Ten years as a Kirtan band

A clear intention

I moved to Boulder in 2015 with a clear intention. I wanted to assemble a Kirtan band I could truly be proud of. One that could understand and align with my specific vision, and that would be a joy to make Kirtan with over a long stretch of time.

Finding the right people took over a year.

In late 2016 and through 2017, I held auditions. Many musicians came through—talented players, sincere seekers, people with impressive credentials. But a band like this requires more than skill or spiritual aspiration alone. I was looking for the convergence: professional-level musicians who were deeply committed to Kirtan, whose hearts were in the right place, who were responsible and easy to coordinate with. People who understood that we were creating something sacred, not just showcasing our abilities. A rare constellation of qualities.

It took time to find them. But when the right people appeared, I knew it.

Who and when

Vocalist Dawnia Dresser arrived first. I'd heard of her singing prowess even before she moved to Boulder (from LA) in 2016. We met and had an immediate connection. She could feel the energy in my chanting, and I could feel the love in her heart.

Percussionist Ken Matarazzo arrived mid-2017. A series of highly improbable synchronicities led him to reach out to me. We discovered we lived a mile away from each other in Boulder, and that we each grew up in West Hartford, CT and attended the same high school. Small world.

Ken recommended cellist James Hoskins in late 2017. From the first time we played together I knew he was the right player for the group. What I didn't realize for many years is that I'd been listening to James's cello playing since 2006 on an album by Ty Burhoe (Invocation) that featured Kirtan great Krishna Das. Again, small world.

For some time we worked as a quartet, creating a tight core of musicians that could unfold the specific flavor of Kirtan I intuited was possible.

Four stages of becoming

Once we came together, we moved through what I now see as four distinct phases:

First, getting tight. Learning each other's musical language, developing precision, building the technical foundation that would allow us to create something beautiful together. Building the ability to navigate a chant together in a clean and clear way. No crashing and burning. No slop.

Then, getting deep. Moving beyond technical proficiency into genuine spiritual communion. Learning to work with energy—with Shakti—not just melody and rhythm. Dropping in together. Relaxing in. Feeling confident with our music and arrangements.

Next, getting creative. Discovering our unique voice as a group, developing original compositions, finding the places where individual expression could serve collective intention. Spreading our wings from a place of depth. Building the capacity to respond to each other in real time.

Finally, getting fluid. Reaching the point where we could respond to the moment, to the energy in the room, to what the practice was calling for, without losing our coherence or our depth. Consistently blending tightness, depth, and creativity with a special blend of connection with self, each other, the participants, and the Divine. Dawnia's three loops (with self, with others, with the Divine)... but as a band.

All of this required that we were heading in the same direction—musically and spiritually. I was delighted. For the first time since I began chanting in 2000 I had a Kirtan band that could generate a high level of musical, spiritual and energetic coherence.

Getting bigger

At this point we got bigger by adding two musicians who could blend with what we'd created and add their own unique flavor. Vocalist Michele Heaphy arrived in 2018, initially as a response singer, later as a chant leader with her own original compositions. Bassist Bill McCrossen arrived in 2019. He seamlessly fit in with the group, adding his tasteful, funky and soulful sounds while driving the energy of the group.

What we're oriented toward

Mike Cohen & The Shakti Groove exists to create potent Kirtan experiences that honor several essential polarities:

• Musical practice + spiritual practice
• Individual excellence + group cohesion
• Musical creativity + accessibility for participants

We're not interested in putting on a "show" where the audience is passive. We're not a Kirtan "jam session" where a rotating cast of musicians do their best without having rehearsed the music. We're not creating a musically inept but well-intentioned "spiritual experience" that asks people to overlook musical mediocrity in service of devotion. Nor are we holding a "gig," where musicians gather for a one-off musical experience.

We're creating events—gatherings where musicianship and spiritual transmission work together, where people can have a genuine experience of the sacred through sound. Where participants can practice sharing their voices, opening their hearts, and paying attention to the many flavors of Divine energy that are generated. Whether we're playing at Bhakti Fest, Sedona Yoga Festival, or Telluride Yoga Festival, or in the intimate beauty of venues all over Colorado, our intention remains the same: to create a space where hearts can open, where connection can happen, where something genuinely nourishing can unfold. Where depth, musicianship, devotion and Divine energy are cultivated.

Consistency matters

We rehearse. Regularly. All six of us.

We're not a "jam band" that shows up and wings it. The depth we're after—the kind of energy transmission that moves through sacred chant—requires dedicated practice, both individually and collectively.

Our extended residence at eTown Hall (2024-25) and our monthly Rocky Mountain Kirtan events have given us something invaluable: consistent containers for deepening our work and serving our community. Over the last nine years, we've been able to evolve together, along with the people who come chant with us month after month.

Three leaders

One of the unique features of Shakti Groove is that we have three chant leaders, not one.

In each event, I make space for both Dawnia Dresser and Michele Heaphy to share one of their beautiful original chants. This isn't just about honoring their gifts as composers and practitioners—though I deeply do. It's about consciously blending masculine and feminine energies, creating a more complete spiritual experience.

Both Dawnia and Michele's original compositions carry their own unique transmission. When we make Kirtan together, we're modeling what's possible when leadership is shared, when multiple voices are honored, when there's room for everyone's light. When the masculine and feminine honor each other and work together in an optimal and synergistic way. 

Everyone gets to shine

We're somewhat like the Tedeschi Trucks Band in this regard: each person in the group gets an opportunity to express their gifts within the context of the experience we're creating together.

This is generosity in action—not the false humility of hiding your light, or the self-centered need to take center stage, but the genuine generosity of making space for others to radiate theirs. Our percussionist, our bassist, our cellist, our response vocalists, the chant leader—everyone contributes something essential, and everyone has moments where their particular genius comes forward.

For those of you who love to support and uplift others, who find joy in being part of something beautiful and nurturing—this is what we're about. Individual expression serves collective intention. There's no competition for the spotlight, only an invitation for audience members to join and participate, to add their unique voice and expression to the beauty of what we create together.

Deep practitioners, not just skilled musicians

I could have assembled a band of technically proficient musicians with little spiritual commitment. That's not what we built. 

Everyone in Shakti Groove is a serious spiritual practitioner. The music flows from the practice, not the other way around. We're working with energy—with Shakti—in a way that requires real spiritual training and commitment. For me, 17 years (and counting) in a deep, authentic Indian spiritual tradition that focuses on cultivating Shakti.

We understand that sound can be a doorway to something deeper. That when we gather in this way, we're not just making music—we're creating a field that allows people to experience their own depth, their own longing for connection, their own capacity for joy and presence.

Aligned around principles

What allows six strong individuals to create something coherent? Shared principles:

• Teamwork over ego
• Collaboration over competition
• Deep listening—to each other, to the energy, to what's needed, to what's emerging
• Open-heartedness
• Working consciously with Shakti
• Giving each other space to express while staying focused on the collective intention
• Creating an accessible experience for participants, meeting people where they are
• Sharing original music, contributing to a living tradition rather than endlessly recycling covers

These aren't just nice ideas we talk about. They're the operating system that allows us to do what we do. They create safety for vulnerability, space for creativity, and room for genuine spiritual experience.

For those who value authenticity and emotional depth, who are drawn to beauty and meaningful expression—this is the container we've built. For those who seek joy and variety in spiritual practice, who love the spontaneity that can arise within a strong structure—this is where we play. And for those who cherish harmony and peace, who want to belong to something that feels both nourishing and real—this is what we've cultivated together.

The long game

Building something like this is special, and takes time. It took a year just to find the right core group of musicians. It's taken another nine years to develop the depth and fluidity we now possess. In 2026 we will enter our second decade together. Not many musical groups last that long.

In a culture that often treats sacred music as either entertainment or an excuse for musical mediocrity, we've tried to walk a different path. We've built something that honors both artistic excellence and spiritual depth, that serves both the individual practitioner and the collective field, that is both rooted in tradition and alive with creativity. 

The Kirtan Leader Institute has trained over 3,000 students since 2010. Many of them are now leading their own Kirtans, forming their own groups, discovering what's possible when practice meets professionalism. Shakti Groove is, in many ways, the embodiment of what we teach—a living example of what happens when skilled musicians become deep spiritual practitioners and bring both gifts fully to the work.

If you're thinking about forming a sacred music group—or any kind of group oriented toward something higher than mere entertainment—know this: it takes time to find your people. It takes patience to build real depth. It takes commitment to stay the course. It requires guiding principles to align around. And it requires creating a space where everyone can be themselves fully, where beauty and authenticity matter, where there's room for joy and depth alike.

But when you find those aligned souls, when you build something together over years, when you create experiences that genuinely serve and nourish—it's worth every moment.

Mike Cohen & The Shakti Groove performs at festivals and events throughout the US, including monthly Rocky Mountain Ecstatic Chant gatherings. Learn more at www.MikeCohenKirtan.com. Learn more about our approach to Kirtan at www.KirtanLeader.com.