David Michael

David Michael and Randy Mead met in 1973 and began a musical relationship that has spanned 30 years and a wide variety of creative explorations. David and Randy each received BAs from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where they met and formed a five-piece ensemble which performed David's songs and compositions and experimented with free-form improvisation. David played primarily guitars while Randy played flutes and recorders In 1975 the duo moved to Seattle and founded the world music consort WIND. Sponsored by the King County Arts Commission, WIND performed concerts and led workshops in free form improvisation. During this period, David studied Flamenco guitar and classical cello, and Randy pursued classical flute training while inventing and constructing new musical instruments such as tubephones and metalaphones and a hybrid stringed instrument called a zithharp (which David Michael has performed on and recorded) WIND also collaborated with several dance troupes and was featured on numerous radio and television programs. In 1980 Randy Mead moved to the San Francisco Bay area and soon joined the world fusion ensemble ANCIENT FUTURE with whom he performed for the next few years and recorded the album QUIET FIRE (Narada Records). His composition HILLSIDE VIEW was chosen by Narada for a sampler record and was included again on their DECADE release. In 1983 David joined Randy in California and gravitated to a full-size nylon-strung Celtic harp, now his primary instrument. In 1986 Nippon Phonogram released their first duo album PETALS IN THE STREAM in Japan, and it was later released by Fortuna Records for worldwide distribution. In 1989 David founded the independent label PURNIMA which has released his early solo albums, as well as a world fusion recording EDGE OF THE SKY, featuring Randy, past and present members of Ancient Future and others. In 1991 they released their second duo album SPIRIT RISING. During the '90's the duo relocated in Washington State. Randy built a recording studio in the remote mountains of Eastern Washington while David settled in Port Townsend. They have toured the western United States and have also spent many summers performing music in major cities all over Europe, refining their compositions, technique and communication skills. The duo's third album KEYSTONE PASSAGE has been a big seller in Europe, as well as domestically. It highlights their rapport and pristine harp/flute signature sound. Their fourth CD COURTSHIP OF THE MOON adds a lively, romantic ensemble sound with percussion and exotic instruments from around the world. Their fifth CD MOUNTAIN IN THE SKY takes a turn toward a meditative sound and free form improvisation. David Michael has recently added viola-da-gamba to his list of stringed instruments he regularly performs on, while Randy Mead has been composing for piano. The addition of these instruments can be heard on their latest MAGIC CARPET CD. In addition, Randy is skilled on saxophone and virtually any wind instrument, while David can handle almost anything with strings. (guitars, zithers, psalteries, bouzouki, etc.) In addition to being musicians, David and Randy are both published authors with MAs in Arts and Media Technology from Antioch University West. They also now specialize in custom underscoring for various media, (like creating soundtracks for films) drawing on an international stable of master ethnic musicians with whom they have collaborated through the decades. The duo has been interviewed and featured on PRI's 'Echoes' program and their music has been used on radio, cable and network television and videos internationally.