Sarah Garney likes to quote a close friend who summed up the musical genre of Kirtan better than she feels she can: “Kirtan fulfills the promise of rock ‘n’ roll, because it’s participatory and uplifting.”
This “rock ‘n’ roll Sanskrit chanting” music has slowly been growing as a West Coast favorite, and with Santa Barbara as one of the definite stops on any musician’s tour. Garney has been one of the major promoters in the area and has managed some of the genre’s stars, such as Dave Stringer, and has programmed this summer series of concerts at Yoga Soup, ground zero for Kirtan, which starts tonight.