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Bibi McGill — Guitarist and Musical Director for Beyonce, Kale-Chip Maker, and Yogini — Discusses Her High-Raw Lifestyle
October 27th, 2011 By Wendi Dee and Jim Dee | Raw Food and Raw Foods Diet, Raw Food Interviews, Raw Food Video | 5 Comments (Thanks!) »
Hi there, Pure Jeevan family! Jim here… A few weeks ago, I’d been reading about Bibi McGill, the guitarist and musical director for Beyonce. It was a fascinating piece (linked to below, actually) and, to my complete surprise at the time, touched on her fairly serious interest in raw foods — and, wouldn’t you know, she also lives right here in sunny Portlandia!
Soon, I realized that I’d seen her name around town before — and Wendi did, too! There are these absolutely addictive kale chips, you see… (We like to get them at our local food co-op from time to time because they’re truly something special.) But, until recently, we didn’t piece it all together — that one person manages to produce this distinctive brand of raw snacks, teach yoga classes here in Stumptown, AND somehow also tour the entire globe as lead guitarist for world-class acts like Beyonce and Pink!
So, we met up for tea at this zen little spot up on SE Belmont — indoor waterfalls & a 10-page tea menu. I was glad we had a chance to chat before doing the video because we got to talk about yoga, rock and roll, guitars, culture, and other non-dietary fun stuff. Whenever diet came up, I’d just say, “Wait, let’s not talk about that yet!” (because I knew it’d be better to cover that on camera).
We decided to walk to a park for the vid shoot, but it was jam packed with kids. So, we ducked into the doorway of a closed art gallery. I think you’ll enjoy the interview, even though trucks passed by a few times on the street. After a while, a man came out of the gallery to see what we were doing. He was pretty nice (which is how most people are here in Portland!), so I asked if we could finish the interview inside the gallery. As you may have guessed from the picture, above, he let us in. Fun times!
Here’s the video… (In case you haven’t seen Bibi in action, I tossed a 10-second clip of her on stage toward the beginning of the video — but you can search YouTube for many more.)
Special thanks to Gallery Zero in Portland (near 34th & Belmont) for allowing us to film inside. The striking painting behind Bibi (above on this page and behind Bibi in the video) was painted by Portland-based artist Liz Gill Neilson.
Bibi Links
More Interviews w/ Bibi from ’round the ‘net:
October 27th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
What a RAWkin’ interview! She’s very cool!
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October 27th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
What beautiful energy, creative, in the flow of life, responding to what she needs. Wish could get those chips
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October 28th, 2011 at 6:02 am
Wonderful positive outlook
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October 28th, 2011 at 6:26 am
this was really rawkin’ great and motivational. can’t wait to try out bibi’s kale chips! so fun to see/feel portland, too. we’ve missed pure jeevan here, and so glad to see you in the inbox. thanks!
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October 28th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
She was really real. Enjoyed!! Want to try kale chips
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