Shownotes
Healing Through Music with Drum Dr. Dot
We are honored to have Dr. Dorothy Adamson Holley (aka Drum Dr. Dot) as our guest today. In this episode, Drum Dr. Dot talks about Drumetry, her creation in which she merges poetry with African drumming. Her story highlights the healing, transformative, unifying power of all music, and particularly the rhythmic music of the African drum. We are especially treated to a performance of her original Drumetry piece, "Enough."
Dr. Dorothy Adamson Holley, aka Drum Dr. Dot, is a Developmental Psychologist and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who integrates psychology and spirituality in clinical practice. She is the Founder and psychotherapist of Breathe Holistic Counseling, and she specializes in working with clients who have not responded well to traditional treatment. Dr. Holley is the creator of Drumetry™, an art form that integrates African drumming and poetry. She is an author, recording artist, songwriter, vocalist, percussionist, dancer, harmonicist, and Healer Through Music. Dr. Holley is a proud member of the Baltimore-based band, Roses n Rust.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
NYAME NTI CULTURAL HEALING ARTS THERAPY, INC ...
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Transcripts
This is Good News!
Jon:Being brought to you by Listening for Clues.
Lauren:We are Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek Deacons in the
Lauren:Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
Jon:We sure are, and today we've got a special guest, Dr.
Jon:Dorothy Adamson Holley is joining us.
Jon:Dr.
Jon:Holley.
Dr. Dot:Hey.
Jon:Hey.
Jon:Good to see you.
Jon:Also known as Drum Dr.
Jon:Dot, which is very cool.
Jon:She's a Developmental Psychologist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Jon:who integrates psychology and spirituality in clinical practice.
Jon:She's the founder and psychotherapist of the Breathe Holistic Counseling
Jon:and specializes in working with clients who have not responded
Jon:well to traditional treatment.
Jon:Dr.
Jon:Holley is the creator of Drumetry, an art form that integrates
Jon:African drumming and poetry.
Jon:She's an author, recording artist, songwriter, vocalist, percussionist.
Jon:dancer, harmonicist and healer through music.
Jon:Dr.
Jon:Holley is a proud member of the Baltimore based Band, Roses n Rust.
Jon:Welcome Dr.
Jon:Dot.
Dr. Dot:Thank you.
Dr. Dot:Great to be here.
Lauren:It's great to have you Dot..
Lauren:So tell us what inspired you to create Drumetry?
Lauren:' Dr. Dot: Woo.
Lauren:Okay the inspiration for drumetry came technically, let's start like
Lauren:how it, the whole idea came about.
Lauren:I write poems and, you know, just had poetry.
Lauren:Cool.
Lauren:So someone invited me to come to play or actually to recite one of
Lauren:my poems at the Creative Alliance.
Lauren:It was something through the Maryland State Arts Council.
Lauren:I'm like, okay, cool.
Lauren:And I said, well, okay.
Lauren:Instead of just going and reciting a poem, I'm a drummer.
Lauren:Let me try to figure out how to have some background music playing with the poem.
Lauren:So I figured that out.
Lauren:I got it all syncopated.
Lauren:The timing, everything was perfect.
Lauren:Unfortunately the invitation was really not for me to present the poem.
Lauren:It was for me to do something else, which had already said I wa wasn't really
Lauren:interested in doing so I get to this place and it's not what I expected it to be.
Lauren:And so I'm like, no, we're not gonna do that.
Lauren:Cause I couldn't do my Drumetry.
Lauren:So I say that to say every time life offers us, A challenge,
Lauren:I make it into an opportunity.
Lauren:So had that not experience not happened, had I not had that invitation, I never
Lauren:would've really thought to put, you know, some drumming behind poetry.
Lauren:So that's technically how Drumetry was born.
Lauren:So from there, I started, said, whoa, mama, this sounds hot.
Lauren:I mean, it was fine.
Lauren:I love drumming.
Lauren:I love poetry.
Lauren:Why not integrate those?
Lauren:So Drumetry is the integration of drumming.
Lauren:And poetry.
Lauren:That's how I coined the term Drumetry, drumming and poetry.
Lauren:And so from there, every piece of poetry I had, I figured out an African
Lauren:rhythm or African pattern to back that.
Lauren:And that's how Drumetry was born.
Lauren:And now I have two Drumetry albums, CDs or whatever.
Lauren:We don't listen to CDs anymore, but it's all online.
Lauren:But it was born out of that experience and someone invited me to come
Lauren:do something and like flip the switch on me at the last minute.
Lauren:I'm like, ah, well guess what?
Lauren:Yeah, it happened anyway.
Lauren:Yeah.
Jon:Wow.
Jon:And so Dot, how long have you been drumming?
Jon:Is this something you've done since your young age or something
Jon:you learned later in life?
Dr. Dot:Mm-hmm.
Dr. Dot:Well, I always say, it may sound a little trite, but I've been drumming
Dr. Dot:since I was in my mother's womb because that's the first drumbeat that I heard.
Dr. Dot:And in one of my pieces of poetry called Why I Drum, it starts with, you
Dr. Dot:know, the drumbeat in my mother's womb with the first drum that I ever heard.
Dr. Dot:And that is very true.
Dr. Dot:I'm, I'm always fascinated with rhythm.
Dr. Dot:I can pick up patterns and rhythms in everything.
Dr. Dot:When raindrops, I hear the, you can hear it, it's in everything.
Dr. Dot:And I can't escape it.
Dr. Dot:It's kind of weird.
Dr. Dot:It's a gift and a, a curse at the same time, because when I'm trying not to
Dr. Dot:focus on patterns, it's right there.
Dr. Dot:So I started drumming formally in, I would say like 2008, I can say consciously,
Dr. Dot:because I was at Loyola's program.
Dr. Dot:It was a post-doctoral program with spirituality, integrating spirituality and
Dr. Dot:mental health, and so I was in a company.
Dr. Dot:In Baltimore, I was an African dancer, awesome company, but
Dr. Dot:they didn't allow women to drum.
Dr. Dot:So I love drumming.
Dr. Dot:Drumming is taboo.
Dr. Dot:Still taboo?
Dr. Dot:Pretty much.
Dr. Dot:In African culture.
Dr. Dot:There are a lot of taboos around, like the, the drum that I play,
Dr. Dot:I play several kinds, but the combat goes between your legs.
Dr. Dot:It said that women aren't strong enough to handle its power.
Dr. Dot:If you drum with a drum between your legs, You won't be able to have children.
Dr. Dot:It'll fry your eggs.
Dr. Dot:I mean, a lot of stigma around that.
Dr. Dot:Mm-hmm.
Dr. Dot:And so I was like, ok.
Dr. Dot:And at the end of the dance class, typically there's a solo circle that's
Dr. Dot:formed and the women go out and they strut their stuff and find out like,
Dr. Dot:this is what I learned in class.
Dr. Dot:It's a lively scene, and the drummers are all around it.
Dr. Dot:I'm always lying on the floor with the drummers.
Dr. Dot:I'm never getting into a solo circle.
Dr. Dot:I'm not doing that.
Dr. Dot:I want to drum.
Dr. Dot:So I went to Senegal, west Africa, and I watched people in Africa.
Dr. Dot:I'm like, look at this freedom.
Dr. Dot:When they were dancing, as if like some movement that they were doing,
Dr. Dot:like their head was gonna drop off their shoulders and roll down a flat.
Dr. Dot:I mean, it was totally uninhibited.
Dr. Dot:The energy was so high, and these were women, and I'm like, whoa.
Dr. Dot:So I came back to Baltimore.
Dr. Dot:I got permission from my ancestors to drum, and so I came from class in Loyola.
Dr. Dot:I had my drums in the back of my car.
Dr. Dot:Back then I was playing the June, June drums.
Dr. Dot:The drums that you played with Sticks had the drums.
Dr. Dot:In the back of the car, there's a class at Eubie Blake Center downtown, and
Dr. Dot:the teacher's name is Baba Cotton Guy.
Dr. Dot:He's now in California.
Dr. Dot:He had a company here called Return Tag Gore.
Dr. Dot:So I walked up the steps.
Dr. Dot:And I looked at him, I said, Baba car, can I drum for your class?
Dr. Dot:He said, of course, Dr.
Dr. Dot:Doc.
Dr. Dot:I mean, I flew down the, I mean, I think, I don't even know if I hit any steps.
Dr. Dot:I ran down the stairs so fast, I popped my trunk, I got my June
Dr. Dot:Junes, and I went upstairs, and I've been playing drums ever since.
Dr. Dot:I mean, the class is like an hour and a half and you're playing nonstop.
Dr. Dot:And the ironic thing is, you know, you would think that after
Dr. Dot:an hour and a half of drumming.
Dr. Dot:You would be exhausted.
Dr. Dot:I had so much energy.
Dr. Dot:I was like, okay, what?
Dr. Dot:What's next?
Dr. Dot:You know, where's it was?
Dr. Dot:So much fire.
Dr. Dot:So that's was my formal introduction to drumming.
Dr. Dot:I started drumming in Baba CO's class and I would go every class
Dr. Dot:he let me perform with him.
Dr. Dot:I was on stages performing with him.
Dr. Dot:So thank you so much.
Dr. Dot:Baba Co.
Dr. Dot:Out in California, because had it not been for him, having faith in
Dr. Dot:me and having the trust that women, yes, this is a platform for women.
Dr. Dot:Women can drum, why not?
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:And then from there I went, I studied with someone, Baba Dom in, in DC.
Dr. Dot:I would go to his class every Friday and he just stuck a gym,
Dr. Dot:a gym bay in front of me one day.
Dr. Dot:This, the drum that you placed between your legs.
Dr. Dot:He wanted me to learn Gym Bay, so I learned Gym Bay and before that, Baba
Dr. Dot:McKnight Baba Blay up in Forestville, I was taking some classes with him.
Dr. Dot:So the door had just fled wide open.
Dr. Dot:I know that's a roundabout way to answer your question, but I've
Dr. Dot:been drumming formally since.
Dr. Dot:Oh, it's another thing too.
Dr. Dot:When I was in elementary school, I remember specifically I always
Dr. Dot:drumming on the table, right?
Dr. Dot:You know, you're supposed to be in class paying attention.
Dr. Dot:I'm always, I'm, I'm telling you, I hear things and I'm just tapping out patterns.
Dr. Dot:And the teacher would always tell me to sit on my hands.
Dr. Dot:So had to sit on my hands, but my feet were, didn't stop my feet.
Dr. Dot:And then when everything was else, I stopped drumming in my mind.
Dr. Dot:I saw drumming in my body.
Dr. Dot:I mean, I was, I've been drumming for a very, very long time, but formally
Dr. Dot:in 2008, around that time, 2008 is when I started, you know, forming,
Dr. Dot:performing, and drumming with the company.
Dr. Dot:Be careful if you ask me a question, you already
Jon:know.
Jon:I love these answers.
Lauren:What has, what has surprised you about drumming and, and your experiences?
Dr. Dot:What surprises me about drumming is the power.
Dr. Dot:I call drumming.
Dr. Dot:Well, I call all music vibrational medicine, but there's something
Dr. Dot:specific about African drumming.
Dr. Dot:I cannot label it.
Dr. Dot:And what I try not to do, I don't go intellectual.
Dr. Dot:I go feeling.
Dr. Dot:So I, I mean, even as I'm talking to you right now, I'm trying to
Dr. Dot:find words because that's not how I approach any creative endeavor.
Dr. Dot:I'm not studying notes, I'm not, I'm allowing, cuz when I
Dr. Dot:go in my head it's a barrier.
Dr. Dot:But when I allow and open myself first to spirit, cuz that's, everything
Dr. Dot:comes through that, everything.
Dr. Dot:So I open myself to spirit and I allow what needs to come into
Dr. Dot:me, come and let it come through.
Dr. Dot:And I'm not monitoring, I'm not judging, oh, is this the right note?
Dr. Dot:No, I'm playing.
Dr. Dot:We had rehearsal last night.
Dr. Dot:I have a company.
Dr. Dot:My, it's actually pretty much my family and another woman, and
Dr. Dot:one of the people said, well, what solo are you playing here?
Dr. Dot:I said, I don't care.
Dr. Dot:Sometimes I'll have like a set solo in my mind if it's solo time, but
Dr. Dot:typically I'm just opening myself up and those rhythms, they just.
Dr. Dot:Because whatever the grounding rhythm is playing, I'm gonna
Dr. Dot:jump on that and ride it.
Dr. Dot:So it's not really a matter of intellect, it's not like I'm thinking about it.
Dr. Dot:But what surprises me about rhythm, to get back to your question
Dr. Dot:or drumming, is it's power.
Dr. Dot:It is palpable.
Dr. Dot:It's real.
Dr. Dot:You feel it.
Dr. Dot:When we perform, you can.
Dr. Dot:I can watch an audience and just look at, you know, people might be
Dr. Dot:stone-faced in the beginning, and you start, you see the loosening up, then
Dr. Dot:the toe tapping starts, and before you know it, people are on their feet.
Dr. Dot:It's so amazing because that rhythm.
Dr. Dot:Takes no prisoners, you're not gonna sit back and in the cut, you know, trying to
Dr. Dot:act like, oh, this ain't affecting me.
Dr. Dot:Drumming will snatch you and it'll grab you and it'll make
Dr. Dot:you, you know, respect it.
Dr. Dot:So that's what I love and that was, that's what really surprised me about drumming.
Dr. Dot:It's like, like I said, even when I'm not consciously thinking about
Dr. Dot:drumming or patterns or like raindrops or anything is grist for the mill.
Dr. Dot:A toilet, a toilet flushing.
Dr. Dot:You know what I mean?
Dr. Dot:Rhythm is in everything, so yeah.
Jon:Yeah.
Jon:Wow.
Jon:I never thought about that.
Jon:With the toilet flushing.
Dr. Dot:That's, I'm gonna start appreciating any, I'm telling you.
Dr. Dot:It's, it's crazy.
Dr. Dot:I see, I hear it in everything,
Jon:So Dot let me ask you, cuz I, I agree.
Jon:It's kind of contagious and I've listened to some of your drumming online
Jon:and I just, I start moving and so on.
Jon:Would you say this is something that really just kind of transcends all
Jon:sorts of people, race, ethnicity?
Dr. Dot:But all music, music transcends race.
Dr. Dot:Religion, culture, ethnicity, it transcends all of it because
Dr. Dot:it's, it's beyond all of that.
Dr. Dot:You know?
Dr. Dot:It's, you can't, like, I'm I, here's another tangential thing.
Dr. Dot:I have an album coming up.
Dr. Dot:The name of my album is called Unboxed.
Dr. Dot:Because you can't place Drum Dr.
Dr. Dot:Dot a box.
Dr. Dot:I got pop on there.
Dr. Dot:I have blues.
Dr. Dot:There's country.
Dr. Dot:I'm a country girl at heart.
Dr. Dot:I don't know where that comes from.
Dr. Dot:I have no idea where the country girl comes from.
Dr. Dot:Never been on a real farm.
Dr. Dot:Ain't never rode no horse for real.
Dr. Dot:But something in me.
Dr. Dot:Country.
Dr. Dot:I have a, I got received two songs that are like, so pure country
Dr. Dot:like boy, where these songs come.
Dr. Dot:I ain't know Country Girl.
Dr. Dot:That's why I call myself the Urban Cowgirl.
Dr. Dot:But the djembe is considered the, the A unity drum.
Dr. Dot:It's circular in nature.
Dr. Dot:Her energy brings people together.
Dr. Dot:By the way, all drums are female.
Dr. Dot:I told you, females run the world but her, but it brings people together, especially
Dr. Dot:when you get into like the heartbeat you can, and everyone is aligning on that one.
Dr. Dot:My sister and I, we do something called a rhythmic healing circle
Dr. Dot:where we, we use, Lots of percussive instruments, so we don't call them drum
Dr. Dot:circles, and we bring people together.
Dr. Dot:And there we start off with this Naya Begi rhythm, which is essentially
Dr. Dot:a heartbeat that comes from the roots, the held mountains of Jamaica.
Dr. Dot:It is just so grounding.
Dr. Dot:And then everyone goes off and adds his or her unique voice to this circle that we
Dr. Dot:created, and it's this huge musical thing.
Dr. Dot:And then it crescendos and it comes back, and then we end on that heartbeat.
Dr. Dot:You couldn't tell me who in there was black, white, gr, brown, gr.
Dr. Dot:It doesn't matter.
Dr. Dot:It does not matter.
Dr. Dot:It it, I'm telling you, this drum, whatever you have, whatever you're
Dr. Dot:carrying, whatever load you have, you, we tell people just place it here.
Dr. Dot:She can handle the drum, can handle it.
Dr. Dot:It's a force that brings us together whether we want to be or
Dr. Dot:not, because you lose yourself.
Dr. Dot:You know, you may come in with all this anger.
Dr. Dot:We were teaching at the Woodburn Center.
Dr. Dot:It's a residential treatment facility for males.
Dr. Dot:And you know, these kids are diagnosed with all types of mental
Dr. Dot:disorders, and they've not been able to be in their own environment.
Dr. Dot:So they're placed at this residential community in Northeast Baltimore.
Dr. Dot:And the rigidity, the anger, the anger at staffing, anger
Dr. Dot:at themselves, at their family.
Dr. Dot:But once we play those drums, Child.
Dr. Dot:It was a whole different story, and the therapist afterwards
Dr. Dot:would tell us, the guys who were participating in the drumming
Dr. Dot:class, we really see a difference.
Dr. Dot:They're opening up in therapy and that's the thing too.
Dr. Dot:Not only is drumming and music a great connector it opens.
Dr. Dot:You know,, the vibrational medicine.
Dr. Dot:I will keep going back to that.
Dr. Dot:It opens up, if you think about the chakra system, it touches
Dr. Dot:every aspect of your body.
Dr. Dot:It hits you at a cellular level that you cannot resist.
Dr. Dot:Cannot.
Dr. Dot:I'm sorry, you know, you may wanna fight, eh, you know, but mm-hmm.
Dr. Dot:But trust me, you're gonna fall eventually.
Dr. Dot:I've never seen it fail.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:so Dot,, are we gonna have an example of Drametry.
Dr. Dot:Absolutely have drum will travel, have drum will play.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:Actually, I was sitting here trying to think of what piece
Dr. Dot:piece might be appropriate.
Dr. Dot:, I have a piece called Enough.
Dr. Dot:Because I work with a lot of women in particular who've gone through
Dr. Dot:a lot of stuff in relationships,.
Dr. Dot:And every part in this piece that I'm gonna perform is true, except for one.
Dr. Dot:I'm not gonna tell you what part is it true what I help people to do is to
Dr. Dot:find themselves, and this piece I wrote enough because a lot of people think
Dr. Dot:that they have to do certain things or I'm not enough, I'm not good enough.
Dr. Dot:I, I have to jump through hoops in order to prove myself.
Dr. Dot:You were born enough.
Dr. Dot:There's nothing more that you need to do.
Dr. Dot:You are, God created you whole.
Dr. Dot:You will be whole for the rest of your life, and the only person that can stop
Dr. Dot:you or you know, whatever, it's yourself.
Dr. Dot:Anyway, but I wrote this piece and I'm hoping.
Dr. Dot:I'm gonna, I have a couple choice words and hey, I'm gonna try to eliminate
Dr. Dot:them and say something a little milder because Yeah, we're in church.
Dr. Dot:All right, let's, all right, I'm, I'll do enough.
Dr. Dot:Cuz I was thinking another one, called golden handcuffs.
Dr. Dot:It has to do with work people who are overwhelmed in work, which is
Dr. Dot:most of us in our Western cultures.
Dr. Dot:You know, we.
Dr. Dot:Huh Workaholics.
Dr. Dot:Well let me say the US cuz I've been in France and other places and they
Dr. Dot:really don't act like us, so I think enough, yeah, I'll do that one.
Dr. Dot:Yikes.
Dr. Dot:Lose the glasses.
Dr. Dot:You have me false.
Dr. Dot:Believing I possess no worth.
Dr. Dot:And when my spirit was high, you kicked me under the earth.
Dr. Dot:Survived your hell.
Dr. Dot:And now I'm ready for a soul rebirth review.
Dr. Dot:I thought that I
Dr. Dot:was
Dr. Dot:never enough.
Dr. Dot:I break it down.
Dr. Dot:I bent over triple, double backwards for you.
Dr. Dot:I did everything You're sorry tail ask me to.
Dr. Dot:There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do for you, but it was never enough.
Dr. Dot:You told me to seek a personality change and so I flipped the
Dr. Dot:script from soup saint to soup.
Dr. Dot:Put the reigns.
Dr. Dot:You didn't like it.
Dr. Dot:Call me crazy.
Dr. Dot:So I flipped it again, but it was never enough.
Dr. Dot:I lied for you, swallowed my pride for you.
Dr. Dot:Took that ride with you, Bonnie and Clyde with you.
Dr. Dot:I did everything short of suicide for you, but it was never enough.
Dr. Dot:I would twist my big body into every contortion have unprotected
Dr. Dot:sex with you that had an abortion.
Dr. Dot:Then you wanted a babysit with name a Porsche.
Dr. Dot:So I got knocked up and now you want an abortion.
Dr. Dot:It was never enough roll that spliff for you.
Dr. Dot:Took that hit for you.
Dr. Dot:Was that number one radada chick for you?
Dr. Dot:If you asked me, I would even turn a trick for you, but it was never enough.
Dr. Dot:I did everything to keep our relationship stable.
Dr. Dot:Got a second job hustling, keeping food on the table.
Dr. Dot:You said you get a job, but you be home watching cable.
Dr. Dot:But I'm the one that wasn't enough.
Dr. Dot:Had no money to lend, spend up all my ends.
Dr. Dot:Then you gave it all to Keisha trying to buy a new friend.
Dr. Dot:Why I stick with you?
Dr. Dot:I try cuz I cannot comprehend because it's never enough.
Dr. Dot:Yeah, I paid the price, made that sacrifice.
Dr. Dot:Thought I'd be your wife.
Dr. Dot:Tried with all my might, but you put your down hard was cold as ice, but I
Dr. Dot:think I love the too dagone much so I tried to let the situation run as course.
Dr. Dot:We ain't even married, but you say you'll wanna divorce leaving you ain't
Dr. Dot:easy, but you're leaving me with no choice because it's never enough.
Dr. Dot:I let you drop my whip.
Dr. Dot:You went out and crashed it, tried to bring it up, but you tried to mask it.
Dr. Dot:My mama told me not to put my eggs in your basket.
Dr. Dot:You said what?
Dr. Dot:Your mama know.
Dr. Dot:She's just a corpse in the casket and that's the date I woke the heck up.
Dr. Dot:I started to thinking I put up with all this stuff, didn't realize
Dr. Dot:I was already enough when I met.
Dr. Dot:You thought I needed a short rinse, validation, self-esteem in the
Dr. Dot:ground, tremble voice a shaking.
Dr. Dot:I was steady giving you a steady take and didn't realize that I
Dr. Dot:was just a fool in the making.
Dr. Dot:I held you up your shot, me down, you clown.
Dr. Dot:I was standing trying to stay on your merry go-round.
Dr. Dot:Now I stand my ground no longer circus a clown.
Dr. Dot:I woke up, we broke up, finally found my voice and spoke up.
Dr. Dot:Found that I am Mesa Spade sucker.
Dr. Dot:You was just a joker
Dr. Dot:to hold me down.
Dr. Dot:It took me all.
Dr. Dot:You tried to hold me down.
Dr. Dot:What was lost has now
Dr. Dot:That is enough.
Dr. Dot:You are enough.
Dr. Dot:You were born enough.
Dr. Dot:You will always be enough.
Dr. Dot:That's it.
Dr. Dot:Oh wow.
Dr. Dot:That, so that is Drumetry.
Dr. Dot:Oh, wow.
Dr. Dot:Wow.
Dr. Dot:Help's gonna heal through music.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Jon:Yeah.
Jon:That's so affirming.
Jon:I mean, that message is incredible.
Jon:It does speak.
Jon:Mm-hmm.
Jon:Thank you.
Jon:Yeah.
Jon:Yeah.
Jon:Thank, oh, thank you.
Jon:Thank you.
Jon:Wow.
Jon:Oh my goodness.
Lauren:It makes such a difference in people's lives.
Dr. Dot:Mm-hmm.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:Oh
Jon:yeah.
Jon:So, Dot if people want to know more about Drumetry or get in touch
Jon:with you how they can reach you?
Jon:Cuz we'll put all that, any of those links, we'll put in the show notes so
Dr. Dot:people can find you.
Dr. Dot:Yeah, so my website, well I have too many, but my one website is
Dr. Dot:Drumetry, D R U M E T R Y.com.
Dr. Dot:I think you've accessed that.
Dr. Dot:That's where you can find all things related to Drum Dr.
Dr. Dot:Dot, the upcoming album, and you know, my performances and so on.
Dr. Dot:The events.
Dr. Dot:Side, you know, you can find out where I, I'll be next.
Dr. Dot:And let's see.
Dr. Dot:Nyame Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy everyone knows us as NCHAT.
Dr. Dot:We are 5 0 1 C three nonprofit organization that integrates mental
Dr. Dot:health in the arts to help people to heal.
Dr. Dot:I mean, I'm a talk therapist.
Dr. Dot:My sister's a nurse.
Dr. Dot:That's our organization.
Dr. Dot:And I know that talk therapy is not enough.
Dr. Dot:I wrote a whole book about it, so we help people to heal.
Dr. Dot:Using different art forms so that I'll give you the link to that website also.
Dr. Dot:Okay.
Dr. Dot:We have performing, we'll be at Mount Vernon.
Dr. Dot:They have something called Summer in the Squares, Mount Vernon
Dr. Dot:Conservatory downtown, right in front of the Washington Monument.
Dr. Dot:We'll be there on August the third from seven to 8:30 PM.
Dr. Dot:Drum, Dr.
Dr. Dot:Dot and NCHAT we're vetted musicians through Maryland State Arts Council.
Dr. Dot:So any nonprofit, any church can hire us and they give you grant money for that.
Dr. Dot:Let's see.
Dr. Dot:I'm in a band called Roses n Rust.
Dr. Dot:You saw that That's the band that was at the Harbor playing Baltimore Jack.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:We have something coming up Scholar Jam, which is the 21st.
Dr. Dot:This is to help people who are in Maryland who are academically sound
Dr. Dot:but cannot afford to go to college.
Dr. Dot:So they give, donate money.
Dr. Dot:I give money for that.
Dr. Dot:I think those are the three main things I'm involved in.
Dr. Dot:I do speaking engagements.
Dr. Dot:Obviously, I was in so many places this year, including California.
Dr. Dot:Someone found me on the internet.
Dr. Dot:You know, on TikTok, I'm like, huh, I'm not on TikTok.
Dr. Dot:I don't even have the app.
Dr. Dot:But one of my former clients called me and said, Hey, miss Holly, you're on TikTok.
Dr. Dot:I said, no, I'm not.
Dr. Dot:Cause I don't have TikTok.
Dr. Dot:But sure enough, she sent me a link, I downloaded the app and I
Dr. Dot:was on TikTok and someone found me and flew me to California to speak.
Dr. Dot:I was like, okay, I'm on TikTok.
Dr. Dot:Right.
Dr. Dot:Anyway, so yeah.
Dr. Dot:Okay.
Dr. Dot:That's pretty
Jon:great.
Jon:Well, we'll be sure people can access that because and
Jon:actually we we're not just local.
Jon:People.
Jon:We are a little bit international these days in various parts of the country,
Jon:and we're hoping to spread the good news, and it's through the work that
Jon:you're doing is actually spreading news.
Jon:So
Dr. Dot:yes, and thank you all for this.
Dr. Dot:I love this platform.
Dr. Dot:This is, I mean, the setup.
Dr. Dot:It's so cool.
Dr. Dot:I've never been on a podcast that's this like, Funky, fresh.
Dr. Dot:Cool.
Dr. Dot:It's really like pop pops circle, circle, bam, boom, in the middle.
Dr. Dot:It's really, I love it.
Jon:Thank you.
Jon:And from two senior citizens.
Jon:I've heard
Dr. Dot:funky.
Dr. Dot:No, I'm impressed.
Dr. Dot:I'm, I'm the one, so y'all.
Dr. Dot:I'm with y'all.
Dr. Dot:Right?
Dr. Dot:And those shirts are, everything's like, good.
Dr. Dot:I love your shirts.
Dr. Dot:Oh yeah.
Dr. Dot:Bam.
Dr. Dot:Right.
Lauren:Before go, is there anything else that you would like to share?
Lauren:A bit of wisdom about?
Lauren:Hmm.
Dr. Dot:That's way, general, anything?
Dr. Dot:Okay.
Dr. Dot:I'll give you my tagline for everything I do.
Dr. Dot:Love plus forgiveness equals freedom.
Dr. Dot:That's my tagline.
Dr. Dot:Love and forgiveness are the two most powerful forces in the universe.
Dr. Dot:If you can love and if you can forgive, that's freedom.
Dr. Dot:So I mean, I go through, man, we, I'm human.
Dr. Dot:We go through so much crap in life, and I know we go through anger and
Dr. Dot:blah, blah, blah, but I always settle into a place of love and forgiveness.
Dr. Dot:I did an interview during the pandemic and someone asked me something about, I
Dr. Dot:don't remember, but I kept saying I was so mad at God because when George Floyd
Dr. Dot:was murdered, By that officer I, I saw the, I saw the video and I saw that and
Dr. Dot:it was traumatic, no doubt about it.
Dr. Dot:And I was allowed, maybe I won't even say a day to rest in that.
Dr. Dot:And then my mind kept going to, Compassion for the guy who had his knee in his neck.
Dr. Dot:Like what?
Dr. Dot:I'm like, God, okay, you gonna gimme more than a day to be
Dr. Dot:pissed off about this bull?
Dr. Dot:You know what I mean?
Dr. Dot:But it couldn't, I could not, it was horrible.
Dr. Dot:So I'm thinking about his childhood.
Dr. Dot:I'm thinking about if he's locked up, like what is he thinking?
Dr. Dot:Like that he actually killed another human being.
Dr. Dot:Like I'm thinking about his family and like, what would
Dr. Dot:motivate a person to do that?
Dr. Dot:And so that compassion came to the fore and I'm like, God, okay.
Dr. Dot:Like, It ain't even, even a day, let me like be pissed for.
Dr. Dot:But it everything, because love is all that exists.
Dr. Dot:Everything else is just fear and that is, I, it's not that I'm saying
Dr. Dot:it's intellectually I live this.
Dr. Dot:I know it in my soul.
Dr. Dot:So no matter what I go through, no matter what you, it's always
Dr. Dot:you have to fall always back into that place of love and forgiveness.
Dr. Dot:Because I'm deeply and richly loving.
Dr. Dot:I'm Lord knows I'm forgiven.
Dr. Dot:Lord knows I'm forgiven.
Dr. Dot:You know what I mean?
Dr. Dot:So that's the only words of wisdom that I will leave.
Dr. Dot:I have so much, but that is the most profound for me in my own life and love.
Dr. Dot:Plus forgiveness equals freedom.
Dr. Dot:That's my hashtag, my tagline, blah, blah, blah.
Dr. Dot:That's it.
Jon:And that's the words we all need to hear.
Jon:So thank you Drum.
Jon:Dr.
Jon:Dot, thanks for being with us today.
Jon:This has been such a treat.
Jon:Glad
Dr. Dot:be here.
Dr. Dot:This is great.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:Yeah.
Dr. Dot:All right, take care,
Lauren:Jon.
Lauren:And I want to also thank those who are watching and listening with us today.
Lauren:We cannot do this without your participation, so please take a
Lauren:moment to comment like, And share on all your social media platforms.
Lauren:This will help us spread the good news to even more people.
Lauren:And again, thank you for the gift of your time with us today.
Lauren:And until next time, peace and blessings.
Lauren:Thank you.
Jon:Good news is being brought to you by Listening for Clues.
Jon:You can find us on our website, listeningforclues.com, our YouTube
Jon:channel, our Vimeo channel, and just about every podcast platform that there is.
