A mellow fellow still

southbound train, Donovan's voice is just as gentle millions of transistor radios.
On his way to Washington, D.C.

, last month, he was just his fourth decade of making music.
"It's taken two years," he says in that able to pare it down to acoustic guitar, like the very early days, to make it very personal. I've been diving into the acoustic sounds.

"
crowd-pleasing tunes as "Catch the Wind," "Colours," "Atlantis" and "Mellow Yellow." The Scottish troubadour and poet who sang with the Beatles, had a string of hits during the trippy to Bob Dylan, has also been busy with other projects: a Groove," the paperback release of "The Yes, that David Lynch, the di rector of edgy films such as "Blue Velvet" and "Eraserhead." In fact, the two will appear Friday in a free concert in New students in the United States and around the world.

"
life for most of his 60 years. He traveled with the clearly influenced by the holy man's teachings.
audible voice -- at his recent D.

C. appear ance, he performed to a room of fans, old and new, who listened 40-odd years ago, the boy born Donovan Leitch in Glasgow was an immediate hit with his contemporaries.
were attracted to me .

.. and the young men, too, though not in a sexual way," he recalls.

recent shows. "It's true to say that those in my age group, and those slightly older, are coming to the shows, those kids from the '60s, but they're also bringing their children and grandchildren. The other night, a 7-year-old came up to me for my autograph.

"
Of such longevity and currency, he says: "I'm many people. Well, it is the poet's job to present to music and arts."
with a Celtic feeling, dramatic and extraordinary," he says.

He also enjoys the dreamy music of Irish singer Damien Rice and Devendra Banhart, sounds he terms "new nouveau folk," as well as the traditional fado songs of Portugal.
An avid reader, Donovan says he is apt to pick up whatever might be popular at the time, "The Da Vinci Code" perhaps, but lately he's been exploring his own library, re turning to classics such as Joseph Campbell's writing on mythology.
that early discovery," he says.

From that discovery to this day, TM has guided his All kinds of meditation are good, says Donovan, but TM is the most profound. "It's as if you were a deep-sea diver with lead boots on. .

.. You dive immediately and deeper than ever.

"I've tried all kinds of meditation -- Tibetan, Buddhist, open-eye meditation, breathing ...

but the allowed me to dive even deeper."
treatments, a revived interest in meditation and the Maha rishi, New Age ideas and approaches -- to media exposure.
"It's been going on for some time," he says.

"With media expo sure, we're able to command more attention," he says of his work with "The world is moving toward the light, we're it's needed. It's become one extraordi nary power. We're standing up and we're attracting He evokes a troubadour of a much earlier time, one In the 13th century, St.

Francis of Assisi source of joy and love.
"He was a poet and a singer, and he reintroduced contrast to the Gregorian chants, which were rather presented to the youth of the modern day, just as St. Francis appealed to the youth of his generation.

"My own music, presented with TM alongside, can help bring us back to our own true selves, naturally and effortlessly, with the teachings of the Maharishi."
p.m.

the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New Donovan will perform some of his greatest hits, such as Witch," while Lynch will speak and answer questions about his new book, "Catching the Big Fish" (Tarcher/Penguin), and his new film, "Inland Empire." Seating is limited.