For aging Jewish baby boomers who still play air guitar in front of the mirror, Michael Baugh is the perfect rock ‘n’ role model.
The Daly City-based singer/songwriter recently released “Seasons of Freedom,” a CD collection of original Jewish Renewal holiday songs. And whether or not he ever headlines at
the Fillmore, Baugh is happy
to add his voice to the chorus of Jewish music-makers.
Anyone looking for traditional liturgical melodies won’t find them in Baugh’s music. He’s more Fleetwood Mac than Debbie Friedman.
The CD includes songs for the High Holy Days, Passover, Chanukah, Purim, even Tu B’Shevat. To make the CD, Baugh brought together some of the best Jewish musicians in the Bay Area including keyboardist David Austin and singer Marsha Attie of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. Baugh himself wrote the tunes, played guitar — a cherry Guild D40 — and sang lead vocals.
It wasn’t much of a stretch for Baugh. As the longtime musical director at Or Shalom Jewish Community in San Francisco, he had ample opportunity to test his songs with a Jewish audience. Some of the tunes on “Seasons of Freedom” go back 10 years.
“My congregation has been kind,” he says. “They put up with the beta versions.”
A Jew-by-choice, Baugh is married to Pamela Frydman Baugh, a former rabbi at Or Shalom. He credits her for helping shape his approach to Jewish music.
“Pam is the inspiration for a lot of these songs,” he says. “I fell in love with her and with Judaism at the same time.”
During his years at Or Shalom, Baugh spearheaded the High Holy Days choir, fronted the Purim carnival rock band and served as youth song leader for Shabbat and Hebrew school events.
All the while, he kept his day job as clinical director of the New Perspectives Center for Counseling in San Francisco. As a social worker, he has a private practice and also trains young marriage and family counseling interns.
But there isn’t much disconnect between his clinical work and his musical passion. The common thread between them is spirituality.
“Spirituality is the keystone of my life,” says Baugh. “I was trained to do music with a spiritual effect.”
The Seattle native rebelled against his religion-free household by exploring multiple spiritual traditions as a young man. By high school, he had discovered Israeli folk dancing, which opened a window for him into the Jewish world. “I always felt a strong connection to the Jewish people,” he adds.
That connection grew even stronger after meeting Pamela Frydman in 1975. The two got to know each other better doing interfaith and Palestinian-Israeli dialogue work. Baugh converted to Judaism in 1983 and a few years later, his wife was ordained in the Jewish Renewal movement. She went on to found Congregation Or Shalom.
Pamela Frydman Baugh departed the congregation a few months ago and is now “a soccer mom,” says Baugh, though she remains active in the Jewish Renewal Rabbinical Association.
Baugh says he has at least two more albums in him, one of Shabbat songs, another of interfaith tunes he’s compiled.
As for the current CD, it’s now sold at some Judaica stores, and he hopes other Jewish Renewal congregations around the country will discover it as well. Whatever success he attains though, his greatest desire is to touch the spirit of his listeners, one by one.
“I hope to inspire people to be more loving and courageous,” says Baugh, “and bring more spirituality into the world. On the surface, I’m Jewish, but deep down, it’s all God.”
“Seasons of Freedom” by Michael Baugh is available at bob & bob in Palo Alto, Streetlight Records in San Francisco, or call (650) 756-1758.