IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Lydia Salnikova

What work are you most proud of? 

"As a constantly searching and developing artist, I think I’m yet to create music I’m most proud of. At this time, though, that would have to be one track I did on Bering Strait’s (the band I used to be in) second album Pages, called Safe In My Lover’s Arms. I wrote the song and got to sing it against a symphony orchestra (and not much else). An interesting story on how the song was written – in Sanford, Florida where Bering Strait once performed, I was warming up before the show in the green room. I heard a droning sound that wouldn’t go away – it was the sound of air-conditioning. I started humming, then harmonizing with it, and before I knew it a melody started shaping up and this song was born. I’m hoping to go in the studio next week and work on another version of that song, different from the Pages cut – simpler and more intimate."
- Lydia Salnikova www.lydiasalnikova.com
 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Nancy Rumbel

What's the most unusual instrument you've used?
"The double wooden ocarina because you play and hear two notes at once. I first saw this amazing little instrument at a craft fair in New York in the late 70s. Some years later, Alan, the original instrument maker, stopped making them and moved to France. I prayed that mine would not break, get lost or stolen. In the meantime, I met some people in Alaska who Alan eventually decided were the right ones to pass on his instrument-making knowledge to, so now I have a wonderful source for ocarinas (www.doubleocarina.com). Often people don't know what an ocarina is, but more young adults and children know about them because of the video game, Zelda the Ocarina of Time. Eric [Tingstad] and I are getting ready to tour Korea where apparently thousands of ocarina players have created clubs. It will be fun to introduce the double wooden ocarina to them!"
- Nancy Rumbel
www.tingstadrumbel.com/

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Animal Collective

How do you maintain your creativity?
"By living a life and not just staying inside and petting our cats."
- Brian Weitz ('Geologist')

www.paw-tracks.com/

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'In The Spotlight'

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Bjorn Lynne

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Jody Marshall

What drew you to the dulcimer?

"I was enchanted by the sound and the way it looked when it was being played, like little wooden shoes dancing all over the strings."
- Jody Marshall

www.jodymarshall.net

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