Gayan Gregory Long

My Story

Gayan Gregory Long is an internationally acclaimed drummer, Dances of Universal Peace leader, kirtan leader, composer, story teller, and spiritual mentor. He began drumming at age eight and has been performing ever since. Gayan has drummed for, and led, kirtan for twenty years. He is an active leader and contributor to the vibrant Boulder kirtan scene.

​

He has also accompanied Wah!, Girish, David Newman, Donna De Lory, Dave Stringer, Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band, Saul David Raye, Katie Wise, Johanna Beekman, Govind Das & Radha, Robert Gass, and Shiva Rae. Gayan has appeared on sixty-eight recording projects (including two of his own records). He has collaborated and recorded with the electronic musicians Emancipator and Desert Dwellers, and serves as a producer and music director for recorded and live music projects.

Gayan teaches, performs, and leads retreats from India to Russia, Thailand to South America, and in North America. He is dedicating his life to awakening human potential through music, devotional practices, and Pith teachings. His book Thunderbolts: Flashes of Insight From the Road Home is projected for release in autumn 2024.

What/who inspired you musically?

John Bonham, Bruce Cockburn, JS Bach, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Dave Stringer

What’s your favorite mantra?

Sanskrit: Jai Saraswati Namo Namah

Tibetan: Om Mani Pema Hung

Arabic: Ya Vakil Ya Fattah (divine protection and ever-opening)

Japanese: Nam Myoho Renge Khyo (devotion to the mystical law of the Lotus Sutra teachings)

Yoruba: Ashe (honoring the life force which flows through all things, particularly arts, dance, and music, same word in Tibetan means unconditional confidence)

​

Instruments I play:

If you can bang it or strum it I either play it or would love to; voice

​

Favorite foods:

organic watermelon and blueberries 

Favorite dessert:

slightly thawed organic dark frozen cherries or organic frozen bananas run through a Champion Juicer topped with cinnamon