Gene Wall Cole is a most amazing and eclectic fellow. Gene is known as a visionary thinker, an author, a speaker and a motivator; a composer, scholar, performer and musician extraordinaire; a metaphysician, storyteller and life adventurer who has always followed the beat of his own drum. Gene Wall Cole is all this and more. In short , he is a true 21 st Century Renaissance man. Like the title of his first book, The Chameleon, he has the ability to blend in anywhere and has been described as an alchemist of sound, an architect designing a more user friendly world, a sculptor helping people mold their dreams into reality, and a painter whose easel holds the colors of an awakened imagination.

He has traveled extensively in both worlds, inner and outer, on an unbelievable journey to fulfill his destiny--demonstrating what Einstein meant when he declared, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” The recognition of that calling and unfolding enlightenment has given the world a joy rarely seen, yet always sought. As he puts it, “when you have found water in a desert full of thirsty people -- you have to shout --there's water over here!” Gene Wall Cole IS a celebration of life -- inviting the world to awaken and come join him in building an Imagi-NATION.

The son of a strict military judge, Gene spent his early years moving place to place, living in Cuba, Alaska, San Francisco, and a dozen other locales. As was preordained by the rebellion against his father's strict discipline, Gene left home at 17, the day he graduated from high school. Gene had a brief stint at East Carolina University, where he majored in Political Science before switching to dance. It was there that Gene met his first mentor, a retired Naval Captain, metaphysician and atomic physicist, who began to open doors rarely opened to one so young, as well as to speak words rarely heard.

Born with music in his soul, into a family where everyone played more than one instrument, Gene's life began to widen when a dear friend built and gave him a one-of-a kind stringed instrument. The instrument, which sounds like the cross between a dulcimer, sitar, and harp , accompanied Gene as he began a performing career at fiddle festivals and fairs. By the late 70s, his music and reputation had carried him to Nashville where he recorded or performed with the likes of B.B. King, Neil Young, John McLaughlin, Papa John Creach and Freddie Hubbard , to name but a few.

Gene's first real break came by accident (if you believe in such things), when he was at the right place at the right time and played harmonica on a session for Elvis Presley's bass player, Norbert Putnam. “I just happened to have the right harmonica in my pocket.” Later that night, it was Norbert who nicknamed his one-of-a-kind instrument a “Dulsitar, ” while Gene jammed with Dan Fogleburg and Cat Stevens, who had just happened by the studio that night. Months later Gene joined Jessie Coulter and husband Waylon Jenning's band, The Waylors, and had his first taste of the limousine/ lear jet circuit. As he puts it, “I vividly remember my first ride in a lear as it was the same day I met Waylon. He had sent his jet from Texas to Nashville to pick me up, and when I got on board, there was Hank Williams Jr. who just happened to be hitching a ride down to celebrate Waylon's 40th birthday that was planned for that same evening.”

The next leg of Gene's journey carried him and friend, Daniel Donahoe, over a thousand miles to give a command performance for His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, during his first trip to the western world. This performance inspired the Dalai Lama to not only bestow a rare silk scarf blessing on the two, but to exclaim afterwards that Gene's music was “the first meeting between East and West in a musical vibration--it will heal many people.”

Gene's life continued to whirl in a virtual tornado of events--the theft and subsequent mysterious return of his beloved Dulsitar (which resulted in an amazing news story and subsequent Rainbow CD by Gene--a literal “who's-who” of some of the best players in Nashville); employment by a Kuwaiti Prince and a Saudi Arabian Prince; forming his own reggae/calypso band in the Virgin Islands; and eventually striking up a friendship with Stevie Wonder, who convinced him to move to Los Angeles .

The darkest part of the journey was defined by a three-year descent into cocaine addiction. Gene later discovered he had been using cocaine to self medicate an “Indigo” kid's undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder. He now refers to his ADHD as a “blessing and a DIFF-ability not a DIS-ability.” Miraculously surviving a motorcycle accident, Gene had his first near death experience, met his guardian angel, and was given what he deemed a second chance, awakening the seeker who rediscovered his spiritual core through 12-step programs, men's work, and mentoring programs. The results of which helped lead him to reconciliation with his dad.

How did he get here? Follow Your Dreams, the name he has appropriately given his favorite workshop, is also the driving principle in Gene Wall Cole's life. Clean and sober (for over 20 years), Gene feared a return to his cherished music would trigger a return to days gone by. As a result, Gene spent the first couple of years in sobriety working in recovery programs and as a professional masseur on Venice Beach , California. He then took those earnings and a life long dream to own his own recording studio, and opened the cutting edge 12 Step Music Production facilities in Studio City, California. There he worked with many of the elite in both the music and TV industries. He also formed a new band and produced one of his favorite CD's ‘Cowboys and Indians'… a must have CD for any serious country music collector, as it has representative musicians from John Lennon's, Paul McCartney's, and Merle Haggard's bands.

After the '94 Northridge earthquake knocked 12 Step Music out of business, Gene quickly bounced back, getting a job as a marketing rep for a Los Angeles based financial newspaper. There he quickly became the billionaire owner's golden haired boy, while more than doubling the company's existing sales record. All too soon, Gene recognized a part of his creative muse had been put on hold far too long. Feeling like he was living in a gilded cage, and knowing he was not following the path of his heart, Gene set out once again to do the work he felt called to do as a result of his near death experience and meeting his guardian angel. Beginning in his own unique style, his first appearance was at a Deepak Chopra event in San Diego, charging at windmills like a modern day Don Quixote.

One of the first indications that Gene Wall Cole would become “The Renaissance Man” he is known as today, was the writing and subsequent publication of his first book, The Chameleon, in 1996. Accompanied by three amazingly versatile CDs, the book is a first of its kind multi-media memoir which recounts his own vivid journey—from darkness to light, using music and poetry to enhance the spoken word. This project also gave back to the world a remarkable writer and extraordinary musician.

Today Gene is everywhere; in concert halls, corporations, churches of all faiths, and meeting halls filled with at-risk kids; at international conferences, on radio and TV, in the recording studio, and behind his computer hammering out new books to shine a bit of the truth he has uncovered and discovered during his amazing sojourn. Much of his time is spent on the road traveling into the hearts of thousands of people each year. As he puts it:

“I feel like I'm a reporter bringing back tales from the hinterlands. I am a storyteller and a troubadour who plays for his supper. I am every man, really no different than you. I have been blessed to follow my dreams in this way and now feel it is my responsibility to share my experience, strength and hope with others.”

Gene's blessings continue into the 21 st century, with coast to coast concert and speaking tours . Gene uses his myriad of experiences to make his way in the world and to help others discover their life's journey and purpose. His recent publications, soon to be released-- Jesus Diet For All The World, and Consider This--Musings of a Spiritual Truck-driver On A 40 Day Fast From Ignorance, will undoubtedly open many doors, so that others in this world can carry on his legacy. This latest book, about the evolution of ethics, spirituality and democracy, or--life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness as Gene prefers to call it, was blessed with the foreword being written by an old friend encountered a quarter of a century ago, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.

Experiencing Gene Wall Cole through his writings, concerts, music, and seminars, has brought thousands of people to re-evaluate their lives--bringing tears of joy to their faces, and a new way of looking at their life. Reward yourself the opportunity to meet Gene Wall Cole in person!

THE Awakening Imagi-NATION
P.O. Box 344
Henrietta, NC 28076
828-657-5416