#50 Victor Wooten, bassist and author of The Music Lesson, A Spiritual Search for Growth through Music

Victor Wooten is a legendary Grammy award-winning bassist, and also author of the amazing book, The Music Lesson, A Spiritual Search for Growth through Music. He says that he knew music was really special at a very early age, when playing shows with his brothers. His spiritual sources, in addition to his parents and brothers, include A Course in Miracles (his brother Roy turned him on to the Course), as well as Illusions, the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach and Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Victor wrote The Music Lesson in response to requests from students, but rather than an instructional book, he created a work of fiction to address key concepts about music. He sees the effects of the power of music all the time; in his CD Trypnotyx with Dennis Chambers and Bob Franceschini, he talks about music being a "cupid bomb" that can bring people together. He says music erases our differences, and that musicians can bring us together better than politicians or churches. He encourages us to play music fully with intention, and focus on why we are playing, which is also to be covered in his forthcoming book.