The Path to Enlightenment with Trevor Hall | Review

All images by Chris DeCicco for Yellow Scene Magazine

What is the path to enlightenment?

Trevor Hall asked this question of his guru and shared the story at his Nov. 29th 2019 Boulder Theater concert. The path to enlightenment is through feeding and serving the people, says the guru. Thus the seed was planted and the vision started. Figuring out how to feed the people has been incubating since that conversation. The plan finally came together with the help of friends and the folks at Conscious Alliance, the non-profit that works with artists and festivals to collect food at concerts and distribute them to the needy.

Trevor and friends came together for the first of what he hopes are many such events like the Conscious Alliance community meal at the Sacred Heart Church in Boulder. The team over at Arcana, including chef Samuel McCandless, put together a simple meal to warm the hearts of fans and the unhoused alike. Trevor mingled with everyone taking selfies and being the humble dude that he is.

Friday night’s concert kicked off with an opening by his close friends, originally from Hawaii, Amber Lily and Tubby Love. Their sweet mix of reggae island vibes and message of unifying the people and being a catalyst for change was well received by the Boulder faithful. They are now based here in Boulder along with Trevor, injecting a welcome infusion of conscious music to the local scene.

Trevor came out barefoot and excited to play in front of his hometown and started off with a slow building beat that reached its peak just as the crowd did. His voice is like butter and his songs are straight from the heart. For those not familiar with his music, many of the songs have a mantra based chorus that is intentionally repetitive to help everyone connect with that highest part within all of us. When you sing along and let the words flow it can put you into an ecstatic state of oneness, if you let it. Trevor invites you to take a journey into your spiritual life along with him and find internal peace.

It was Trevor’s birthday the day before and his Dad was in the house. He was introduced and brought up to play drums with the band. Just seeing the bond between the two of them and the joy they shared on stage was worth going for. They played a couple of Blues based jams to the surprise and delight of the audience.

What touched me the most was Trevor sharing about his ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety. He joked with us and through his own vulnerability was able to help normalize the ups and downs we all go through. It made me think about all the rock stars and famous people who we have lost way too early to similar illnesses masked by addiction and the idea that we are all supposed to be happy on the outside and hide our pain. The real change comes from sharing your inner world with others and Trevor did that beautifully.

Trevor then brought out Tubby Love and Amber Lily to accompany him on a few more songs and their island connection and affection for each other made the song, O’ haleakala that much more potent. We heard some of Trevor’s biggest hits, including The Lime Tree, The Mountain, Green Mountain State, and some brand new tunes like Storm Clouds. The band is tight and each player brought their best, especially on the encore where we got to hear the individual magic of the musicians. The lead guitarist brought a fiery end to the show with a bluesy electric trippy sound that everyone seemed to love.

Trevor will be back at Red Rocks on May 1, 2020, with Citizen Cope and Rising Appalachia after a sell out show earlier this year. Hopefully they will be able to team up with Conscious Alliance again to bring the feeding people theme by serving up another community meal. Don’t forget to bring canned food and non-perishables to donate.

All images by Chris DeCicco for Yellow Scene Magazine