i’ve been running around exploring the world through music and art (mostly music) since 2003.

nyc indie rock band circus guy was involved in a series of tours through the middle east, working with the us state department to build cultural bridges between arabs and americans. egypt, jordan, cyprus, kuwait, oman, palestinian occupied territories, moroco, syria and israel.

circus guy middle east touring band(s):
2003 - 2006
Michael Culhane - guitarist / singer
T.H. Culhane - guitar and bass / singer
Greg Ross - bass guitar / singer
Steve Cass - drums / singer
Ted Stern - violin, pedal steel guitar
Anais Mitchell - guitar / singer
Matt Dow - drums
Peter Padua - guitar
Andrew Culhane - guitar
Frank Marino - drums
james dean conklin - guitar

these tours turned into (very effective) environmental education projects; after the tours ended in 2006, i worked with bandmate alan bigelow to form solar punch.

exclusively solar-powered, we worked our way thru local farmer’s markets and earth day gigs, to embarking on major tours through india, haiti and nepal. we even participated in the 1st solar-powered tour of the himalayas, and performed led zeppelin’s ‘kashmir’ in kashmir!

solar punch team:
2007 - 2017
Andy Mattina - bass guitar, shruti box, ukelele
Alan Bigelow - guitar, turkish banjo, flute
james dean conklin - guitar, irish bouzouki
Joe Mitch - drums
Frank Marino - drums
Matt Dow - drums, percussion, bells, bowls
Aric Gutnick - tabla
Eric Puente - drums
Bill Gerstel - drums

day jobs limited solar punch’s tour-a-bility so as the band went on ‘pause’, i put together another group called ‘the greenheart’, with a deeper focus on connective ‘folk’ music and ‘solutions’, this group travelled several times to nepal, and even once to india, performing for school groups and in unusual public venues.

the greenheart team:
2017 - 2019
Fred Gillen Jr. - musician
Julie Corbalis - musician
Laura Bowman - musician
james dean conklin - musician
Steve Kirkman - musician
Lisa Gutkin - musician

Jim Metzger - photographer
Peg Taylor - painter
Elisa Zazzera - composter
David Zung - videographer

the team performed above and beyond all requests, and in all situations, and i'm happy we have moved the project forward.

i return to nepal this december, 2019, with my partner elisa, to connect with family and friends and enjoy the kathmandu international mountain movie festival.

james dean conklin - create, communicate, celebrate.