Salamander Collective is a shape-shifting musical community devoted to improvisation, connection, and creative transformation. The project began nearly ten years ago, and for the first seven years, the music was fully improvisational — no setlists, no fixed arrangements, and a rotating constellation of musicians following the flow of the moment. Each show was a one-time-only experience, created collectively and never repeated.

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In the past three years, the project has evolved to include original songs, albums, and what we call “vehicles for the jam.” These songs serve as gateways — anchoring points that open into improvisation, movement, and deep listening. The improvisational spirit remains the heart of the collective; now it moves through forms that help guide the emotional arc of the experience.

Our music invites people to participate, not just observe. Whether on stage, on a dance floor, or in a circle of friends, we create live musical containers where everyone is welcomed into presence. Music becomes a shared energetic field, shaped as much by the audience’s breath and movement as by the instruments on stage.

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We have toured throughout the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, helping pioneer fully live-band ecstatic dance, where music is created in real time in response to the dancers. On these dance floors, the line between ceremony, celebration, and performance dissolves — the room becomes one organism moving together.

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Beyond the stage, we support and produce music for our peers, weaving a network of interconnected artists across many communities. Many members found the collective by simply jumping into the jam and recognizing a shared calling.

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We also host Salamander Fest, our annual celebration of co-creative live music, where bands blend together on the main stage in fully improvised collaboration. At festivals like Unison Fest, we steward the Live Music Stage (AKA Salamander Jam Stage), inviting artists into spontaneous musical alchemy that transcends genre and expectation.

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Now rooted in Austin, Texas, we are entering a new chapter — continuing to collaborate, record, host gatherings, and build community through live, emergent music.

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This is more than a band. It is a practice of presence.

A reminder that to feel deeply is a gift.

A living, breathing collective where who we are together becomes greater than the sum of our parts.