Lion of Panjshir probably began when I was still in my mother's womb. 20 days before I was born my father's entire family left Afghanistan due to the Soviet invasion. They moved into our home in La Canada, California. In this new land there was a deep need for celebration and union. My parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the many American artists who my parents were friends with, would join at our home in beautiful parties with live Afghan music playing and really delicious food. When my cousins, aunts and uncles started moving out and moving on with their lives, I found life to seem very dull and boring in my quiet suburban town. When I was twelve I started playing the guitar and became obsessed with Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and the whole sixties counter culture history. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that someday I would make music in Afghanistan. I continued my journey through high school and college as an actress and student of literature and film production at the USC School of Cinema Television. After the tragic events of September 11th, my parents sold everything they owned and moved back to Afghanistan to contribute to the re construction of the country. I made my first trip to Kabul in October 2002. I have been travelling to Afghanistan every year and documenting my journies in pictures, video, and songs. It has been very intense and beautiful watching my parents fulfill their destiny in a land that has been in many ways forgotten.
I met Max Guirand in the spring of 2006 and we started "lion of panjshir", named after the great revolutionary leader Ahmed Shah Massoud. A year later Max, Paloma Udovic, and I travelled to Afghanistan together to record with Afghan Ustads. What started as a band really became a project, as many many incredible artists have contributed to the album that will soon be born into this world. I wish for peace and strive to create that feeling of celebration, togetherness, and culture that I once experienced in my home as a small child. If I can contribute that gift to this world I will be very happy. Thank you for listening and I wish for all of us to experience peace, love, prosperity, and magic in 2008!
you can read about Massoud here:
National Geographic article on Massoud: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0110/junger.html
"We consider this our duty -- to defend humanity against the scourge of intolerance, violence, and fanaticism." -Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir
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