about Dean and Dudley Evenson
Exploring their newfound artistic and documentary medium, Dean and Dudley became engaged in some of the defining social and popular cultural moments of the '70s and '80s. They produced multi-media support for a Sam Shepard play at Lincoln Center, videotaped Jefferson Airplane's live tribute to Janis Joplin in San Francisco the night after she died, and taped the First United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. They lent audio and video recording support to the American Indian Movement during the occupation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and became profoundly inspired by Native American reverence for the living earth. An audio-video production developed out of participating in the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil, with interviews of Vice President Al Gore, Bianca Jagger, the Dalai Lama and others. At the conference, Dean performed with John Denver, fellow New Age pioneer Paul Winter, and then with Gwich'in tribal leader Sarah James before an audience of 50,000.
Founding The Music Label
After many years of living the life of nomadic video pioneers, Dean and Dudley finally settled for a time atop 10,000-foot Mount Lemmon, just outside Tucson, Arizona. They founded their own music label, Soundings of the Planet in 1979, and began selling homemade tapes at swap meets and health food stores to fulfill their vision of "Peace Through Music," which became the company motto. Their beautiful, peaceful music often incorporated recordings of natural sounds--streams, bird-songs, wind, ocean waves--and the young company began to define the emerging New Age musical genre.
Musical Achievements
After years of organic growth, Soundings of the Planet has become a tremendous success, producing seven consecutive Billboard-charting albums, and being selected as a Billboard Top 10 Indie Label three years in a row. Dean himself has produced over 10 albums of his own music, including Billboard-charting Forest Rain, Desert Moon Song, Ocean Dreams, and Wind Dancer (with keyboardist Tom Barabas). Evenson's music has been selected for film scores, including the soundtrack to the PBS mini-series, "The Way West," and Disney's "Jungle Book" preview. The Windham Hill music label included Dean's music on Path, its recent ambient music sampler. In addition, Evenson further combines his technical skills with artistic creativity, pursuing state-of-the-art music and multimedia productions, and by directing, producing and recording numerous albums by other Soundings Ensemble musicians--including vocalist Lorellei, whose collaboration with Dean marks a dynamic, new development for both artists. Evenson is renowned as a virtuoso composer, flautist and synthesizer artist, and uses his position in the music industry to promote environmental awareness, social justice and responsible business practices.
The Ongoing Vision
Dean's life has taken many unexpected twists and has led him and his family through many remarkable, ground-breaking experiences. The same philosophy that led to their unpredictable success and vitality in the past is what continues to guide him. Dean explains, "I've always wanted to do the best thing for the planet and what I do is in service. I don't have a lot of projections about what I'm supposed to be doing or where I should be going. I just follow my inner purpose and personal vision. It's the intuition, the learning, the inner knowing of which way to go that is the important pathmark for us." Maintaining that devotion to inner vision and the positive evolution of the planet in the '90s continues to guide Dean and Dudley Evenson and their growing music label.
Dudley works with video, photography, graphics, writing, music and dance. She plays harp and autoharp with intuition and feeling and uses her voice as a complementary instrument. She has produced numerous concerts, tours, and events, including the Festival of the Creative Spirit, an insightful eight-day gathering in Tucson, which brought together many art forms, ritual, and ceremony. She coordinated the Soundings of the Planet planetarium series, utilizing the special effects and laser imagery of the sky dome, along with music, dance, slides and poetic readings.
In addition, she has written articles ranging from relationships and healing to environmental issues which have been published in New Age Retailer, Napra Trade Journal, Children of the Dawn, Whatcom Watch, and The Bellingham Herald. She is currently working on an autobiographical book about Soundings of the Planet and her family's adventurous journey from the '60s to the '90s.
Dudley is also an environmental activist in her community and has spearheaded the Interurban Neighbors group for which she produced two videos, several newsletters, and community events aimed at saving a local urban forest and its wetlands from development.
Dudley and Dean have been together since 1968 and have three children: Cristen, Sarah and Elijah.
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Hi I have been listening to your Music and i really like it have your Music on my Playlist i really like Native american Music it also helps me with Journeying etc. Greetings LHiya
October 29th at 6:27am