A LITTLE BACKGROUND John Farley is an ex-hippie, ex-Vietnam antiwar movement political radical whose appearance was at one time likened to the character on the cover of Jethro Tull's Aqualung album. Having cleaned up his act, which now has a better rap, he has been for over 40 years one of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's warriors for peace. About the time he began practicing Transcendental Meditation, he picked up a guitar, learned a few chords, and now, thank God, knows a few more. In the EcoVillage section of Fairfield, IA, John lives in a home designed according to the principles of Sthapatya Veda (Vedic architecture), eats organic food, performs yogic flying in the golden domes of Maharishi University of Management, reads Funny Times Magazine, raises money for Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, teaches acoustic folk guitar, writes songs, cuts CDs, performs occasionally, loves being in a country with Barack Obama as President (I wrote that just after he was sworn in, now in 2011 I’m a tad ambivalent), and loves it up with Lisa Rizer. THE MESSAGE Now at 65 years, John has a message for the world. The first part of the message is: "We no longer have to live with all the war, terrorism, bloodshed, hatred, bigotry, greed, hypocrisy, poverty, and general misery that have afflicted our planet for thousands of years." The second part of the message is: "Technologies of consciousness available in our world are now recovering the reality of life and thereby fulfilling the birthright of every human being to live a life blissful in nature and cosmic in scope." Technologies of consciousness, like Transcendental Meditation (TM), connect individual intelligence to cosmic intelligence, which conducts the orderly evolution of our ever-expanding, galactic universe without a problem. The group practice of TM and its advanced techniques, like yogic flying, have the leverage to engage cosmic intelligence more powerfully, hastening the transition from darkness and ignorance of the reality of life to the full illumination of a truly enlightened age. At this time in 2011, the full range of these technologies of consciousness and other Vedic technologies (for agriculture, for health, etc.) are being made available in 3000 Peace Palaces in the largest cities around the world, including 2400 Peace Palaces in the US. This global campaign by the Global Country of World Peace, which Maharishi founded at the turn of the millenium to play a parental role to guide all countries of the world to invincibility, will bring full enlightenment within the range of every human being on Earth. THE MUSIC John calls himself a "phase transition folk artist" because the art he imparts in his TIMES' BRIDGE Series of CDs describes our present, unique period in time that's booting out the old while embracing the initial stages of a much higher-order reality. In bringing out the message for these CDs, John took on George W. and his gang (date of this update - May 3, 2011 - goodbye George, welcome Barack), a generally mindless press, politicians in general, the military, unscrupulous corporate executives and their corporations (Enron and Monsanto for example), and generally any other distasteful colorations marring the space-time landscape. Through all of this, the message rings loud and clear - we can change our world and we can do it very quickly. In his song, "Where Are You Now?" John urgently calls upon the peacemakers of the world, past and present, to gather together: "Instead of marching, we'll all sit, And fill the world with consciousness." The alternative John brings out in his version of "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" called "Clouds Are Gathering:" "And in the final ticks of your last moment, The picture gets quite clear. You're goin' out, not from what you did, But from what you didn't do while you were here." John's songs that describe this unique time of phase transition and comment on both the global and US political and social landscape are the songs of his TIMES' BRIDGE series of CDs. TIMES' BRIDGE - First Span was released early in 2002. TIMES' BRIDGE - Second Span was released in March of 2003. Because of the critical need for the knowledge that will bring some sanity, harmony to our world, John naturally emphasizes his songs of phase transition. However, out of another side of John come songs of love lost, crazy days, mysterious brunettes, music shop keepers, breakin' out, moments missed, junior high dances, buying a cookie, a Fed Ex lady, late-night popcorn picture shows, women on display, and a jazzman's riff, among many other images. These images can be heard in the songs of John's JOHNNY LILA series of CDs - JOHNNY LILA and JOHNNY LILA 2. Also, please check out John's most recent CDs, PIECE OF ME (2007) and Moments of Grace (2008), also available here at CD Baby. "He was mesmerizing...his lyrics were thought provoking and unpredictable...delivered with an irresistible honesty and depth that is the stuff of great theater." The Fairfield Weekly Reader (The closest Fairfield, IA comes to a Village Voice or a Boston Phoenix)