Love Found A Way at Shangri-La 2017

On September 8 during Shangri-La Music Festival, a special gathering happened at Harmony Park Music Garden, in Clark’s Grove, Minnesota, tough it was not what was expected or planned. The festival was originally looking forward to the first ever live performance of Mike Love’s collaborative track “Love Will Find A Way” with the complete ensemble including Trevor Hall, Paula Fuga, and Nahko Bear.   The track was released in 2015  and has been referred to – by many – as the greatest love song of our generation and had never been performed live with all four artists.  Plans took a quick change when Trevor Hall had to cancel due to  “a double-ear infection, throat lesions, and pneumonia,” according to Tim Cook, a member of his management team. Love truly found a way with what happened next.

Hall’s Friday set time transformed into the Trevor Hall Collective, or “THC,” to send him support and healing vibes on his recovery. The THC started off by broadcasting a special video message from Hall to his festival family, that shared his heartfelt-apologies for being unable to perform due to his health.  The singer’s sincere message was  accepted and reciprocated. Many artists came out to perform a track or two, treating the audience to unimaginable collaborations of musicians. When Mike Love took the stage with Nahko and Paula Fuga he introduced Hawaii based musician, Tubby Love,  to fill Hall’s spot in the much anticipated performance of Love Will Find A Way. Tubby Love was both humbled and honored.

”As a younger, up and coming, independent musician, I was honored to be asked to sing Trevor’s lines along side artists I look to for inspiration.” Tubby Love, shared.  “My thoughts immediately following the request was ‘damn, those are some big ass shoes to fill.’”

Tubby Love is a familiar name at Harmony Park. His music can best be described as redemption music with messages of peace, understanding, love, and sustainability — making him an obvious choice for filling in for Hall. His most recent album, Waves, was released back in July and even features a track with Trevor Hall titled “Chant up Zion”.

The idea had been presented to Tubby a few days before the performance when Wookiefoot member and festival coordinator, Uncle Jo caught wind of Hall’s illness. Tubby didn’t fully believe it would happen and wanted to be sure that the other musicians involved were okay with him joining them before agreeing. It was the day of the show that he was officially asked to sing in Love Will Find A Way and of course, he was a shoo in.

When the moment came for “Love Will Find A Way” and Tubby was introduced, the crowd erupted with joy and support. The entire audience echoed every single lyric back to the musicians. Tubby described the performance as a “mini Woodstock moment at the greatest gathering of our time.”

Part way through the performance, other musicians such as Mark of Wookiefoot, Dustin Thomas, Amber Lily, Justin Chittams of Medicine for the People, Drew McManus of Satsang, and many others joined the band and vocalists on stage.

“I felt the power of music being reflected from the audience.” said Tubby. “As soon as i opened my mouth and started singing i felt all the support of all the angels present. My favorite musicians were singing harmonies, and i felt this immense support that was the power of  music,  song, and soul that is Mike Love.”

It appears that the power of love transcended to help Trevor Hall fully recover. He started “The Fruitful Darkness Tour”  September 21st in Madison, Wisconsin and in the end, love truly found a way.

By: Alycia Grace and Kara Ketcher