“When the two hemispheres of the brain work together to create new music with roots in the distant past.”

Waagal is a one-man band by multi-instrumentalist Erwann Texier-Harth. Guitar, didgeridoo, handpans, kashaka, synthesizer and other instruments are played simultaneously to create a solo performance in which the musician pushes his limits. Inspired by the music and cultures of the world, Waagal combines ancient sounds with innovative rhythms.

A native Californian, Joel Christopher Payne’s story starts with a life changing moment at the age four that would change the course of his life forever. Joel tells us, “My earliest memory that inspired my career came when I was riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and I looked up to my mom and said, Look Mom! Look how real the robots are!! At which point my mother without hesitation replied , – son, those are the waiters at the Blue Bayou… You’d think I was destroyed… but it was in that moment that I realized just how amazing Walt Disney really was.

Following the murder of his son in 1995, Azim Khamisa founded the Tariq Khamisa Foundation (TKF.org), which started a subsequent forgiveness movement that has reached millions.