Innovative Players
Two fine hammer dulcimer players came to my attention through my friend Barbara Lopez, who suggested listening to people innovating with their musical art. Barbara runs her own business, as a jewelry and clothing designer and creator. A marketing pro, she suggested I add this blog and has shot most of my videos you see on this site.
The dulcimer players are Joshua Messick and Jamie Janover. They are both National Hammered Dulcimer Champions, Janover winning at Winfield, KS in 2002 and Messick in 2003.
Jamie Janover is recognized as a true innovator. His considerable creative output includes: being a master of the hammered dulcimer, inventing and performing on an instrument he calls the “mini-kit” (a miniature amplified drum kit), and playing pyrocussion (fire drums). He is based in Boulder, CO and Nevada City, CA.
Jamie’s main musical project is as part of a duo called Janover & reSunator with vocalist, lyricist and keyboard player Lezlie Sunshine, who sings in both English and Chinese. By combining recent innovations in modern technology with the wisdom of ancient instruments, Janover & reSunator achieve a balance between the electronic and the acoustic, to create a resonant unified field: music reflective of the nature of modern times.
For many years Janover has maintained a rigorous touring schedule with multiple acts including: PRAANG (w/ EOTO & Steve Kimock). Jamie is also a veteran of hundreds of collaborations and guest appearances, having performed on stage with artists including: Phish, Bela Fleck, The String Cheese Incident, G. Love & Special Sauce, Stanley Jordan, Umphrey’s McGee, Keller Williams, Beats Antique, Emancipator, Random Rab and many others.
In the past 2 years Janover & reSunator have performed at more than 50 festivals globally, in countries as diverse as New Zealand, Portugal, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Canada & in the USA from Maine to Hawaii. He combines music with other work while traveling as a professional photographer and sculptor using natural found objects.
Janover’s life-long interest in the true nature of reality and the universe brought him to become an official emissary for scientist Nassim Haramein of the Resonance Project, creating presentations on the physics of unified field theory.
Jamie lists influences including Keith Jarrett, Andy Goldsworthy, Ravi Shankar, Burningman, Michael Hedges, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Tipper, Grateful Dead, Zakir Hussain, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Phish, Bach, The Beatles, Nassim Haramein, Dave Watts, Michael Travis, Aaron Holstein, Jon Fishman, and The Muppets.
Jamie creates music from beyond traditional forms and is an excellent player who evokes the ancient world music sound of the dulcimer and channels it through technology and a wonderful contemporary vision. More great videos of Janover’s collaborative work can be seen at his Bandcamp site. Find Jamie on Facebook....
Joshua Messick is based in Asheville, NC and says “I’ve put my entire life into this music.” He first heard the hammer dulcimer for the first time at age 4. Joshua told his mom “I promise I will learn to play the dulcimer before I am thirty.” At nine, when he got hold of a pair of dulcimer hammers and coaxed sound from the strings for the first time, a music teacher asked how long he had been taking lessons. “I haven’t,” he said, still going at it.
Joshua is first and foremost a composer, crafting original compositions drawing from Celtic, classical, folk and world music styles. I love how Messick plays the instrument with a hammer in one hand and plucking the strings with the other.
“Joshua Messick is one of a handful of new, young virtuoso hammered dulcimer players emerging from around the country. He is a National Hammered Dulcimer Champion and continues to grow and mature as an exceptional talent. His skill on the instrument doesn’t begin and end with his technical proficiency. He has an amazing sense for composition and has written, and continues to write, beautiful passages that specifically highlight the unique qualities and strengths of the hammered dulcimer. Joshua is a player who understands the power of the space between the notes and has the ability to transform a solo piece into a symphonic experience.”
Jerry Read Smith, Black Mountain, NC
You can see and hear Joshua Messick in coming weeks at these locations:
MAY 13 Aiken Community Playhouse
Aiken, SC
MAY 28 Pickin’ Porch
Townsend, TN
JUN 17 Coshocton Dulcimer Days
Coshocton, OH
JULY 23 Perelandra Concerts
East Asheville, NC
JUL 29 Western Carolina University – Dulcimer U
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
Joshua on Facebook...
I am inspired by people who make their living as musicians, especially with traditional music, and/or especially with my instrument. Along with music I have made a career in public radio and this week will be visiting a great station I have loved since I saw it come into existence. Next week I’ll write about radio. Thanks for reading!
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