JOAN RIVERS is a force of nature – one of the hardest working celebrities in the world. She has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than four decades in the entertainment industry and beyond, and as her recent accomplishments reveal, she’s as robust and hardworking as ever. 

An entertainment legend of unparalleled accomplishment and talent, Joan is an internationally renowned comedienne, Emmy-award-winning television talk-show host, Tony-award-nominated actress, bestselling author, playwright, screenwriter, film director, columnist, lecturer, syndicated radio host, jewelry designer, cosmetic-company entrepreneur, and red-carpet fashion laureate. Her continued relevance is made clear by her growing group of more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter. Above all things, however, Joan is a proud mother and grandmother.

 After creating and hosting Live from the Red Carpet for E! (1996-2004), Joan returned to anchor that network’s popular and successful franchise Fashion Police, hosting both its hour-long weekly broadcasts and its awards-season specials. From hot new trends to red-carpet risks, Joan hilariously takes viewers through a recap of the week’s celebrity fashion and ultimately decides who sizzled and who fizzled.

Joan also dominates the world of reality TV with her daughter, Melissa Rivers, in their weekly hit series on WEtv, Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best? – now in its third season. This inimitable duo addresses the question that has plagued daughters since the beginning of time: Does mother truly know best? 

Joan is also a vastly accomplished author, and her 11th book, I Hate Everyone.…Starting With Me, was published by the Penguin Group in June, 2012. It instantly became a New York Times Bestseller. Prior to that, she wrote the bestsellers Men Are Stupid and They Like Big Boobs: A Woman’s Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery and Murder at the Academy Awards: A Red Carpet Murder Mystery, both published by Simon & Schuster.

 Last year, Joan became the first “GoDaddy.Co Girl,” hilariously representing the successful web-hosting company, GoDaddy.com. The commercial premiered during Super Bowl XLII to millions of viewers nationwide.

 The 2010 critically acclaimed, no-holds-barred documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work premiered during the Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters nationwide that summer. The film is currently available on DVD and Netflix.

In 2009, Joan starred in NBC’s hit reality-TV competition series The Celebrity Apprentice, along with Melissa Rivers. Joan emerged as the second season’s winner.

Also in 2009, the iconic funny woman was honored during The Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers. That year as well marked the debut of her TV Land reality show, How’d You Get So Rich?, which, for two seasons, took a candid look at the extravagant lifestyles of fabulously rich American entrepreneurs and innovators.

 No stranger to the world of animation, in addition to lending her unique voice to Shrek 2 and Spaceballs: The Animated Series, Joan received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2009 for her portrayal of “Bubbe” on PBS’ award-winning animated children’s series Arthur. In 2011, she voiced Annie Dubinsky, the hard-talking agent of Krusty the Klown on The Simpsons.

 Joan Rivers is a true pioneer: She created her own brand of irreverent, unconventional comedy and forged her own remarkable rise to stardom in the entertainment world. Enduring tawdry clubs, Borscht Belt showrooms, and grimy Greenwich Village cabarets, her career skyrocketed in 1968 when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Within three years she was hosting That Show with Joan Rivers, one of the first syndicated daytime talk shows. She soon made television history as the permanent guest host of The Tonight Show and helped launch the nascent Fox Network in 1986 with The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. In 1989, Joan triumphantly returned to daytime TV with The Joan Rivers Show, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

From her trademark question, Can we talk?, to her red-carpet creation, Who are you wearing?, the woman who asks all the right questions gets the answers America – and the world – want to hear.

Kenny Loggins has been many things to many people over the past three decades — “a moving target” as he’s put it. In his time, Loggins has been a guitar-slinger with a psychedelic rock band, a hot young songwriter with a publishing deal, half of a legendary country-rock duo, a massively successful and accomplished solo artist, a sonic pioneer in the smooth jazz genre, a reigning soundtrack superstar, a rocker, a seeker, as well as an enduring recording artist and live performer whose most recent works have spoken deeply to both young audiences and decidedly adult and worldly concerns. At the heart of it all, there remains a brilliant singer-songwriter and guitarist with a lifelong passion for exploring the endless power of the song to communicate.

By any standard, Loggins’ commercial impact has been extraordinary; twelve of his albums have gone platinum and beyond. In a world of one hit wonders and fifteen minute sensations, Loggins has enjoyed hit songs in four straight decades — a remarkable testament to his exceptional craftsmanship and stamina. Yet the true measure of this man cannot be weighed in platinum and gold. Through it all, Kenny Loggins has earned the faith of those who’ve followed him along the way. To this day, Loggins continues to write and record at the height of his powers as a singer and a songwriter. This is something that Loggins proves every time he takes the stage to sing his soulful songs straight from the heart.

Kenny Loggins was born in Everett, Washington, and moved to the Los Angeles area as a young boy. After a short and, in retrospect, rather surprising stint as a guitarist for The Electric Prunes, Loggins scored a job as a $100-a-week staff songwriter and penned four songs on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1970 album Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy, among them the classic “House at Pooh Corner.” Around this same time, Loggins caught the attention of former Buffalo Springfield producer and Poco member Jim Messina, then working as staff producer at CBS. Originally, Loggins set out to record his solo debut with Messina behind the boards as his producer. As work progressed, Messina’s involvement increased and the album subsequently emerged in 1972 as Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In – a gem that featured Loggins’ future standards “Danny’s Song” and “House At Pooh Corner” and quickly established this accidental duo as one of significant recording and touring acts of the 70s.

When Loggins & Messina split up in 1976, Loggins wasted no time in achieving solo stardom with such million-selling solo albums as Celebrate Me Home, Nightwatch (which included the hit “Whenever I Call You Friend” with Stevie Nicks), Keep The Fire (“This Is It,”) and 1982’s High Adventure (“Don’t Fight It” with Steve Perry and “Heart To Heart”). These albums saw Loggins expanding his musical range, impressively exploring new textures of jazz, rock and pop with ambitious production. Loggins’ reputation as one of music’s outstanding vocalists was becoming well established, and in 1980 he won the Best Male Pop Vocal Grammy for “This Is It.” As a songwriter too, Loggins continued to grow, a fact evidenced by his many inspired collaborations such as co-writing the 1979 Grammy-winning Song of The Year “What A Fool Believes” with his long-time friend Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers.

In the 80s, Loggins became more famous than ever as the king of the movie theme songs, thanks to massive smashes like “I’m Alright” (from Caddyshack), “Footloose” (from Footloose), “Danger Zone” (from Top Gun), and “Nobody’s Fool” (from Caddyshack II). Loggins also continued to record albums that were introspective and deeply personal, including 1985’s Vox Humana, 1988’s Back to Avalon, 1991’s Leap of Faith (featuring “Conviction of the Heart,” a song Al Gore called “the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement”), The Unimaginable Life (1997) and 2003’s It’s About Time. During this same period, Loggins continued to take on new challenges like recording a Christmas album (1998’s December) and two successful and acclaimed CDs for children: 1994’s radiant Return To Pooh Corner and its worthy follow-up, More Songs From Pooh Corner.

In 2005, Kenny Loggins reunited with his former partner, Jim Messina, to great surprise and considerable acclaim. As much personally as musically, the Sittin’ In Again tour allowed Loggins to rediscover an old friendship. It was so successful and inspiring that they took their show on the road once again in 2009. Loggins finds himself doing again what he has always done — writing and playing his songs, digging deep and looking toward the next step.

Honor Flight

The trips are called “Honor Flights” and for the veterans, who are in their late 80s and early 90s, it’s often the first time they’ve been thanked and the last trip of their lives. The 24-hour journey is full of surprises that deeply move all who are involved. It’s uncommon for World War II veterans to talk about the War, but the Honor Flight experience brings their stories out. Many veterans say, with the exception of their wedding day and the birth of their children, the trip is the best day of their life.

However, success is all but ensured. 1,000 World War II veterans die every day and getting them on an Honor Flight in time is a constant battle. The film features Orville Lemke, a former plumber and beloved father of nine who fights to hold off terminal cancer so he can make the trip, and Julian Plaster, an 89-year-old poet who has survived almost all of his friends and family.

Honor Flight also chronicles the stories of veterans Joe Demler and Harvey Kurz. They raise money for and promote the Honor Flight program to help fly as many of their fellow veterans as possible. Joe, a soft-spoken retired postmaster, was famously pictured in Life magazine as “the Human Skeleton” upon his liberation from a German POW camp. Days from death, he weighed just 70 lbs. His comedic sidekick, Harvey, saw the iconic flag go up at the Battle of Iwo Jima, unbeknownst to the shoppers he bags groceries for at the local Pick n’ Save.

As the Honor Flight trip unfolds, Orville, Julian, Joe, Harvey and others share their stories and wisdom. While the Honor Flight program is meant to give something back to these humble heroes, the sheer goodness they embody and their profound appreciation for life in freedom, transforms the lives of everyone they meet.

About the Cause

The Honor Flight Network is a nonprofit organization that has flown over 100,000 veterans to Washington, DC. It consists of 117 hubs across the country. If you’d like to get involved or donate to the cause, please visit www.honorflight.org.

The Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is the Milwaukee-based Honor Flight hub featured in the film. Learn more about them at www.starsandstripeshonorflight.org.

Helping fly veterans on Honor Flights is one way to get involved, capturing vets’ stories is another. Through its Veterans History Project, the Library of Congress has collected and preserved over 80,000 personal accounts of American war veterans. Learn more about the project at www.loc.gov/vets.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Dan Hayes (Director) and Clay Broga (Producer)

“I remember when I created Mannheim Steamroller Christmas,” Davis says of his landmark 1984 album.  “I took it around to all the major buyers and distributors.  Back in those days, there were about 20 or 30 independent distributors and hundreds of retail stores and chains. There were a lot places to go and sell. I remember taking it out and showing it off and playing it for people, and the first thing out of their mouths was: ‘This is a Christmas record; that’ll never work!’

That across-the-board skepticism only fueled Davis’ determination. “For me, it was like, ‘OK, tell me something else I can’t do…’ And today, with 9 million copies sold of that one record, we can look back and say: ‘Well, we were right – you can successfully market Christmas music.’”

When it comes to the music he has created and the massive audience he has built behind Mannheim Steamroller, Davis has rarely been wrong. From his unlikely base of operations in Omaha, Nebraska, Davis has sold over 40 million records – 27 million in the Christmas genre– making the group one of the top 50 biggest selling musical artists of all time and THE biggest selling Christmas artist of all time. He’s produced hundreds of sold-out Mannheim Steamroller concerts around the world, and his American Gramaphone record label stands as one of the most successful independent music franchises in history.

The success of Mannheim Steamroller and American Gramaphone is testament to what can happen when widespread “word-of-mouth enthusiasm” collides with a deliberate series of innovative marketing techniques. Davis’ fan base is so immense, he consistently hits the platinum sales level by leveraging his own marketing company, a label distributed by Universal Music, and savvy website selling not only music but Mannheim Steamroller-branded products.

Born in Sylvania, Ohio as Louis Davis, Jr., he was nicknamed Chip and the name stuck. Chip came from a musical family, and learned piano from his grandmother. Davis’ father was a high school music teacher, while his mother performed with Phil Spitalny’s All Girl Orchestra.  By the time he graduated from the University of Michigan he was prolific classical musician, trained to mastery in bassoon and percussion.

After a stretch as a music teacher himself, Davis worked as a jingle writer for a thriving Omaha, Nebraska advertising agency. While there, he and one of the agency’s ad execs, Bill Fries, dreamed up a fictional truck driver named CW McCall for a series of commercials for The Old Home Bread company.

The television commercials were so popular that stations began fielding requests from listeners. Eventually, the Nashville A&R community came calling and Davis and Fries negotiated a record deal to produce recordings for under the name of CW McCall. One of the songs, a single called “Convoy” blew open the popular CB radio craze of 1975. Within two months, 10 million record buyers were singing along and two years later Kris Kristofferson starred in the hit movie by the same name.

With the money he made from the record and the film, Davis left the jingle writing business and recorded an album called Fresh Aire, which he dubbed “18th Century Classical Rock”.  Though Davis was literally a one-man-band at that point, he released that first album under the name Mannheim Steamroller (based on a musical term meaning “crescendo”).

However, Davis did not anticipate complete and total rejection from the established record industry—but that’s what he found.  “As I have said, everyone passed on it,” said Davis, “so, I figured out how to distribute and sell it myself.”  The first step: to start his own record label, named American Gramaphone.

The next few years meted out lesson after lesson about business, marketing and artistic integrity.  Not able to break into traditional music stores, Mannheim Steamroller snuck in through the side door—by becoming the recording artist of choice for hi-fi equipment dealers.  Says Davis: “Showroom customers would say, ‘I like this stereo system, but I really love the record you’re playing. Who is that?’” Before long Mannheim Steamroller’s Fresh Aire titles were among the best selling independent releases in the U.S. and Europe.  Finally, after selling millions and winning a Grammy Award for his Fresh Aire 7, Davis had earned the respect of the music business; today he is largely credited with helping to create the popular “New Age” genre.

In 1984, Davis decided to create a Christmas album. That’s when everything exploded. During that period, Christmas music wasn’t popular.  It was generally the last stop for an artist before the end of a career, it was most often overtly religious, and it typically did not sell well.

“I came at it differently,” says Davis and soon Mannheim Steamroller Christmas hit Top 40 radio led by its modernized, electronic version of “Deck The Halls,” and five million copies flew off the shelves.  Davis assembled a bunch of his friends–classically trained (but rock loving) musicians, and took to the road for Mannheim’s very first Christmas tour. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Mannheim Steamroller annual tour – which continues to be ranked as one of the best selling tours in the entire music business each year.

Mannheim Steamroller has long since crossed over into the traditional record media and retail outlets, and continues to be a favorite choice for radio shows throughout the world. Radio personalities such as Delilah, Jim Bohannon, and the enormously popular Rush Limbaugh, have long been fans. Limbaugh is credited with introducing a large audience to the various Steamroller Christmas albums. Says Davis: “Rush Limbaugh started playing us on his show in December about 15 years ago.  One time, I sent him an advance copy of a new Christmas album and he played one of our Christmas recordings in August. So, yeah, I guess you could say he is a fan.”

Since the groundbreaking success of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, the band has released 16 more Christmas albums and compilations, including the popular Christmas Song, which features guest appearances by Johnny Mathis, Olivia Newton-John, and jazz legend Paul Winter, as well as 2008’s Christmasville featuring the music of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Last  holiday season, Davis commemorated the anniversary of his first holiday album  by releasing Mannheim Steamroller Christmas – 25th Anniversary Collection, a two CD set featuring 25 of the group’s famous holiday classics. Spanning the group’s entire Christmas catalog, the album includes “Joy To The World,” “The First Noel,” “Winter Wonderland” as well as “The Christmas Song” featuring guest vocalist Johnny Mathis. Other guest performers include Paul Winter, The Cambridge Singers and members of The Chicago Symphony and The Omaha Symphony. The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis also toured over 70 cities.

Community Concerts would like to thank all of our wonderful supporters for a great 2012-2013  season! 

We are excited about our 2013-2014 line-up  and  look forward to seeing everyone at the shows!

Please renew your current seats for the 2013-2014 by July 15th!

In 1969, Maurice left the Ramsey Lewis Trio and joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team composing songs and commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol and called themselves the “Salty Peppers,” and had a marginal hit in the Mid-western area called “La La Time.” That band featured Maurice on vocals, percussion and Kalimba along with keyboardists/vocalists Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead.

After relocating to Los Angeles and signing a new contract with Warner Bros., Maurice simultaneously made what may have been the smartest move of his young career. He changed the band’s name to Earth, Wind & Fire (after the three elements in his astrological chart). The new name also captured Maurice’s spiritual approach to music – one that transcended categories and appealed to multiple artistic principals, including composition, musicianship, production, and performance. In addition to White, Flemons and Whitehead, Maurice recruited Michael Beal on guitar, Leslie Drayton, Chester Washington and Alex Thomas on horns, Sherry Scott on vocals, percussionist Phillard Williams and his younger brother Verdine on bass.

Earth, Wind & Fire recorded two albums for Warner Brothers: the self-titled 1970 album Earth, Wind And Fire and the 1971 album The Need Of Love. A single from this album, “I Think About Lovin’ You,” provided EWF with their first Top 40 R&B hit. Also in 1971, the group performed the soundtrack to the Melvin Van Peebles film ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song’.

In 1972, White dissolved the line-up (except he and brother Verdine White) and added Jessica Cleaves (vocals – formerly of the R&B group The Friends of Distinction), Ronnie Laws (flute, saxophone), Roland Bautista (guitar), Larry Dunn (keyboard), Ralph Johnson (percussion) and Philip Bailey (vocals, formerly of Friends & Love). Maurice became disillusioned with Warner Brothers, which had signed the group primarily as a jazz act. Maurice, in contrast, was more interested in combining elements of jazz, rock, and soul into an evolving form of fusion, a truly universal sound.

A performance at New York’s Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, then President of Columbia Records. Davis loved what he saw and bought their contract from Warner Bros. With Columbia Records, debuting with the 1972 album Last Days And Time, the group slowly began to build a reputation for innovative recordings and exciting, live shows, complete with feats of magic (floating pianos, spinning drum kits, vanishing artists) engineered by Doug Henning and his then-unknown assistant David Copperfield. Their first gold album, Head To The Sky, peaked at number 27 pop in the summer of 1973, yielding a smooth tangy cover of “Evil” and the title track single. The first platinum EWF album, Open Our Eyes, whose title track was a remake of the classic originally recorded by Savoy Records group the Gospel Clefs, included “Mighty Mighty” (number four R&B) and “Kalimba Story” (number six R&B).

Maurice once again shared a label roster with Ramsey Lewis, whose Columbia debut Sun Goddess, was issued in December 1974. The radio-aired title track was released as a single under the name Ramsey Lewis and Earth, Wind & Fire. It went to number 20 R&B in early 1975. The Sun Goddess album went gold, hitting number 12 pop in early 1975. Maurice had also played on Lewis’ other high-charting album, Wade In The Water; the title track single peaked at number three R&B in the summer of 1966.

The inspiration for “Shining Star” (one of EW&F’s most beloved singles) was gleaned from thoughts Maurice had during a walk under the star-filled skies that surrounded the mountains around Caribou Ranch, CO a popular recording site and retreat during the ’70s. The track was originally included in the ‘That’s The Way Of The World’ movie that starred Harvey Keitel and was produced by Sig Shore (Superfly). “Shining Star” glittered at number one R&B for two weeks and hit number one pop in early 1975. It was included on their 1975 multi-platinum album That’s The Way Of The World that held the number one pop spot for three weeks in Spring 1975 and earned them their first Grammy Award. The title track single made it to number five R&B in summer of 1975. It also yielded the classic ballad “Reasons,” an extremely popular radio-aired album track.

The multi-platinum album Gratitude held the number one pop album spot for three weeks in late 1975. On the album was “Singasong” (gold, number one R&B for two weeks, number five pop), the Skip Scarborough ballad “Can’t Hide Love” (number 11 R&B), and the popular radio-aired album tracks “Celebrate,” “Gratitude,” and the live version of “Reasons.” In 1976, Maurice decided he wanted to record a spiritual album. The multi-platinum album Spirit parked at number two pop for two weeks in fall of 1976 and boasted the gold, number one R&B single “Getaway” and “Saturday Nite.” Spirit is remembered as one of EWF’s best albums and sadly for also being the last project of Producer Charles Stepney. He died May 17, 1976, in Chicago, IL, at the age of 45. Charles was a former Chess Records arranger/producer/session musician/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter and Maurice’s main collaborator on his EWF projects. The multi-platinum album All ‘N All peaked at number three pop in late 1977, won three Grammy’s, and had arrangements by Chicago soul mainstay Tom Tom Washington and Eumir Deodato. The singles were “Serpentine Fire” (number one R&B for seven weeks) and “Fantasy.” The group’s horn section, the legendary Phenix Horns (Don Myrick on saxophone, Louis Satterfield on trombone, Rahmlee Michael Davis and Michael Harris on trumpets) became an integral part of the Earth, Wind & Fire sound.

During this time, Maurice produced several artists such as The Emotions (1976′s Flowers and 1977′s Rejoice which included the number one R&B/pop hit “Best Of My Love”) and Deniece Williams (1976′s This Is Niecy which included the Top Ten R&B hit “Free”). In the late seventies, in association with Columbia Records, Maurice also launched a record label, ARC.

The multi-platinum greatest-hits set The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I included a cover of the Beatles’ “Got To Get You Into My Life” went to number one R&B and number nine pop in Summer 1978. The group performed the song in the 1978 Bee Gees/Peter Frampton movie ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. Another single, “September,” made it to number one R&B, number eight pop in early 1978. On the flip side was the enchanting popular radio-aired album track “Love’s Holiday” from All ‘N All.

Their live performances were stellar as well. Sellout crowds were spellbound by the band’s bombastic performances. Their performances blasted a cosmic wave of peace, love and other happy vibrations to audiences using a combination of eye-popping costumes, lights, pyrotechnics and plain old good music. Sometimes they even threw in magic illusions. Earth, Wind & Fire’s message was one of universal harmony, in both musical and cultural senses. “We live in a negative society,” Maurice told Newsweek. “Most people can’t see beauty and love. I see our music as medicine.”

The multi-platinum album I Am hit number three pop in Summer 1979 on the strength of the million-selling single “Boogie Wonderland” with The Emotions (number two R&B for four weeks, number six pop) and the phenomenal gold ballad “After The Love Has Gone,” written by David Foster, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin that stayed at number two R&B/pop for two weeks. Their Faces album peaked at number ten pop in late 1980 and was boosted to gold by the singles “Let Me Talk” (number eight R&B), “You” (number ten R&B), and “And Love Goes On.”

The million-selling funked-up “Let’s Groove,” co-written by The Emotions’ Wanda Vaughn and her husband Wayne Vaughn, was the track that re-energized EWF’s career, parking at number one R&B for eight weeks and number three pop, causing their Raise! album to go platinum (hitting number five pop in late 1981). Their next gold album Powerlight made it to number 12 pop in spring 1983 and included the Top Ten R&B single and Grammy-nominated “Fall In Love With Me.” Their 1983 Electric Universe album stalled at number 40 pop, breaking the band’s string of gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.

In 1983, Maurice decided he and the band needed a break. During this hiatus, Maurice recorded his self-titled solo album Maurice White and produced various artists including Neal Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Holliday. Reuniting with the band in 1987, EWF released the album Touch The World and scored yet another number one R&B single, “System of Survival” and embarked on a corresponding nine-month world tour. This was followed by the 1988 release The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. II.

In 1990 the group released the album Heritage. Two years later, Earth, Wind & Fire released The Eternal Dance; a 55-track boxed set retrospective of the band’s entire history. The appearance of such a project after a prolonged period of relative inactivity signaled to many listeners that the band was calling it quits but that did not turn out to be case. In 1993, EWF released the album, Millennium that included the Grammy-nominated “Sunday Morning” and “Spend The Night.”

Earth, Wind & Fire kept recording and in 1996 released Avatar and Greatest Hits Live; followed by 1997′s In The Name Of Love; 2002′s That’s The Way Of The World: Alive In ’75; Live In Rio which was recorded during their 1979 “I Am World Tour;” 2003′s The Promise, which included the Grammy-nominated “Hold Me” and 2005′s Illumination, which included the Grammy-nominated “Show Me The Way.”

In 2000, the nine-piece ’70s edition of Earth, Wind & Fire reunited for one night only in honor of their induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In 2001, Eagle Rock Entertainment released the documentary ‘Earth, Wind & Fire: Shining Stars’, which contains rarely seen historic video footage along with in-depth interviews with the band members.

Even though Maurice is no longer a part of the touring group, he remains the band’s heart and soul from behind the scenes as composer and producer. Maurice reflects, “I wanted to create a library of music that would stand the test of time. ‘Cosmic Consciousness’ is the key component of our work. Expanding awareness and uplifting spirits is so important in this day. People are looking for more. I hope our music can give them some encouragement and peace.”