Please click the link below to hear new recordings, such as the collaboration we did with Joan Baez just a few weeks ago in Atherton, CA.

soundcloud.com/jancheta2/blowing-in-the-wind-justin

Click Image for more information!

MCRAI with Cradle Duende

September 24th @ Club Cocomo

Justin Ancheta | Create Your Badge

Written in first person by Justin Ancheta (www.justinancheta.com), of Cradle Duende

“After many thoughts and talks on how our culture is unsustainable in it’s practices of transportation, we decided to head across the country on train with our bicycles to see if we can get around by an alternative mode of transportation. We made it easier by being just two people, Morgan & Justin, of Cradle Duende, the band. We made it harder by bringing our own mics, stands, PA system, and all the gear needed to be self sufficient for camping and doing our own show. Everything was utilized on the tour. We also learned some good lessons along the way.

We started with a bike ride down the Sacramento River in Sacramento, California, to set off on Cradle Duende’s first tour to promote alternative transportation. Once we got to the train station they were kind enough to lend us used bike boxes, instead of paying $10 each for a new one (we still paid the $5 service fee). We found out that because of the holidays the trip was so full that buying out ticket last minute made us have to pay an extra $60 each due to the crowded train to Reno. It wasn’t too much more, being that we were paying $389 for an 8 trip, 15 day pass on Amtrak. We set off for Denver Colorado on a 32 hour train ride through the Sierra Mountains, the Nevada Desert, and the Colorado Rockies. Some of the most memorable moments of this first train ride were the epic views by the river weaving through the mountains. We also played two shows on the viewing cart, which one was a tunnel show where we went through a tunnel for 15 minutes and played in the dark with the LED lit guitar (thanks to www.rockthebike.com).

There were 3 days in Denver, Colorado, exploring the rivers and city landscape between the two shows booked, one at the Mercury Café, and one at the Jewish Alliance Community Center. The rivers and culture by the river that we saw on a hot day inspired me to fall in love with Denver and how portions of the city have embraced nature and community (See picture 1).

The shows went great, offering a chance to cross cultural boundaries by doing songs in Hebrew, as well as some traditional Jewish tunes with our originals. We offered bike blended smoothies which we also brought with us on the trip, packing on our Yuba Mundo 500 (www.rockthebike.com) (see pic 3).

After the last show, due to time constraints and booking the tour this way, I had to disassemble a Yuba Mundo bicycle in 15 minutes to catch the train, the fastest and most efficient packing without power tools. I prepped some screws by taking out half of the support and kept the other half in for stability. I think this cut my time in half. In the future, a power tool would make this a 15 minute process without rushing. We ended up catching the train and we were off to Chicago, Illinois for a 5 hour lay-over, then Albany, NY. The train from Denver to Chicago took 20 hours and the train from Chicago to New York was about the same due to having to stop for freight trains. Our total trip was close to 70 hours of train time vs. 5 ½ hours in an airplane. The difference is almost double the price to take the train vs. flying. Also, if you are to take these overnight train trips, and have the extra cash, the sleeper car is probably the way to go which includes meals on the train. Unfortunately our budget was economy class and we found different ways of sleeping under the seats on the floor, sideways, and other creative and uncomfortable positions.

The East Coast

Arriving in Albany, NY in the beautiful spring green colors that can knock your socks off, we found that our bikes were left in Chicago by Amtrak. This allowed us to meet the managers of the Albany Amtrak station and discuss prices and what happens when customer’s luggage is forgotten or lost. They were obliged to bring us to our destination by taxi, 20 minutes from the station. The next day when the bikes still weren’t there, they took us to our next destination of Rutland, Vermont, also by taxi. It was disappointing not to ride the route we selected from the Albany train station, but we were glad to keep to our schedule even though our bike luggage was missing for over 24 hours. They dropped off the bikes in Rutland by train the following night.
In the process of losing our bikes on Amtrak, we found the inconsistencies of Amtrak policy, which is supposed to be a nation-wide service with the same rates and services. On the east coast (Vermont/New York), Bikes are unable to be packed or unpacked on any trains into Vermont by Amtrak, as well as no bike service to New York City. The bike box policy was stated to be $15 per box plus a $5 service fee, which is inconsistent with the rest of the country as well. Along the trip and heard the rumor that AAA Auto insurance has lobbied against Amtrak and other alternative transportation such as buses, and they seem to have won. In the past 10 years the service of bikes on trains (no extra luggage cart) and the bus system being dismantled, leaves no other options for people to get around other then paying for gas guzzling vehicles and paying for their auto insurance policies. As I cannot vouch for the validity of the AAA auto insurance lobbying claim, I do know that the investigation should be followed up, as well as a price check on how much more it would cost Amtrak to have a luggage cart. From my understanding adding one cart onto a row of trains using the same motor would not change the diesel gas efficiency enough to notice any difference, and they already have attendees at the stations to help with luggage and customer service. Our goal is to partner with an organization that is passionate about revitalizing the Amtrak so that people can once again use the service with Bicycles, and possibly open it up to allow motor bikes a service on and off trains for an extra fee. This would allow for higher rider-ship and allow Amtrak to compete with the high-speed road system that has taken over our transportation in the United States.”

Cradle Duende Shows – Vermont, New Jersey, New York

The most accumulation of shows was on the east coast. We played everything from Synagogues and old folks homes, to Yoga Studios and Pedal Powered stages. One of the largest pedal powered systems to date was set up in Brooklyn for the “Natural Ass” show with 14 bikes creating the power. On Saturday, June 4th, Cradle Duende participated in the video shoot and testing of the system in a huge warehouse with natural lighting mixed with Rock The Bikes LED lights to show how much power is being generated by the bikers. We hope to share footage of this event soon.

Yoga Basin and Sonic Yoga Studio’s with Twee Merrigan

Both in Asbury Park, New Jersey and New York City, New York, Cradled Duende toned it down for meditative ambient didgeridoo, guitar, percussion, and clarinet for a custom experience with astounding yoga teachers Twee Merrigan, as well as Lori assisting at Sonic Yoga. The creative process of these shows is meditation in music, in yoga, and in any moment thereof. Mixing experimental yoga and music together to bring people to the moment of climactic inner ecstasy and peace, Twee, Justin, and Morgan brought their gifts together for a unique and personal experience using sound, movement, and touch. They have collaborated once before at the Hawaii Spirit Festival in 2010, and are scheduled to make the same movement forward at the Wanderlust Festival at Squaw Valley, California on July 28th weekend, 2011.

“Yoga is a similar practice to the message of our music” says Justin of Cradle Duende. “We try to embody a movement forward that Twee mentions as a re-evolution of the mind, body, and spirit”. Cradle Duende hopes to keep sharing their cultural experiences so that people can celebrate together the gift of being alive and feeling abundant with little necessities and less consuming culture. “We have traveled across the country camping by rivers and practicing the idea that the land is truly ours to share and can if we all act as stewards of the land and respect our surroundings of the natural world”. For more information, please visit www.cradleduende.org or www.soulgraffiti.info for the 2012 “A Call to Localize Tour” by bicycle and train from San Francisco to New York.

BEST AND WORST TRAVELLING MOMENTS:

BEST – The best part of traveling by bike is the slow pace to relax and enjoy the scenery while you move your body just enough to stay in shape and be fit. Some of the best moments in life are when you can enjoy without the distraction of thinking of what you are or aren’t doing. This happens for both Justin and Morgan of Cradle Duende when they ride their bikes and play their music.
WORST – For some reason the final part of the bike touring trips I have gone on end with something small and extremely challenging. I can honestly say that the hardest part of the tour was getting back up the hill in San Francisco, CA where we live, carrying an electric hub motor that is needed for the San Francisco, Bicycle Music Festival 2011. The hub motors are used to create the power for the stage and will be featured once again for the 6th annual BMF, Saturday, June 18th staring in Golden Gate Park in the morning and moving through SF to the second location. More details at www.bicyclemusicfestival.com

That’s it for now folks! If you want to get involved, please email booking@soulgraffiti.info. We are looking for future music-bike-touring people that want to make a difference.

Peace,
www.soulgraffiti.info
www.CraldeDuende.org

www.justinancheta.com

Right by the river, can't get no betta!

Denver has some great trails by the river, but most are surrounded by power plants on both sides. What happened to the value of nature? I’m all for awaking our awareness of the hedonic value of open land. The more people that get out and try and find open spaces to camp and see the land, the more they would realize how far we have gone in desecrating our natural world. So far freeways and large power industries being the biggest restrictions to open land and air that I have seen.
(A day later)
I had to not post yesterday due to the quick rush to the show, train, and the fastest breaking down of bikes into boxes for the train ride to date. The show was at 5 pm to 6 pm, and the train was leaving at 7:10 pm. I boxed up Morgan’s bike before the show as well as taking out half of the screws on the Mundo to make it a bit faster to box the bike later. We headed to the show that was a great ride down a creek south of the downtown area. It wrapped around the city and was about 5 miles long. We got there, played for an hour, managed to score some great food that I am still eating now for breakfast, and then started heading back down the river trail back to the Amtrak station. Going about 20 MPH, things kept flying off the bike and Morgan was holding on for dear life (it wasn’t that scary, but I was definitely hurrying). When we got back to the train station the train was already there. They I had 4 minutes to put my bike in a box and bring the 7 bags to the train station. I either could panic or kick into gear. I started to take the bike a part as Morgan gathered the bags onto a moving cart. It took about 15 minutes to box the bike and start bringing the bags over. I was grateful for Greg, a train worker helped tape the box up a bit. We ended up on standing by the train for 10 minutes waiting to load and had time to get everything on. I’m not sitting in the viewing cart in the early morning heading through middle America with rolling green hills on both sides, filled with tons of trees. The views from a train are the most beautiful and ugly areas of America, making for a very realistic perspective of the rich and poor areas of the land. Off to Chicago, Albany NY, Vermont, and then down to New York again for a Rock The Bike pedal power show, the biggest to date with 17 pedal power bicycles.

Collaborations with good people

Shows are up with details. I hope to see you where I can along the road. Excited to be doing lots of unique shows along the way, everything from Synagogues & Yoga Studios, to Bars and Old Folks Homes. Ya, it sounds like the beginning of a joke “So a Filipino-jew, sets off across the continent on his bike to play Synagogues, Yoga Studios, Bars and Old Folks Homes…” The jew part I found out because of my Grandmothers name – Lavine, a Spanish-Jewish name. Anyways, I hope to see you along the way. I am super excited to be doing this tour in the fashion that it is. It is like a little Pleasant Revolution tour, but with less people. If you want to support on the way, please send donations to justin@sinclairband.com paypal. Thanks for reading and enjoy until the end.

Shows listings on SHOW PAGE (as well as to the right).

Blessings from SF for now.

A peaceful revolution through what you do on a daily basis

In the next 3 weeks I am preparing to get on the train/bike and head to New York. In the process, there are many shows that are coming up that haven’t event been posted yet online, so I hope you can check out some of these before I go. I will have the shows listed and tour dates posted within the week. Here is some new art by my friend Elizabeth Michaud. We are working on a campaign to start a revolution that is peaceful in the making and end solution. Hope you enjoy the graphic and I’ll see you soon! A Call To Localize

Thank you Friends & Family for your support

If you would like to donate to the funds for the new album to be produced, any amount will give you access to a huge list of new and unreleased Justin Ancheta tracks. Please send funds to Paypal: justin@sinclairband.com & within the week you will have a list of codes to download MP3′s from the Justin Ancheta online catalog.

In recent months/years, Justin has joined the efforts of many groups including Zambaleta Music School, Rock The Bike, Off The Grid, and Childrens Day School, to promote cultural and social gatherings to awaken the spirit through music. If you are interested in being a part of the movement, please email booking@soulgraffiti.info and they will get back to you ASAP.

“Many thanks, and gratitude for the life I live and I wish to find good relations between us all” Justin Ancheta