Article by Abby Hamblin
At the Feel Good Festival at the House of Blues on Thursday night, not a lyric will be sung that isn’t positive and uplifting.
Chad Scott - Set Yourself Free
Combining the concepts of healthy living and music, the festival’s goal is to have anyone who attends leave “feeling good.”
“This is new,” festival founder Chad Scott. “I don’t know of anybody that’s ever done anything like this before. We’re trying to be more encompassing to the greater audience to bring them into this whole aspect of feeling good with vehicles like yoga.”
The all-age festival will include music from local “conscious” entertainers, such as Chad Scott, Steve Gold and Avasa & Matty Love. “Conscious,” Scott explained, means they are “aware that music has a huge impact on people so they use their words wisely.”
Scott will headline with his solo debut “Set Yourself Free.” The sounds filling the House of Blues on Thursday could be compared to the likes of Jack Johnson, Bob Marley, Jason Mraz, Citizen Cope, and Michael Franti.
Scott, who teaches yoga five days a week, explains how music and healthy living intertwine to get people feeling good.
“I play my own stuff (at his yoga classes) which is more upbeat and it’s called vinyasa flow,” Scott said. “If you’re going to vinyasa flow classes, their going to play something more upbeat. Yoga has changed quite a bit and nowadays people will put on music that pushes people. A lot of vinyasa flow uses upbeat electronic music, reggae, R&B and rock.”
This will be the festival’s first year at the House of Blues. In its five years in San Diego, the festival has taken place at Belly Up and the WorldBeat Cultural Center before moving downtown. The festival also travels to other cities and incorporates conscious and positive music makers, healthy living businesses and yoga studios into its promotional model.
Proceeds will go toward the Feel Good Music Project, which funds the concerts and a CD of festival music. The festival will also help support “Yoga for Youth” a nonprofit organization out of Los Angeles. The festival will also feature local yoga studios and an acrobatic yoga performance by Simone Ressner and Chris Burns.
With so much negativity in music today, Scott says he’s ready for a change.
“If you can get a small majority of artists who are creating music and distributing it and were dedicated toward positive music, then I could see a major tide changing in the behavior and attitude of the youth of today, which then would lead to less violence, less drug abuse, happier people, less war, less fighting… more compassion more fulfilled people,” Scott said.
Organizers expect close to 500 people, and Scott explained that those in attendance can expect to benefit from the experience.
“You’re gonna be exposed to some really happy people and that’s infectious,” Scott said. “You’ll be exposed to the positive music and its vibrations and be affected by that. And hopefully you’ll engage in some future events, healthy social circles, be introduced to yoga studios and continue to be affected positively, which would have a greater outcome for your daily life.