How best can we respond to the chaos, cruelty, violence, and division we are currently experiencing in our country and our world? Singer songwriter Joe Reilly invites us to come together in community to meditate, sing, dance, and “put our feet in the river of goodness” as he says in one of the songs from his forthcoming album, Learn to Love Again.
As a practitioner of mindfulness and an ordained Dharma teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Reilly knows first hand the ability of music, prayer, and meditation to help us reconnect with our human nature of love and compassion. “When we make music together from the heart, we remember who we really are as relatives in one big extended earth family. We are able to experience our deep, indestructible nature of interbeing,” says Reilly.
Learn to Love Again is Joe Reilly’s first non-children’s album in over a decade (Reilly has released 4 children’s albums and 5 grownups albums since 2001). Appropriate for all ages, the album shares the depths of Joe’s spiritual journey of healing and transformation. The first two singles, Day of Peace (released 1-1-25) and Infinite Hearts – Decolonization Mix (released 2-17-25) are two examples that show the musical and lyrical diversity of the album while highlighting Reilly’s vision for peace and healing from personal suffering as well as the historical and ongoing collective traumas caused by white supremacy and colonization.
Recorded on the Frog Holler Farm in Brooklyn, Michigan underneath the Summer Solstice full moon, the album features Joe’s band, The Community Gardeners: Billy King (guitars and piano), John Driscoll (drums, vocals, and tin whistle), Jenny Jones (vocals), Lesley-Anne Stone (vocals), Chris Good (bass), Mark Stone (percussion), Chris DiMeglio (trumpet), Glen Michael Blair (keyboard), as well as guest artists Born I (vocals), Peace Be Free (vocals), Gayelynn McKinney (drums), Marion Hayden (upright bass), and Joe’s parents David Reilly (upright bass) and Mary Jo Reilly (vocals).
Learn to Love Again will be released on all streaming platforms on the Summer Solstice, June 20th, 2025. Reilly and The Community Gardeners will celebrate with a live album release concert on June 27th at The Ark in Ann Arbor. This special one time event will include a guided meditation from Dharma teacher Barbara Newell, who has been a spiritual mentor of Joe’s for many years and who led Joe and The Community Gardeners in guided meditations during the recording process. Also featured will be singer songwriter Elisabeth Pixley-Fink, who recently celebrated the release of her album Heartskin. Come ready to sing, breathe, and celebrate our deep interconnections!
Joe’s website: www.joereilly.org
