“This music is transformative and will transport you to another world.” — LA Yoga Magazine

Awakening is based on a morning Raga called Bhairav (for more information on Ragas, please see this blog post). My intention was to make an album to encourage listeners to have a mindful and peaceful start to their day. I wanted to keep the authenticity of the Raga but to round it out with some modern elements to give a sense of fullness and completion to a morning yoga or movement practice.

“Blanchard takes his art seriously. The result is an album of Indian classical music as authentic as if it were done by one of the Indian masters themselves.” – Raj Manoharan, Rajman Reviews

I enjoyed very much the process of creating and recording this album. I am proud to have my friends and colleagues be a part of this album. Sheela Bringi (www.shebrings.com) is an amazing singer and multi-instrumentalist and I was honored to have her play bansuri flute on the album. Nisha Narsai (www.nishanarsai.com) provided the soulful and hypnotic vocals. Percussion was provided by Brian Campbell (Tabla) and Gabe Marihugh (Udu and Djimbe), both of which are dear friends and whom I have played with for many years. Recording and production performed by Krishan (www.krishankhalsa.com) who has a number of spiritual and world music albums to his credit.

“Dan and the musicians on the album have done a masterful job of providing an exotic and engaging musical experience that has practical applications for health and well-being.” – Michael Diamond, Music Producer, Recording Artist and Journalist