Spiritfest II -- the experiment continues

Hey Folks,

Spiritfest II was our second attempt at activating the manifesto that Art feeds mind, body and soul -- and that being our creative selves allows us to build community and overcome social obstacles that would overwhelm us in isolation.

Starting from the idea that nobody can be creative when their basic subsistence needs are not met, we once again joined forces with the great people at the York Region Food Network. The message is: creativity is the ultimate renewable resource, and together we can make sure nobody gets left behind or left without adequate food, shelter and right to human dignity. So yes, we had a giant party to celebrate art, music, performance, healing practices and whatever creative acts our participants wanted to bring -- but we tried hard to focus on raising awareness and funds to help people who experience hunger and food security issues in our community.

In York Region, Canada, which is our home base, the median income hovers around $90K per year; at the same time, we have been hard hit by layoffs and whole sectors of industry closing shop. Food banks are seeing a 30% increase in user rates -- and donations have dropped as people who once gave to charity are finding they need it themselves. It is a well-known fact that the average Canadian lives only two paycheques away from homelessness -- yet people feel shame and isolation and are stigmatized when they reach out for help. With York Region rents being very high and rental housing very scarce, many people find themselves paying over 50% of their income on rent -- making food sort of a luxury item. We wanted to use our event to highlight those facts, and be a platform to build a community for a day, focussed on sharing our gifts.


We were very happy that the York Region Food Network's Executive Director, Joan Stonehocker, spoke to us about the campaign to "Do The Math" -- looking at the numbers that low-income people and social assistance recipients have to juggle in order to survive. For more information about this campaign, please visit http://dothemath.thestop.org/

The York Region Food Network shows great creativity in their advocacy work: looking at the systemic causes of food insecurity on one level, and finding grassroots-level options to bring healthy fresh food to people who are relying on food banks. They help operate food banks; they offer school backpacks full of school supplies to families whose last dollar is not enough for their food bills; they offer community gardens to people who want to grow their own food in urban areas, and who send their extra produce to the food bank. They provide opportunity spaces for people to use human ingenuity to solve problems locally. That is why we love to support their work and spread the word about their organization.

More about Spiritfest coming soon!

Dulcimerhead T-shirts are here!

Dulcimerhead T-shirts arrived today -- and they look fabulous!



These black T-shirts feature the design work of David Rankine, and cost CDN $25.00 each. Sizes: Large and Extra-large. Wear them to support the band at concerts! OR just hang them on your chair and trip on the dizzying "surface shimmer" at work in them.

Available at Dulcimerhead gigs (concert details), by calling (705) 435-9695 or by email at godwind@bmts.com.

Dulcimerhead workshop -- "Sound Shamans" -- at Words Alive Festival, September 20, 2009

Dulcimerhead is back at Sharon Temple!
They are offering an "Open Space Spoken Word Creativity Workshop" at 2pm in the Sharon Temperance Hall, as part of the wonderful Words Alive Literary Festival. This festival is entering its third year, continuing the dream of founder Vali Stone to create a space where you can hear established writers, poets, and storytellers share their art and knowledge in performance and workshop. If you want to learn how to pitch a story idea, find a literary agent, or write non-fiction, this is the place! There is a very full schedule designed to engage anyone who is interested in "putting themselves out there" -- including an all-day Open Mike under the Maple Tree. Admission is only $5.00 per person. The Festival and Temple are located at the corner of Leslie Street and Mount Albert Sideroad in Sharon, Ontario.

Dulcimerhead's workshop showcases the rhythmic talents of Fernando Villalobos and the dulcimer melodies of Dave Rankine -- but unleashes their new secret weapon in the form of powerhouse poet and vocalist Daniela Godina. The combination of sound shapes and spoken word will recharge and open up your creative mojo! Her recent Sonic Journey performance in Nobleton gave her audience an absolutely indescribable experience of sound as vehicle for consciousness.

The Sharon Temple is a wonderful venue for the Words Alive Festival, and worth a trip in its own right. It is a jewel of history and spirituality -- the entire design of the building -- every window, every door -- is an expression of the values of the Children of Peace, an originally Quaker sect lead by a charismatic mystic named David Willson. They practised ideals of social justice, equality, unity and democracy long before those terms were part of Canadians' daily life. In the Illumination Ceremony, every window has a candle lit: a truly awesome sight.



When Dulcimerhead played the 2008 Illumination Ceremony, they created original music just for the occasion, and recorded a CD called "Sacred Sound: the Illumination of the Sharon Temple 2008" which is still available in the Temple's gift shop.



The Sharon Temple is an important landmark in the local history of the area -- and thanks to Words Alive, also a site for cultural community! Now you have TWO excellent reasons to be there this Sunday.

Going to Indie Week Indie Week Indie Week !!!

Dulcimerhead is thrilled to be taking the stage on October 8, 2009, around 9:15pm at the Free Times Cafe to take part in Round One of the Indie Week 2009 Showcase!!!



Dulcimerhead is putting the call out to all their fans to spread the word far and wide -- Free Times Cafe is a great venue, it's a reasonable time slot and Dave, Fernando and Daniela are ready to show their stuff to the industry and the Toronto scene.

Street teams will be mobilized -- so if you want to pick up the coolest band swag you ever saw (these ARE professional artists, you recall) and be part of a triumphant evening of awesome music, be sure to email dulcimerhead@gmail.com -- and git on board. This is a tangible and concrete way to Assist The Breakthrough that we all know is going to happen...

Details about Indie Week can be found at indieweek.com and we'll be passing them on via Twitter twitter.com/dulcimerhead and Myspace www.myspace.com/dulcimerhead1 and heck, probably Facebook too, why not?

Can barely wait. All these fantastic bands playing Toronto the same week. This is THE festival for up-and-coming indie outfits to try to convince industry judges that they are The Next Big Thing. Bound to be high-energy, envelope-pushing music. For those lucky enough to witness Dulcimerhead's latest gig in Newmarket July 29, there is no doubt that this is a band ready to play large, loud, INTENSE gigs.

Video unfortunately failed to capture the surprise hits of the evening -- one after another, old favourites reworked into concentrated burst of energy and melody -- outrageous drum solo by Fernando -- ringing dulcimer riffs by Dave -- and the evocative lyrics and voice of Daniela -- one particular song called "Try So Hard" is a solid hit, and all the more astounding because it comes from a band that hardly has had time to play together yet! So no wonder their gigs are totally fresh; their approach to the music is somehow relaxed and intense at the same time, with total communication onstage.

Spontaneous and totally seamless, this is a band of three awesome musicians who are creating alchemy and new magic every time they play.

Check out this fan video for one of their slower, more reflective songs, Invocation of the Norns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqy_cbur7HE

On October 8, you have the chance to see it happen. And on October 9th, you'll be able to say "I was there, the night when Dulcimerhead broke through!"

PS: Thanks to SonicBids, too -- all submissions went through them and certainly be proved to be worth the membership. :)

View Dulcimerhead's EPK

July 29! Catch the next underground Dulcimerhead gig with NEW lineup!

Newsflash: here is a chance to catch Dulcimerhead performing awesome new material, now with the addition of the vocals and lyrics of newest member, chant poet Daniela Godina.

Since their amazing collaboration on the Western Voyage, Eastern Shore CD (available now at www.davidrankineart.com), all three Dulcimerhead members are eager to play their experimental material onstage at Theatre on Main, Newmarket, on July 29, 2009. Tickets are $20 each, or $30 a pair if you want to bring a friend!

Audiences at the June 13 & 14 Windfall Ecology Festival in Newmarket were astounded to hear what sounded like a contemporary Jefferson Airplane take the stage with the triumphant anthem "Cup of Plenty." Since then, Godina has used her poetry to bring the right words to the haunting melodies and mystical rhythms of bandmates David Rankine and Fernando Villalobos.

Godina has also done solo gigs in the area and collaborated on creativity workshops with Rankine and Villalobos. She is consciously aware of her use of music, sound, word and voice as healing modality and intuitive process. Her drum circles are legendary events for community music and myth-making.

Her words about working with Dulcimerhead:

"Thoughts on songwriting …performance…Dulcimerhead

The wise sleep with open eyes-
enhancing the creative void…

Songwriting began with an insomnia driven quest at times
connecting with other imaginative surrealistic souls here…
to maintain a flow of the psychic juices
or just staring at the wall till something happened-
and heard the words that struck an internal cord

The words resonate on an abstract soul level
then thankfully get traced back to automatic writing

A process which saves me"


This band is constantly extending itself creatively and taking its listeners through a portal, into a space where they can access authentic meaning. Don't take my word for it though. Visit this gig July 29th and experience it for yourself!


View Dulcimerhead's EPK

Ushering in the Summer Solstice -- Music, Dance, Dulcimerhead!

Join Dulcimerhead and a group of dedicated Viking cultural re-enactors as they co-create music, dance and ritual to celebrate the coming of the Summer Solstice!

Festival coordinator Nesrin Meral is hosting the Vinland Viking Market and Summer Solstice Celebration event and decided Dulcimerhead music would add a new dimension to the ceremonies. In ancient European pagan cultures, this was the most important day of the calendar.

Dulcimerhead -- David Rankine, Fernando Villalobos and Daniela Godina -- were inspired to launch a musical project that would capture the spirit of Viking exploration, their strong connection to the spirit world, and the importance of HOME to these seafaring adventurers. You can hear more of this haunting and melodic music at www.myspace.com/dulcimerhead1

The June 2009 CD entitled "Eastern Voyage, Western Shore" is meant to evoke a sense memory of Viking emigration and settlement in North America. Click below to view the first live performance of their anthem "Cup of Plenty" -- a song about the triumph of creativity in adversity, and the celebration of homecoming. (Performed at Windfall Ecology Festival, Newmarket, 2009!)



You can take part in the festivities this weekend! June 20th, come visit the Vinland Viking Market, see artisans at work and their authentic handicrafts, battles, food, entertainment -- then stay the evening for the magic of the Solstice Celebration! Dulcimerhead brings exciting new music to accompany traditional Belarusian dance in celebrating the longest night of the year.



For more details about the event -- which takes place in Wainfleet, Ontario on private land -- please visit www.vinlandvikingmarketandsummersolsticecelebration.com/


See you at the Viking Village!

See Dulcimerhead at the Windfall Ecology Festival, Newmarket!

OK, Folks!

Dulcimerhead's latest incarnation opens Windfall Ecology Festival in Newmarket at 10am, June 13 & 14, 2009 on the Solar Powered World Music Stage. They have an exciting new CD full of triumphantly rocking anthems, totally in sync with the forward-looking positive energy of this fantastic festival. David Rankine, Fernando Villalobos and new bandmate Daniela Godina will be rocking out with their "Western Voyage, Eastern Shore" material.

YOUR task is to take a blanket and a picnic and prepare to bask in the grooviness of the Windfall Ecology Festival, in Newmarket's Fairy Lake Park. It is a well-organized, eclectic gathering of musicians, exciting presentations, all-natural and organic treats, geese (they come with the park), and everything you might want to know about technology available to reduce your carbon footprint and live more sustainably.

There's just too much to tell you about, so get complete details of the events in store for you, at: http://www.windfallcentre.ca/index.php?st=2&s=Home&p=Homepage
Want to try the hot new "instant-networking-for-the-environment" initiative -- Green Drinks?? Mike Nickerson -- activist, educator and author of "Life, Money and Illusion: living on earth as if we want to stay" -- will be hosting one Saturday Night. For a sneak preview of his fascinating work, check out http://www.flora.org/sustain/book_open.html


To hear Dulcimerhead's new powerhouse track "Cup of Plenty" -- which contains my new personal mantra and a powerful antidote to our current Recession Panic -- you could visit Dulcimerhead's press kit on Sonicbids.


View Dulcimerhead's EPK

Imagine starting every day by looking in the mirror and saying "If you can make something out of nothing, you're already there!" A gathering like Windfall is the same kind of encouragement. It's good to get out there and see each other, doing our best to make the world a better place. And Daniela Godina's powerful voice and lyrics are the best Feng Shui for your brain. :)

So, we'll see you out there! And be sure to get some henna from Dave Rankine, while you're there!!!