I met Elaine Silver in the early 80s, when she was being lauded as Queen of the New Jersey Folk Singers. I was the Clubdate Queen. And the man who introduced us was The Jazz Poet (The late, esteemed Charlie Mosler.) We were a mixed bag of established performers…and simpatico…busy at work in traditional and non-traditional spaces and events.
We were, at the heart of us, all free spirits. One among us was already a consummate business person who seemed to know how to get what she wanted. Among local musical artists of that time Elaine Silver was atypical. She knew how to network before I even learned the word. From her first CD to her recent 20th, her career was played out among audiences at colleges, festivals, churches and coffee houses. She was the recipient of the Garden State Music Award for Outstanding Folk Performer, and was featured nationally on The Wisdom Channel.
Besides playing in clubs in North America and Europe, Elaine appeared in concert with Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Suzanne Vega, and more of the folk world’s brightest stars. I’d say in the business of music, and especially as a woman in the 80s, Elaine was ahead of her time. I always admired that she was in full control of her business.
In the 90s, this songwriting woman with the strong, clear, voice of an angel, who sang a cappella or accompanied herself on guitar, found her way into the world of philosophy, new thought, and metaphysics taking the music with her. And in that new world, she worked with best-selling authors Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Neale Donald Walsch and Marianne Williamson. Alan Cohen, author of inspirational books, hired Elaine to provide music for his workshops and special events.
Today, the Jersey Girl lives in West Palm Beach, and Sarasota, FL, but each summer she comes North for her Northeast Coast tour. While here, Elaine performs in house concerts, and fills in for ministers at New Thought Centers such as Unity, Centers for Spiritual Living, Unitarian Churches and others. A year from now, she says she will have completed ministerial study in the Church of Science of Mind. As a minister, as in all her career, spiritual leadership will be fused with her songwriting and live performance; her metaphysical musical ministry.
Elaine has established her music marketing name of Silver Stream Music and the Silver Stream of Consciousness. Through the years, as I have counseled students in their music careers, Elaine Silver has been the best example I know of a solo artist who put it all together and has managed her career like the business any career should be. Go to her live performance, watch her interact with a crowd, see what she does with merchandise, study her publicity, and visit her extensive website. It’s an education. And there, you will find the history and philosophy of Faeireland.
Elaine says, “A Faerie Movement is flourishing all over the world! By surrendering to the joys of believing in magic, you’re invited to open your heart and mind and to acknowledge the divinity in yourself and others. Our thoughts and words can and do make a difference.” You can take the Faerie Pledge at Elaine’s website, and know that “This is a vehicle for each of us to take a stand for infinite possibility and goodness.”
Have you ever found yourself daydreaming for what seems like a few seconds, when it turned out to be five or ten minutes? “This altered state of consciousness is a calling to Faerieland,” says Elaine. Meditation is important in Faerieland. Learn how you can become a Faerie, and choose your own fantasy Faerie name at her website.
She visited me recently bearing lunch and her new CD, “Goddess Guide Us.” After chicken salad sandwiches and catching up, we exchanged recordings. We have something very powerful in common: Similar paths toward what Deepak Chopra calls “the field of pure potentiality,” or an altered state of consciousness. In my world, it’s hypnosis; in Elaine’s, it’s “a calling to Faerieland.”
Your medical doctor won’t dismiss your practicing these meditative type modalities (as many physicians still do) if you refer to them as the relaxation response. We’re all using the same power like religion, but give it a different name.
You can see Elaine in NJ, as listed below. Other appearances are listed on her website: www.ElaineSilver.com
Greater Philadelphia Center For Spiritual Living;
Sun., July 23; 10:30am service.
www.cslphilly.org .
Morristown NJ Center for Conscious Living;
Sun., July 30; 10am service;
www.NewThoughtCCL.org
Lafayette, NJ, Unity of Sussex County;
Sun., August 13; 11am Service
www.unityofsussex.org.
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