Mickey is now a trustee at the Library of Congress and at the Smithsonian. He oversees the “Folkways” collection that originally intrigued him about the rhythms of the world. Mickey knows that a lot of music has been lost due to religion and war, and he believes that the loss rips a culture apart. Mickey noted, “If music wasn’t preserved, no one would know what to base their music on.” He clarified, “We based our music on music that preceded us.”
Mickey also has written four books documenting his lifelong fascination with the history and mythology of music and currently working on a fifth. He is working with George Smoot, an astrophysicist, to find out what the Big Bang, the moment of creation of the universe, sounded like. He feels that to fully understand the world’s music you need to find out where it began, from the very beginning. According to Mickey, “music is really a mystery. We haven’t busted the code. It’s like DNA,” Mickey playfully said, “I’m after the musical genome.”
Peace, Love, and Rock'n'Roll
Mickey believes that “if people danced and played music together, it would be really hard to hurt them physically.” Further, he said, “music means understanding. It’s the opposite of the atomic bomb. That’s what music is. We know that it works. It’s more than playing the drums and making a sound, it’s an entire entity.” He added, “You can’t get taught these things. There is no school for it. You can hear it, and you can feel it. Music creates peace and harmony in the world, and helps you have a different perspective or outlook on life.“
To hear Mickery Hart’s band, learn more about Mickey Hart or what it takes to become a member of his Official Street Team, visit visit www.mickeyhart.net.