Adrienne Mehri Shamszad

Last night Adrienne’s voice, her songs and the music she and her band played blasted my heart wide open and made tears stream down my face. She sang poems by Rumi, Hafiz and other amazing mystic Iranian poets in Farsi and it made me understand the longing to be overcome by the love of god. Then she responded with her own soulful, jazzy, blues-y songs that expressed her interpretation of these gorgeous poems in English and I could understand and feel what it’s like to be completely overcome with gratitude for god’s love.

One time several years ago she told me that she wanted to sing love songs to god and I thought that was such a beautiful intention, but I had no idea that the manifestation of her prayer would be such powerful medicine that created a bridge for me and so many other people to access something truly profound. 

I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was such a powerful journey filled with her humor, her joyful essence, and her love and honoring of her incredible teachers and the lineages of Persian and other kinds of music she’s studied over her life. She brought a vulnerability in through her songs about learning to love and find her own self, voice, and music not only acceptable and enjoyable, but deeply rooted in love and echoing through time and space creating a healing for so many people across many different cultures. In my own heart, I felt the healing of an open wound that I didn’t fully understand before, or even know was there, through her love and passion for her music. I’m completely blown away. 

I watched my friend transform before my eyes and let herself be completely taken with her music and it allowed that to happen for everyone else in the room. I don’t think I’ve ever cried like that at a concert before while having so much fun. Thank you Adrienne Mehri Shamszad