Adrienne Shamszad first discovered her love for music at an early age. Her earliest memories are of singing songs she would write and being told to either sing louder or quiet down depending on how cramped the car was on long drives with her family. Her life is, and always has been, seen and felt through a filter of music and poetry. In this way, life and art are not separate from each other. She sings the blues with a Persian flare and writes songs about Love and Longing. The guitar is her main and favorite instrument and as she evolves as a person, so does her playing which is mostly inspired by a combination of folk and rock & roll. Adrienne recorded and released her first (and currently out of print) CD at the age of 16. It was called “Take me, I’m Yours.” Two years later, she made her first trip to Meherabad with her high school guitar teacher, Cindy Lowe.
Her long-time fascination with India and close friendship with Cindy is what led her to take the trip. Seeing Meher Baba’s picture hanging from the wall in the Guru Prasad memorial in Pune was the fateful moment where Lover and Beloved were recognized in the other. Adrienne has been saying, “Take me, I’m Yours” to Baba ever since.
The years that followed were filled with deepening gratitude as well as a churning and burning of what seemed like mountains of confusion and karma that were in dire need of Baba’s care. Baba, the unrelenting fire keeper, has burned up so much of the past that she stands at the threshold of a new life and prays for the confidence and faith to walk forward with and for her Beloved.
Adrienne released an album titled “A New Life” in 2008. She sells it online and at concerts (until she runs out of copies). For Baba lovers, she has composed a set of Spirit-invoking sing alongs and mantra as well as a seemingly endless supply of personal love songs to Baba and to Love itself. She currently performs under the name of Mehri and is releasing all new music under her pseudonym.
Click here to sample tracks from Adrienne’s CD “A New Life” as well as her other albums.
Check out: adrienneshamszad.com for more info.