Podcast 439: Guru Singh

Sit back, relax, and enjoy one of the most unforgettable
Fretboard Journal Podcast interviews ever. This week’s guest is
spiritual teacher and yogi Guru Singh.


Born Gerry Pond, this one-of-a-kind guitar fanatic garnered
acclaim as a folk singer in Seattle’s coffee house and music
scene of the '60s. He was one of the first young rock musicians
to sign with Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Records. Gerry then
relocated to San Francisco where he found himself playing
concerts with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and others.


Unfortunately, he was also a fish out of water: A sober,
meditation-loving yoga living in SF’s wild Haight-Ashbury scene.
To compound things, his early protest songs about Vietnam
resulted in him being blacklisted from radio stations and
targeted by the Feds. So, in the late 1960s, Gerry safely stored
his cherished Gibson J-45 and went on a yearlong quest to the
deepest reaches of Mexico, a journey documented in his book,
Buried Treasures. When he returned, the J-45 was still there but
his music and life was completely transformed.


Now known as Guru Singh, he teaches Kundalini yoga and meditation
techniques to practitioners around the world, collaborates with
artists like Seal, and spreads positivity wherever he goes.


We talk about all this and more on this very special podcast. He
shares the story of his favorite guitars, offers advice to help
you get through the holidays, and even encourages a little guitar
acquisition syndrome. In a Fretboard Journal first, he also
teaches us all how to breathe a little better.


We first spotted Guru Singh on the Rich Roll Podcast, where we
couldn’t help but notice all the unique acoustic guitars he
employed. We knew we had to get him on the Fretboard Journal
podcast one day and here, at long last, is our first interview.


https://gurusingh.com/


Registration is now open to attend our 2024 Fretboard
Summit: https://fretboardsummit.org/


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subscription); and Stringjoy Strings(get 10% off your order
with the FRETBOARD discount code). This episode is also sponsored
by iZotope. Use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off off your
Izotope order.