“Their music will ignite the world…a hybrid of East and West that will bring joy to your heart and get your body boogieing.” – Yoga Chicago
“”The music of Seán Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band flows from the mystical confluence of the Ganges River and the Mississippi Delta—the deep bhakti tradition of Indian devotional chanting fused with the polyglot cultural cross-currents that so enrich the music of the group’s hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. The much-beloved band evoke, conjure and celebrate that universally felt yet impossible-to-define essence that lies at the heart of all things, what Bob Marley once called “a natural mystic, flowing through the air.”
The result is music of majestic musical and emotional range—a heart journey from darkness to light, wrought from the homespun cloth of gospel, blues, soul, country, rock, Celtic folk and other vernacular musical influences, all filtered through the magical Afro-Caribbean-inflected rhythmic flair of the Crescent City.”
– Alan di Perna
For the last twenty years, New Orleans-based Seán Johnson And The Wild Lotus Band (Alvin Young, Narada Wise, Chris Rosser, and the recently departed Gwendolyn Colman) have been putting a New Orleans and American stamp on spiritual music by merging ancient mantras from the traditions of yoga, global chants, conscious lyrics, roots, rock, gospel and world grooves. Brought together in September 2005 initially as a creative, philanthropic touring music project in response to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, they have gone on to become an inspiring and influential presence within the realm of world devotional music. With honor and appreciation for the deep roots of sound and chant from India’s yoga traditions and sacred chants from around the world, they seek to create authentically relatable spiritually-based mantra-centric music accessible to all– to deepen connection, foster healing, and move people’s hearts through music.
In 2007 they released their first album Calling The Spirits independently which caught the ears of pioneering Canadian record executive Terry McBride, founder of Nettwerk Records and Lilith Fair. In 2009 McBride signed the band to Nettwerk for the release of the follow up album Devaloka engineered and co-produced by Misha Kachkachishvili (Esplanade Studios) in New Orleans. When Putumayo World Music founder Dan Storper heard Devaloka he chose music off the record to be featured in a series of Putumayo releases which include tracks from international artists designed to accompany yoga practice (Yoga, World Yoga, and Yoga Lounge) . These albums have helped propel the band’s music to listeners across the globe. Their songs have also appeared on the Sounds True and White Swan labels.
In August 2014 they released their third studio album Unity. White Swan Music describes the album as “A collection of ten unique soul-stirring songs that reveal the band more at ease than ever with interpreting and expressing mantra music through the guts and authenticity of their own American roots. The album takes the listener on a revelatory journey through myriad sounds and flavors – from belly dance rhythms, Motown-inspired grooves, back porch stomp and gospel chorus to trance-inducing eastern strings with passionate verses from Rumi, tantra yoga sutras, and chants from a variety of spiritual traditions. Some songs are perfect for a yoga flow playlist and other for simply savoring life, at full blast.” Unity received much critical praise and debuted #1 on the iTunes World Music Chart and #3 on Billboard’s New Age Chart.
In late 2021 they released their new album Mystery on Be Still Records, with 10 new songs. This collection of ten evocative songs addresses the current challenges of our time and offers inspiration to kindle the courage to move through the unknown. Mystery explores themes of doubt, sparks of faith, and evokes a sense of trust in the fertility of what cannot be seen or explained. The album honors the wild and mysterious ways of spirit, an often hidden and unnamable force that can feel so distant, and yet in time can secretly heal a wound, mend a broken heart, and restore our humanity. The album was named on of the best albums in Louisiana music by Offbeat Magazine, and includes premieres from Ghettoblaster Magazine and Look At My Records!
In 2022 they released a series of remixes from some of their favorite artists including DJ Drez, Ben Leinbach, and Starita, premiered by Ear Milk. They co-released an EP with DJ Drez titled “Blue Easy Remixes.” and will be sharing more remix collaborations in the near future.
Seán, Alvin, Narada, and Chris tour extensively and are a favorite headliner at music festivals, including many spiritual, yoga, and conscious music gatherings nationwide. In 2010 they were the first kirtan band to ever play The New Orleans Jazz Festival to a large and appreciative crowd. Their debut at Jazz Fest was noted by Offbeat Magazine at the time, and chronicled in the international online magazine Elephant Journal. They were invited back to the Jazz Fest stage in 2014, where GoNOLA.com named them “Top Pick For Day 2 Of Jazz Fest” along with Phish and Robert Plant. In 2015, they made their third trip to the Jazz Fest stage to share the joy and power of their New Orleans-crafted mantra music and their set was featured in the Huffington Post, Bhakti Beat, and My Spilt Milk.
Seán Johnson
Seán’s intimate, intuitive connection to the spirituality of music, singing, and songwriting goes back to his childhood. He was a member of the New Orleans Symphony Children’s Chorus and active in musical theatre. After a traumatic performance experience as an adolescent, he quit singing in public for many years and found his voice again in his early twenties by connecting deeply to his Irish ancestors through singing traditional sean-nos songs in a year long Irish Studies program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, guided by ethnomusicologist Seán Williams. Williams shared songs that she had learned directly from Joe Heaney, considered to be one of Ireland’s greatest singers. In an intensive program focused on heart-centered spiritual traditions guided by Doranne Crable, Seán was introduced to the Sufi practice of dhikr, a powerful chanting practice that deepened his connection with the voice as a vehicle for spiritual transformation.
After focusing on Comparative Spiritual Traditions in his undergraduate studies, Seán went on to complete a Master’s degree in Creation Spirituality from The Naropa Institute-Oakland (1999) with focus on teaching chant as spiritual practice, apprenticing there with south Indian musician and teacher Russill Paul, author of The Yoga Of Sound. In 1999, Seán moved home to New Orleans, sharing weekly chanting sessions, and founding several spiritual music ensembles, introducing many people to the practice of chanting. In 2003, he founded Wild Lotus Yoga, a pioneering yoga studio in New Orleans that has introduced yoga to thousands of students over the years. In 2005 he founded The Wild Lotus Band as a post-Hurricane Katrina philanthropic music project, raising funds across the country for relief from the devastation of the storm through benefit concerts. Chanting mantras has been a deep and integral part of his personal spiritual practice, music, and teaching for the last 25+ years.
Singing Irish music and connecting to his Irish ancestors remains a pillar of his life and spirituality. He guides online gatherings and retreats in Ireland with Mary Meighan, founder of Celtic Journeys each year.
Seán is also the co-curator and coordinator of Putumayo World Music’s ‘Music For Yoga’ series (Yoga, World Yoga, Yoga Lounge, Acoustic Yoga, Yoga Dreamland, African Yoga & Global Yoga) featuring artists from around the globe.
In the fall of 2023, Seán moved to Asheville, NC to work as part of the leadership team of the visionary AyurPrana organization as the director of Asheville Yoga Center, and curator of the center’s inspiring teacher training programs. He also works closely with The AyurPrana Listening Room, Asheville’s home for transcendent music and spiritual exploration.
Gwendolyn Colman
Gwendolyn Colman (1973-2025) was a lifelong seeker, and founding member of The Wild Lotus Band, who moved to New Orleans on a wing and prayer to join us in the dark days after Hurricane Katrina when most people were moving away from the city.
She discovered the medicinal power of drumming at an early age through her own healing journey. Gwendolyn brought a unique ethnic sound to the band with years of experience drumming with middle eastern ensembles, flamenco troupes, and avant garde bands. Her percussion dashboard included frame drums, cajon, doumbek, udu, calabash, hooves, shakers, kanjira, triangle, and karkobs– playing with merging ancient rhythms with a modern urban flare. Her powerful vocals were influenced by early opera training. Her soaring, soulful singing lifted thousands of hearts over years of touring and recording. She had an uncanny ability to sing while interweaving rhythms and grooves with all of her limbs. Sometimes playfully called the “Wild” in “Wild Lotus,” she is loved for her adventurous, passionate, magical, mischievous spirit that brings rhythmic intricacy, deep feeling, and wild and earthy flavors to the band’s vibe, and everywhere her muses carried her.
Gwendolyn passed away in a tragic accident in June 2025. You can read her obituary here.
We are endlessly grateful to have known, loved, and created music with Gwendolyn, and carry her memory with us in our hearts and songs.
Alvin Young
New Orleans’ native Alvin Young spent years on the Crescent City music scene playing with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, local legends James Booker and James Black and many more. His voice on 6 string fretless bass and guitar weaves the jazz, rock, classical, and folk styles he’s been immersed in for the last 50 years. The hallmark of Alvin’s expression on the bass is a rare and deeply melodic quality that illuminates the band’s songs. Alvin is loved for his dedication, devotion, and knowledge of music as a deep craft, a spiritual path, and a form of service. Inspired by the richness of his life and education in music, he brings a treasure trove of musical gifts to each song that deeply define the band’s sound.
Narada Wise
“My job is to offer what best serves the music and the message,” is the principle that guides Narada in his performing, writing and producing. A consummate musician, a gifted singer and percussionist, Narada grew up in an Ohio household saturated with barbershop harmonies and has since explored every genre under the sun (and the stars): rock, blues, drum corps, r&b, musical theater, and even klezmer! The very definition of an enthusiast, Narada has traveled and embraced the world, seen most of it and done more than his share! Narada’s deep devotion to yogic practice and chant, along with his commitment to exploring consciousness and expanding compassion, have added a depth and sweetness to his amazing technical chops. And when Narada plays, you will see a truly free and happy person. Narada never stops smiling and neither will you.
Narada’s loving spirit, effervescent energy, and stupendous grooves bring tremendous heart to the band’s sound.
Chris Rosser
Chris Rosser is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and composer whose instruments include the Indian dotar, Turkish cumbus oud, melodica, piano, guitar, and bass. He is a founding member of the band Free Planet Radio, and has also toured internationally with master Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek; Grammy-winning flute virtuoso Rhonda Larson’s ensemble, Ventus; and acclaimed jazz/gospel singer Lizz Wright.
In addition to performing, Rosser has produced and engineered over 200 album projects in his Hollow Reed Arts recording studio in Asheville, NC, and has composed music for national commercial spots, and network TV shows.