Livtar Singh's life journey began in Macon, Georgia, but he grew up in Orlando, Florida, where he began accordian lessons at age seven, studied piano from nine until he was eleven, started playing banjo at 12 in Kingston Trio type folk groups with his brothers, and then switched to guitar when he was 14.
In high school Livtar was playing guitar in rock bands, but also played trumpet in the school orchestra. His early musical influences ranged from The Beach Boys and The Ventures to The Doors and The Who.
In late 1969, Livtar began studying yoga and meditation in California before being sent to Atlanta to start an ashram where he has been the director ever since. Music has always been a major part of his meditations, and he plays regularly, not only at the morning and night meditations in Atlanta, but at the two big annual national gatherings during the summer and winter solstices.
In 1972 he formed the Khalsa String Band with musicians from ashrams all over the country, recorded four albums with them, and went on a national tour in 1974. Livtar released two solo albums - The Khalsa Way (1980) and Our Time (1984).
During the past eight years the summer solstice gathering in New Mexico has featured a concert with national acts on Peace Prayer Day when Livtar has performed on-stage with Ray Manzarek, Donovan and Arlo Guthrie. Livtar also played guitar on an album by Singh Kaur and several other projects being produced by Liv Khalsa.
Liv & Let Liv is a collaboration between Livtar Singh and Liv Singh (producer, arranger, recording engineer, songwriter or musician on 130 albums that have sold a total of more than a million units), who has worked with artists such as Kim Robertson & Singh Kaur.
Liv and Livtar, although not related, are part of a spiritual brotherhood that practices Kundalini Yoga, chanting and meditation. They both became Sikhs and, as most do who follow that way of life, they changed their names and took the last name Khalsa. However, there is only a very small group of Sikhs with the name Liv (which means love). Their bond strengthened when they discovered they both play guitar, have similar influences in Sixties rock music, and like to hike in the desert.
According to Livtar, "We're trying to steer both us and the listener toward consciousness, fun and ecstasy at the same time. Our lives are not geared towards the earth, but towards our higher consciousness. Of course there's no reason consciousness can't sneak up on you while you're listening to music and feeling good.
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