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Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe are a modern pop-rock band that fuse together western pop-rock music and English lyrics with eastern music and Sanskrit mantra. Formed in 2005 in Long Beach, CA, the band's current lineup consists of lead singer and group founder Larisa Stow, guitarist Kimo Estores, bass player Benjamin (Benj) Clarke, Paloma Estevez on drums and percussion and woodwinds player Richard Hardy who recorded and toured for many years with Carole King and played with several others including Dave Matthews Band and Lyle Lovett.

Larisa Stow first emerged onto the pop-rock music scene in the late nineties, her style of mixing spiritually-inspired lyrics with catchy melodies and pop grooves quickly earned her attention on the Los Angeles club scene. In 1999 Larisa recorded the critically-acclaimed "Moment by Moment," the 1st original album to be recorded in 5.1 channel surround-sound with DTS (Digital Theater Systems) and produced by David Tickle (U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel). Later that same year, Larisa won the Los Angeles Music Award’s “Singer/Songwriter of the Year.” At the height of this period in her solo career, she had performance slots in Los Angeles venues including The House of Blues and John Ford Amphitheater and several gigs as the opening act for famous artists including Berlin. Larisa took a break from performing and recording after the events on September 11, 2001 changed her world view. During her hiatus, she met mantra expert Thomas Ashley-Farrand, author of the book "Healing Mantras." After apprenticing with him, Larisa began performing and recording kirtan (devotional call-and-response music) and chant music.

Larisa teamed up with Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter, Rick Hahn (Celine Dion). That union resulted in "Reaching In," an album of engaging kirtans that musically blend east and west together. "Reaching In," released by Oreade Music, was the highest-charting mantra/kirtan album in 2007 by the New Age Reporter charts and their R.J. Lanna states, “this album is a celebration for the spirit no matter what path you travel. The music has rhythm, passion and reverence.” The first track from "Reaching In," “Amba Amba," received airplay on XM, Sirius Satellite and Dish Network as well as college radio and internet airplay. “Amma,” also off of "Reaching In," was selected from hundreds of submissions for the Elevate Film Festival and the resulting music video directed by Raiya Corsiglia won several awards including “Best Director,” “Best Editing,” and “Best Cinematography.”

During the recording of "Reaching In," Larisa connected with several talented musicians and began performing regularly again. They create and perform a blend of mantra-infused pop rock music today as Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe. "Shakti" is a Sanskrit word that loosely translated means “dynamic power." They've earned a reputation for their distinctive ability to mix the spiritual and sacred with a pop sensibility, sensuality and rock groove. Live shows weave together kirtan, mantra and uplifting music.

They perform at a wide variety of venues and locales including festivals, colleges, premiere venues, yoga studios, spiritual retreat centers and interfaith and non-denominational churches. They’ve been the opening act for internationally known acts including John Densmore (The Doors) and shared the billing with Jason Mraz in November 2010 at the Long Beach Convention Center for a conference entitled Leaders Causing Leaders. They have also performed for many spiritual leaders including Deepak Chopra and motivational speaker Niurka.

“Claire’s Prayer” and “Heaven” (from Larisa’s two solo projects "Reaching Out" and "Moment by Moment," respectively) were featured in the critically-acclaimed Prism Award nominated film “Purgatory House” about teen suicide. The dance remix version of their song "Kali Ma" from "Dance Chants" is featured in the film "Discover the Gift," co-produced & directed by Demian Lichtenstein.

Their sophomore release "The Shakti Sessions" was co-produced by the band and "Counting Crows" founding member Matt Malley.

Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe recently released their new album "Rock On Sat Nam!" Larisa & the band have many musical friends from both the mainstream & sacred music world contributing their time and talent to this project including drummers Walfredo Reyes Jr. (Santana, Traffic, Steve Winwood), Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos), Patrick Richey (Dave Stringer), Benjy Wertheimer (Shantala) and pianist David Garfield (Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, Boz Scaggs).