I play with lots of people. Currently the six other members of our acoustic fusion group, MANITOU, are receiving the majority of my playing time and attention. What a joy these people bring to me! Our first project was in the Garden of the Gods this past August, reflecting the Earth's energy, creating soundscapes with world, tribal, and trance influences. Check it out either on the band's website at MANITOUMUSIC.com or on MySpace.com/MANITOUMANITOU. Other active links to Robert Force sites are in the blog window to the above right.
Influences
Early on it was Richard Farina and Paul Clayton. Both had left the planet before I got a chance to meet them. It was the 60's. Music of all sorts was everywhere. If I had to choose a few I would have to say the Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Jefferson Airplane, the Mothers of Invention, the Holy Modal Rounders, Ry Cooder, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Tex Carmen, Wendy Waldman, and Joseph Spence. These were the people on vinyl. Personally and up close, it was Charlie Berg, Bill Tootell, Albert d'Ossche, Steve Brown, Guruvayur Dorai, John Griffin, and Don Berry. Of course, musical tones from other instruments were themselves influences, from bagpipes to shakuhachis, across many cultures-- world music before there was a genre for it. Also, complex rhythms, wherever I find them, have always been beguiling, effective teachers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The video below is with Joe Breskin, long-time friend and another music mentor. This MTV-style vid spoofs the spooks at the NSA. A longer version of the vid was a top prize winner in the 2006 National Fast Film Contest, 2880. Chris Martin is recording the audio, did most of the camera work, and editing. The entire project had to be done in 48 hours-- hence 2880 minutes. My words and music: "I'm on the Hard Drive now. I used suspect words and I was overheard..."
For 40 years now, the dulcimer has taken me around the world, fed my family, fed my soul, and helped me make friends for a lifetime. I've written books, made records-- yup, vinyl! --and cds. I've also produced a bunch of recordings for other folks, performed countless concerts, done the TV and radio show appearance thing, and traveled, traveled, traveled. Early on I hitchiked 300,000 miles throughout the US and Europe, following the musical muse. More about this sort of stuff is on my website at www.robertforce.com. You know-- awards, accolades, best of this and that-- things that a person collects in a lifetime when they're not watching too closely but someone else is.
