The Story
In 2005, a group of creatives across several disciplines converged on Vancouver Island to take part in an experimental project, collaborating with individuals and institutions to bring music and the arts to the forefront of Bahá'í community life. This project, named Badasht after the site of a crucial turning point in the history of the Faith, was transformative for everyone who took part. The ripples of that spiritually charged period have reverberated through the years, particularly in the form of a surge of musical output that took on a life of its own.
The album Badasht Vol. I - While the City Sleeps featuring songwriters JB Eckl and Eric Dozier, combined Soul, Folk, Gospel and Rock influences in a way no Bahá'í-inspired album had attempted before. Drawing on the music of their childhoods in the 1970s, Eckl and Dozier created a sound that was intimate yet expansive, and overflowing with spirit. A few years later, Vol. I was followed up by Vol. II - Raise Me Up and the collaborative, youth-driven Vol. III - Visionaries.
The music travelled far and wide, providing comfort and inspiration to thousands all over the world for over a generation. From subway commutes to children's classes, from prison cells to hospital wards, and in Houses of Worship on several continents, the songs of Badasht became so ubiquitous that Bahá'í youth often reinterpreted them without ever learning their source. Genre aside, the music achieved ‘folk’ status in a real sense.
The time has come for a revival of that spirit.
The Team
JB Eckl
JB’s diverse musical career spans from performing around the world with classic funk band War to writing and producing Grammy-winning music for Santana, to creating an international music library for Meta Platforms. Combining this versatility with a restless, explorative spirit, JB imbues all of his projects with a balance of refinement and honesty, of musicality and groove.
Founder
Eric has flown the flag for Gospel music and cultural truth-telling his entire life. Whether in public speaking, choir workshop or recording/performing contexts, his focus on the sacred and his probing intellect reliably shine through. Musically, Eric’s Gospel-Soul sensibility has a way of bringing scripture to life in song, in addition to creating the perfect vehicle for his personal composing style.
FounderEric Dozier
Katie’s experience as a Waldorf educator and student of Intentional Creativity, using multiple art forms to communicate and cultivate meaning, contributes to her philosophy of human development. A frame drummer and circle facilitator in the tradition of Layne Redmond’s When the Drummers Were Women, Katie is inspired by ancient spiritual and healing modalities that weave forward into the present and future.
FounderKatie Molina Eckl
Dean brings the aesthetic depth of a professional photographer-videographer as well as the curiosity of a scholar and holistic thinker. He also has a profound love and knowledge of music and the arts and their role in community-building. Often finding himself bridging cultures and backgrounds, and keeping the flame of Badasht for two decades, Dean is in many ways the ‘glue’ of the project.
Founder