band being on stage at the next Woodstock playing
positive rock music that would turn the audience into
one big united heart! It was then that my life
dramatically changed.
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1982
at the Sweetwater
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My older
sister, Corinne, had been watching the negative impact the
rock n’ roll nightclub and party culture was having on my
life. My wife was the singer in my band and we had a 5 year
old son. Corinne tried to interest me in meditation, but I
was not receptive. As a Christian I had already been
baptized, confirmed, and reborn so what did I need
meditation for? True, I was still hungry for deeper truth,
but I saw organized religion as being too limited by
theological ego trips, hypocrisy, and the politics of
competitive “churchianity” to help me any further on my path.
Fortunately, Corinne persisted and I attended a meditation
conference. I had the deepest spiritual experience of my
life! I felt like I had been sleep-walking through life and
had finally woke up to the truth of what I am as a child of
God. To the shock of many people I abandoned “Crash Landing”
and the entire rock scene. Now that I had found my soul, I
was not about to sell it!
Through daily meditation I began to hear beautiful melodies
which I learned to play on my guitar. Eventually lyrics and
arrangements emerged, often involving symphonic instruments.
A self-produced album, "Everlove", was born. It was a tribute
to the Love that had changed my life. Although it was
initially well received, it soon came to an end when my wife
divorced me and married, you guessed it, a rock musician
(ah, life’s ironies).
Twenty years went by before I heard any more new music after
my meditations. By then I had completely let go of my
musical ambitions. When I starting hearing new music after
meditation again I didn’t pay much attention to it. It
didn’t seem practical to start composing again given my
career responsibilities at the time. But the music
intensified no matter how much I tried to push it away. Soon
I realized that not giving birth to the songs that were
trying to come through was like telling a woman in labor not
to give birth to her child! So for three years now I have
allowed a continuous flow of new music to come through which
has given birth to the album, “Love is the Cure”, and much to
my surprise, a forthcoming (Spring 2005) companion book also
entitled Love is the Cure! Each chapter of the book is based
on the themes of each song on the CD and its all linked
together by an inspirational storyline and some humorous
illustrations. In the meantime I invite you to enjoy the CD.
The production quality is stellar and it is particularly
enjoyable on a good home stereo or with good headphones.
You’ll find the entertaining lyrics and catchy arrangements
(involving 28 instruments and lots of guitar) will
pleasantly linger in your mind because the music comes from
the heart and so many of the guest musicians give inspired
performances! It will make you smile, dance, reflect,
perhaps shed a few tears, and feel more loving and at peace
within your self and the world.
“There
is no darkness love cannot endure,
Love is the healer, love is
the cure”.
~ Carlton Schreiner
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