In May of 1989, while working in the theaters of Chicago, songwriter, musician, and performance artist Ekendra Dasa (born Eric Dailey) began reading the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. By the time he finished, he decided to move into the local Hare Krishna temple, shave his head, give away his record collection, stash his guitars in the basement, and try to become a swami instead of a rock star—much to the befuddlement of his family and band members. Thirteen years later—though still neither a swami nor a rock star—Ekendra has become possibly the only recording artist of his kind.

During the early 1990's, Ekendra recorded and toured the US and Europe as the drummer for straightedge "Krishna-core" bands Shelter and 108, whose albums sold in the hundreds of thousands. However, in 1995, while listening to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited during rehearsals for another European 108 tour, Ekendra had a revelation: he should immediately quit the band, go back to writing and playing the acoustic g