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APPALACHIAN TRANCE PROJECT |
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where barn dance meets trance |
Biographies of our constituent elements
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Dave Rankine |
| plays the other things with strings (Mountain Dulcimer, Dulcilette, Santoor, Cigar Box Guitar). He also sings and has been known to provide "light" percussion. |
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Dave Rankine used to play the Highland Bagpipes but upon seeing that Dulcimer players did not have to wear wool in the summer and could sit as they played, he decided to get a Mountain Dulcimer of his own. No more wool (unless he chooses so) fewer instrument parts to tune and a whole lot of fun ensued. A subtle control of the agents of musical chaos led to a unique playing style. Although hair, picks and fingers fly when Dave plays, no one have ever been injured - at least not in the audience. Classic and progressive Rock, bagpipe music, Eastern belly dance grooves and Mountain trad. all add to his musical melange. Don't worry folks, Dave does not dance ! (but stranger things have happened)
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| Tom Warney |
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plays many things with strings such as Banjo, Guitar, Dobro etc. He dances and he sings too! |
| Tom Warney
has been playing banjo for 50 years, and he really should be better at it.
The first group he played with was The Original 1905 Counterinsurgency
Surrealistic Nihilistic Society and Jug Band for the Preservation of Soul,
in the 60s, of course. Also the Joe Indian Lake Singers and the Arkenstone
Travelers. Ever heard of them? I didn't think so. Tom admires all banjo
players for what they must suffer. He particularly approves of Ray
Fairchild, Danny Barnes (of The Bad Livers), Bela Fleck (aka 'God'), and
local Toronto players Chris Quinn and Jayme Stone. Tom has a mortal fear of
ethnomusicologists and spoon players. He will pick up other instruments if
forced to.
Pop Johnston is Tom's great-uncle ...really! |
| Janis McCallen |
| Sings and plays harmonium, autoharp, guitar and mountain dulcimer. |
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Janis has been singing since the day she was born, steadily. She once sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" for a carpenter at her home for several days running. She was four. Later, Don Messer intervened, and she was launched onto a journey that has taken her through Canadian, Folk, Celtic, and Southern music (learned from Ginny Hawker and at southern music camps), and on into sound healing and chanting. She has composed and sung music for labyrinth walks and book launches, and has performed old-time music at Artword Theatre and the Flying Cloud Folk Club. Her extraordinary voice aims straight at your heart.
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| Fernando Villalobos |
| Master of percussion
(and puppets)
Big Djembe Big Sound! Folk music? Fern(ando) never listens to it! He just plays it! We saw him playing a mile a minute in one of his Metal bands. We could hear three days later. We thought: " hey, now THERE is a guy who can play folk music!"
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| Jason Pfeiffer |
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plays all manner of woodwinds (Flute, Recorders) and also plays Mountain Dulcimer |
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Jason plays a mean flute and although he lives on the other side of the mountain in a different county even, we still like him. Some of us have heard him sing and having heard Dave sing, we want Jason to sing more! Jason. Tom, Dave and Fernando all have facial hair! Is it a trend? |