It’s no secret that building a career as a musician these days is increasingly difficult. Beyond the age-old financial instability, today’s industry demands that songwriters also be content creators and, essentially, small-business owners who book their own gigs and sell their own merch. These modern expectations present significant hurdles to making musical dreams come true.
“Being a recording artist has to be one of the only jobs that you have to pay for,” musician Raphael Groten observed recently. “You have to pay for the studio, pay for musicians, pay to promote it … I’ve joked before that musicians are basically T-shirt salesmen!”
Groten, 52, knows all about the grind. And after decades in the music business, the Lincoln resident has figured out a way to make it work, combining his many musical modes into a career that defies easy categorization but pays the bills.
A lifelong musician from a musical family, the native New Yorker graduated from the University of Vermont in 1996 with a minor in music and formed several well-regarded bands in the early aughts, including Latin-funk ensemble Saudade and “psychotropical” jazz act Guagua, with guitarist Geoff Kim.
While he loved playing in those bands, Groten had two young children and needed to build a stable career. He did so mostly through carpentry, contracting and design work. But in 2009, after seeing a Craigslist ad for a kids’ music teacher, he decided to leap into the world of children’s music.
He created a persona, the inimitable G’Raph, and built up to being one of the most successful kids’ musicians in the state, at one point performing for more than 250 kids a week at 11 different schools and libraries. But Groten has simultaneously cultivated his solo artistry, releasing eight records under his own name, including several with classical guitarist and producer Will Ackerman, the Grammy-winning founder of Windham Hill Records.
Groten’s musical career also encompasses a third mode: sound healer and shaman. Along with music and life partner Rebecca Kodis, he performs what he dubs “music as medicine,” a practice of using vibrational frequencies created by instruments such as gongs and tuning forks to help induce relaxation and aid in meditation.
Combining his adult contemporary work with his career as G’Raph and as a sound healer, Groten’s entire life now revolves around music.
“I’d love to pretend there’s some sort of big plan, but all the approaches are really just one approach,” Groten admitted. His graying dreadlocks framed a face with an easy smile and the patient eyes of someone who spends a lot of time around kids. “I used to fantasize about focusing on a single genre, like just being a Latin-jazz guitarist or something, but I don’t think I could really limit myself like that. I love funk. I love nature sounds. I love kids’ music. So why not just, you know, make those things?”
Perhaps due to that very inclination, Groten finds that all three of his musical pursuits often inform each other. With his kids’ music, Groten strives to make songs that are entertaining to tykes and their parents, even if they’re about eating rainbows and how not to pick one’s nose.
Take “Monster Truck,” a cut from his 2021 kids’ album, Happily Ever Now. While the song features Groten singing in a comically gruff voice, as well as doing his best Donald Duck impression, the tune’s rhythmic sophistication stands out. Indeed, there are hints of funk, jazz, reggae, bossa nova and folk all over the album. That fusion works both ways, according to Groten.
Raphael Groten
No one wants to be in a box.
“One of my favorite things to do on G’Raph albums is make animal sounds,” he said. “If I’m making one of my solo adult records and it makes sense to start calling like a bird or howling like a coyote, I’ll do it. Why not? No one wants to be in a box.”
Groten became interested in sound healing after one of his sons was injured in a car accident in 2002. Playing guitar for his son while he recovered in the intensive care unit sparked a deeper curiosity about the connection between music and the body. He attended the Center of Light Institute of Sound Healing and Shamanic Studies in Ascutney and also started playing music at UVM Medical Center and took holistic health classes. After years of studying the sound/body connection, he eventually released the album Potential in 2021. He described the record as “world medicine groove” and a sort of thesis on his views of using sound to treat maladies.
He’s influenced by the work of Swiss physician Hans Jenny, who in the 1960s introduced the concept of cymatics, which posits that sound is not merely an auditory experience but an actual structural force.
“They did all these studies showing the effects of vibrations on water,” Groten explained. “Well, our cells are mostly water. What do you think happens to them when we sing? Sound can do so much for our bodies.”
Groten said he tries “not to overexplain or demystify the way sound affects our physiology,” however. “Because, deep down, people already know. We’ve all had that experience when a song changes your mood, for better or for worse.”
His weekly Music Time gigs can certainly change a listener’s mood. Groten, as his G’Raph persona, cohosts the sessions with Kodis, who performs under the moniker Beccazoo, every Tuesday morning at the Pierson Library in Shelburne. The duo also often plays nondenominational music on Sundays at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne. It’s an experience Groten cherishes.
“I love playing for kids, but playing in schools and bars is very similar, really,” he said with a laugh. “They’re barely paying attention; they might throw up; they want to touch my guitar … It’s all a blast, but I really love playing at All Souls because people are deeply listening with open hearts and being visibly moved.”
Groten shows no signs of slowing down. After releasing Shine, a 2025 duet album with his oldest son, Oliver Reckord-Groten, the musician has a new release with Kodis coming out under the name Wandering Roots. Scheduled for release at the end of this year, the record continues to blend the artist’s different musical lives: It mixes his multigenre singer-songwriter approach with strains of new-age healing music.
Ultimately, whatever form the music takes, Groten uses it to spark “emotional states,” he said. “Whether that’s onstage with a ton of musicians, or vibrating tuning forks to clear my head, or in a library full of kids, the mission remains the same.”
Talk It Out: A Toddler’s Take on G’Raph
To help review a few of G’Raph’s most beloved kids’ songs, Seven Days brought in an expert: food writer Jordan Barry’s 3-year-old son, Ollie, who is a big fan. Here, Ollie and music editor Chris Farnsworth take a listen.
“Monster Truck”
CF: I like how G’Raph brings in actual kids to sing along on this one. And the way he does a sort of Muppet voice when he sings. Kind of a combination of Raffi and Tom Waits, you know what I mean?
Ollie: [Wearing monster truck shorts, playing with a monster truck.] Which monster truck song is this monster truck song?
CF: Hmm. I think it’s the only monster truck song—
Ollie: Monster trucks don’t say “roar.”
CF: Well, be that as it may, Ollie, the song clearly says, “The monster truck goes ‘roar.’” Are you insinuating there’s a deeper meaning or that G’Raph is being contrarian?
Ollie: [Thinks for a moment.] This monster truck says ROAR!
CF: Oh, wait, so you’re saying it does say “roar”?
Ollie: He’s a DUCK! [Squeals with glee.]
CF: Wait, the truck is a duck? Lyrically, where are you getting that? I see that the truck is “stuck in the muck” and “out of luck”…
Ollie: He’s a duck.
“I Can Eat a Rainbow”
CF: This is one of those tunes that works on multiple levels. It encourages kids to eat their veggies and fruits, but there’s this underlying theme of multiculturalism, I think. Or am I reading too much into that? Maybe it’s just asking if we can eat a rainbow. Can you eat a rainbow, Ollie?
Ollie: [Tapping his fingers on his water bottle.] No. I can eat a rainbow cookie. I have crumbs on me!
“The Minor ABC’s”
Ollie: Who sings this?
CF: It’s still G’Raph, Ollie.
Ollie: From music class yesterday?
CF: Your mom said that was in December, but yes, that’s him.
Ollie: I like G’Raph! [Proceeds to sing an incomprehensible combination of letters and numbers as fast as he can.]
CF: OK, that’s a good critical take. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Ollie: There’s a G’Raph “Don’t Pick Your Nose” song! [Immediately picks his nose.]
CF: You know, I honestly think we’re on the same page here. Good record. [Picks his nose.]
The original print version of this article was headlined “Not Just Child’s Play: From kids’ music to sonic healing, songwriter Raphael Groten does it all”
This article appears in July 15 • 2026.
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