Dave Stringer

Dave Stringer has been profiled in Time, Billboard, In Style, and Yoga Journal as a leader of the new American kirtan movement. Kirtan (from the Sanskrit word meaning “to sing”) is an ancient practice of mantra chanting that has become popular as a participatory live music experience in hundreds of yoga studios across the U.S. As Dave says, at a kirtan “You’re not just listening to the music, you are the music.“

Dave’s sound marries the transcendent mysticism of traditional Indian instruments with the exuberant, groove-oriented sound of American gospel music. A spontaneous and articulate public speaker, he probes the dilemmas of the spirit with a sly and unorthodox sense of humor. His work translates the ancient traditions of kirtan and yoga into inspiring and thoroughly modern participatory theatre, open to a multiplicity of interpretations, and accessible to all.

Initially trained as a visual artist and jazz musician, Dave started chanting in the early 1990’s when a film editing project brought him to the ashram of Swami Muktananda in India. When the editing project ended, he remained in India to teach school in a rural village, and continued studying the traditions of yoga with Swami Chidvilasananda. After returning to the US, Dave taught meditation and chanting to prison inmates, and began leading kirtans at yoga studios in Los Angeles and Chicago.

In the past four years Dave and his band have toured all over the United States, Canada and Europe, giving more than 400 performances. He has collaborated on recordings with Vas, Rasa, Donna De Lory, Axiom of Choice, Suzanne Teng, and Sheila Nicholls, and has performed with other noted kirtan singers Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. His voice can also be heard on the soundtracks of the film Matrix Revolutions and the video game Myst.