...to folksinging force of nature!
...to folksinging force of nature!
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Because you have to know where you've been to explain where you're going.
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Arjuna Greist came singing into this world on August 24th, 1979 (presents ALWAYS appreciated) in Lexington, Kentucky. Living every hippie-kid's dream, she grew up on a small organic farm in Connecticut, surrounded by the very best in fruits and vegetables (yes, of course she's a vegetarian!). Every now and again she comes home to hang out with her mom, dad, and various well-loved animals roaming the house and property. A performer since before she can remember, she learned the folk ways from her mom, the many records in the house, and weekends with the People's Music Network, where she sang "Songs of Freedom and Struggle" and chopped lettuce with Pete Seeger. As life got more complex, she turned (as we all do) to music for entertainment, enlightenment, and help through the rough times. Falling in love with the Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, the Nields, Liz Phair, Laura Love, Joules Graves, Dan Bern, and others in the "pholk" scene influenced her art and poetry. Finally all those lovely sounds led her to pick up a guitar at age 18 and start adding her voice and words to the others around her.
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Arjuna and Charlie at Falconridge Folk Festival
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Stepping onstage to perform her own work ("Limitless") in front of a group (of 200 people, plus some of her folk music heros) during a daunting "we critique your song" activity at the 1998 Falconridge Folk Festival, Arjuna showed her belief in jumping in with both feet. The same boldness comes through every time she performs. At her second-ever open mic, the mc couldn't figure out her name, so she was billed as "some chick sings." arjuna thought that this sort of described her life, & would be a great name for an album. From the streets and open mic nights of Boston to the campuses of California (where she currently attends college), Arjuna spreads her music and words over audiences like a net. She pulls in the listeners and doesn't let them go until the last note has faded into memory. Failed relationships, falling in love, family, politics - all the stuff of life and art fills her songs and poems. Above all rises her devotion to honesty, in personal as well as public realities. And she's just working harder to find places to play, venues to fill, and other artists to swap ideas and inspiration. And she'll do it all with a dimpled smile and an eye for the details. |
| Tally-ho, off we go! |
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| Main Stage, uh, Page |