tag:kaiwelch.com,2005:/blogs/music-for-wild-places?p=2Music For Wild Places2019-05-13T10:40:36-05:00Kai Welchfalsetag:kaiwelch.com,2005:Post/49167932017-11-02T15:27:52-05:002024-03-28T01:59:44-05:00Tibet Story Published On Patagonia's Website<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/154982/428d36c23521e0c6b1c339acdb33b748d458565c/original/dscf3038.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
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<p>Our journey to Tibet left me nearly speechless. But after I had some time to think about it, I wrote a blog piece which is up on Patagonia's website: </p>
<p><a contents="READ IT HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2018/06/beyond-words-singing-for-a-national-park-in-china/">R</a><a contents="READ IT HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2018/06/beyond-words-singing-for-a-national-park-in-china/" target="_blank">EAD IT HERE</a></p>
<p> </p>Kai Welchtag:kaiwelch.com,2005:Post/47564732017-06-25T02:34:10-05:002023-12-10T12:05:43-06:00TIBETAN PLATEAU, 2017<p>August of 2017 marks a special milestone for Music For Wild Places - for the first time ever, we will be collaborating on a music/wilderness journey internationally. And for the first time ever, we will be part of a journey that not only seeks to bring music and wilderness together for the sake of the experience, but also for a globally important political and conservational milestone. Here's the story:</p>
<p>In 2015, Chinese officials announced a plan to create a formal National Park System. There are many so-called wilderness and scenic parks in the vast country, but until recently they were left to cash-strapped local governments to manage. They were unsubsidized and run for profit. Scenic/wilderness designations turned disastrous in many cases, becoming more of an economic stimulus to bring in tourism and cash in on concessions. But China is giving the world reason to believe that this is different, and motivated by a genuine desire to protect and conserve wilderness for its own inherent value. They are also, remarkably, modeling the proposed system on America's National Parks, and are turning to western input for guidance. </p>
<p>One such Westerner is Travis Winn. I went to college with Travis, and even back then he was obsessed with two things: kayaking and Mandarin Chinese. Now an eloquent and experienced river-runner, accomplished kayaker, and fluent Mandarin-speaker, Travis has been actively involved with China's rivers for the past decade. After doing one of the last descents of the now-dammed section of the Yangtze, he named his company <a contents="Last Descents River Expeditions" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.lastdescents.com" target="_blank">Last Descents River Expeditions</a> and began guiding trips on several threatened rivers in Western China. More of his backstory unfolds in this beautiful short video:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="vimeo" data-video-id="159848031" data-video-thumb-url="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/567826004_640.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/159848031" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p>Today, China is moving forward with their National Park System. The first park to be officially created will be called The Headwaters of the Three Rivers, in the Tibetan Plateau. Last Descents has played a key role in demonstrating the value of outdoor recreation in this beautiful and sensitive area. By guiding trips and creating a successful, respectful and sustainable business, they have exposed the local and national governments to the idea that people need this wilderness AS a wilderness, and that there's value in that, economic and otherwise. The local government, miraculously, is in full support of Travis' efforts in the area, and he has become a significant contributor to the National Park planning and imagining phase. </p>
<p>During the roll-out of the park this August, Last Descents will collaborate with the local Tibetan government, Music For Wild Places, American roots band <a contents="Front Country" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.frontcountryband.com" target="_blank">Front Country</a>, and local Tibetan musicians to put on a music festival and 9-day float trip of the Daqu river (headwaters of the Mekong). <a contents="Trip Jennings" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/trip-jennings/" target="_blank">Trip Jennings</a> (National Geographic, Banff Mountain Film Festival Award-Winner) will be shooting film, stills, and audio. This trip will demonstrate and celebrate the cross-cultural power of wilderness, by bringing American and Tibetan musicians together for a shared cause. Both will be on the river to perform and create music, without even the ability to speak to one another. Music is both a universal language and a place-based cultural expression, and so these musicians from opposite sides of the globe, singing songs in a wild river canyon about the same human struggles perfectly demonstrates the power of preserving both wilderness and culture. </p>
<p>In Travis' words: </p>
<p>"We love this place not just for its natural geography, but also for it’s human geography. We love the people here. We are inspired by their stories, by their love of the landscape, their respect for life, their awareness of their place in the natural world. And the last thing we want is for their lives and the cultural fabric they’ve created to be turned upside down by an influx of well intentioned (and some not so well intentioned) tourists. </p>
<p>And so what do we do? We believe in the power of wild rivers to inspire change. We believe in the power of music to inspire change. We believe in the power of local culture to inspire change. So what do we do? </p>
<p>We throw a river trip to celebrate local culture. Specifically, we throw a river trip that celebrates the music of the grassland. Music that for hundreds if not thousands of years literally sprung out of nomads creating an oral record of their relationship with their natural environment. And we invite people from around the world to come together to celebrate the preservation of this area, by singing the songs of their own areas back home. We come together across cultures to celebrate the same thing - the human connection with wild places."</p>
<p>I've been to China a handful of times before with Abigail Washburn on state-dept-sponsored music diplomacy trips. I've seen firsthand the power of music to bring people together, even and perhaps especially, when there are external forces pushing them apart. These forces, usually economic and political, are certainly in play in the Tibetan Autonomous Region where we are headed. The problem of how to meet vastly different human needs with increasingly limited natural resources, without losing the ability to connect spiritually with wild places is nowhere more apparent. Our shared message on this trip will be one of protecting wild places for the wellbeing of the human spirit.</p>
<p>The music created as part of this trip will form the sound track to the opening of a new National Park, a new era in Chinese environmental and cultural conservation, and a new cultural exchange between East and West.</p>
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<p> </p>Kai Welchtag:kaiwelch.com,2005:Post/47564692017-06-24T22:55:11-05:002023-12-11T04:06:57-06:00Elephant Revival on The Salmon River 2017<p>ANNOUNCEMENT: September 8-11, Colorado-based Psych-Folk ensemble <a contents="Elephant Revival " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.elephantrevival.com/" target="_blank">Elephant Revival </a>will be joining us with Winding Waters on The Salmon River in Idaho. We are excited to announce, with apologies to those still hoping to join us, that this trip is SOLD OUT. You can get on a waiting list <a contents="Winding Waters" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.windingwatersrafting.com" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
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<p>We will shoot video of the trip, however, and hopefully you can join us next year! Make sure to get on the email list so you find out about our adventures as soon as they are announced.</p>Kai Welchtag:kaiwelch.com,2005:Post/40307062016-02-08T14:48:57-06:002023-12-10T11:15:01-06:00ANNOUNCEMENT: DELLA MAE to Join MFWP on the Salmon River 2016, and New Videos!<p><span class="font_regular">Great news for fans of bluegrass music, talented ladies, and river trips! The amazing <a contents="DELLA MAE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.dellamae.com" target="_blank">DELLA MAE</a> will be joining us for a 4-day trip down the Salmon River in Idaho, August 17-20. The all-girl, grammy-nominated, super-fun Dellas will make the canyon walls ring with their blend of Americana, old-time, and bluegrass music. <a contents="&nbsp;Learn more about the trip and BOOK HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.windingwatersrafting.com/music-for-wild-places-salmon-river/" target="_blank"> Learn more about the trip and BOOK HERE</a>, before it sells out.<br><br>We got brand new beautiful videos, folks! From last summer's trip down Hells Canyon on The Snake River with the transcendent songwriter <a contents="Laura Veirs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.lauraveirs.com" target="_blank">Laura Veirs</a>, came 3 music videos and a mini-documentary about Music For Wild Places and its mission. <br><br>Browse the videos above & below, and if/when you are sufficiently intrigued and decide you want to join us, <a contents="LEARN MORE AND BOOK HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.windingwatersrafting.com/music-for-wild-places-salmon-river/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE AND BOOK HERE</a>. The July 15-18th Salmon River trip with Phoebe Hunt, Dominick Leslie, Heather Robb, and Kai Welch, is <strong>already</strong> <strong>sold out</strong>. But this is the first announcement of the DELLA MAE trip - so book a spot for you and yours while you still can!</span></p>Kai Welchtag:kaiwelch.com,2005:Post/33053602014-11-19T14:09:21-06:002024-01-28T02:49:18-06:00MFWP Mission<div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/154982/caecf691f5cef642ca501261958dcbad53cc732e/original/mfwp-final.jpg?1416427501" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">MUSIC FOR WILD PLACES MISSION STATEMENT:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura; font-style: italic;">Music For Wild Places seeks to bring music and wilderness together. We curate and facilitate multi-day music excursions into parts of the world that are as-yet untouched by man and retain the magic of wilderness. The outcome is an experience that defies categorization; part adventure, part concert, part vacation. Participants discover summer-camp bonding, meditation-retreat quietude, and behind-the-scenes access to artists. Both musicians' and audience's lives are enriched, and their awareness and appreciation of wild places is heightened. Proceeds benefit wilderness conservation work. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'Futura'; font-weight: 700">BACKSTORY: </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">I grew up with the wildernesses of the American West. Steadfast and mysterious, they've always felt like a patient friend who's outside waiting for me. My oldest memories all have as their backdrop the granite and sub-alpine fir and huckleberry bushes of Eastern Oregon. Growing up, my first taste of freedom came by way of backpacking without my parents, sneaking beer into the high country and skinny-dipping in the icy lakes of the Wallowa mountains. And over the years, wild country has always brought me back. It never fails to provide me with a sense of peace and well-being that transcends all the distraction and frustration of our crowded, hyper-connected, light-speed world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">Where I grew up, none of this is all that exceptional. But I've learned that to most people, it is a foreign or at least an outdated concept. As a culture, we think of wilderness as either scenery or untapped resources, and of our jobs and cities and highways and infrastructure as "real life". But what if we could flip that paradigm? What if we cast "real life" as the life of the ecosystems and the environment that keeps us all alive. What if a deep appreciation and respect for the sanctity of untouched land became a cultural norm? I believe that inhabiting this kind of change could change all of our lives for the better, for our own preservation and enrichment as a species, but also for the benefit of life on the whole, as a planetary system. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">Finding a real connection with the wild fulfills spiritual needs that are a basic part of being human. Regardless of religious beliefs, of where someone's from or what they're into - I've yet to see a person leave a true wilderness unaffected. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;"><strong>I started Music For Wild Places after spending many years on the road as a touring musician</strong>. I loved the places music was taking me, the people I was playing with, and the explosions of color and culture that made up the music scenes, festivals, clubs, and concert halls. But I found that more and more, I was missing the the rootedness and the inspiration that only being out in a true wilderness can bring. So I had the very simple idea of bringing the essential elements of the concert hall or the music festival out into a river canyon or up into an alpine meadow. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">And that's what Music For Wild Places aims to do. Having teamed up with <a contents="Winding Waters River Expeditions" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.windingwatersrafting.com" target="_blank">Winding Waters River Expeditions </a></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Futura;">based in Joseph, OR, MFWP offers music-based float trips, backpacking trips, videos and recordings. Proceeds go to benefit <a contents="The Western Rivers Conservancy" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.westernrivers.org" target="_blank">The Western Rivers Conservancy</a>. </span></p>
</div></div>Kai Welch