Niki Nana

Downtown Denver was crowded last night as not only did we have a concert to perform, but at the same time the Denver Broncos were playing a snowy football game right next door. Toss in a few icy streets just to make it interesting, and you can imagine the traffic jam after the show.

For the regular readers here who are serious Yanni fans the latest news in how the show is growing and changing is this:

Niki Nana is back!

Based on the dancing and clapping we saw last night, I don't think it will be leaving again any time soon.

David Hudson is probably going to choke me for telling the following story but here goes. After last night's show, we walked out to find it was still snowing and quickly got on the bus. A few of us that were early got tired of waiting and left the bus to go outside and play. David, being an aboriginal Australian, isn't used to snow and said he wanted a picture of himself lying in the white stuff so I grabbed my camera.

David found a snowbank and fell backwards into the powder. By the time I had the camera ready to get a proper exposure he was getting very cold and a little impatient, but you can't rush these things and I instructed him to just chill out, so to speak. "Make a snow angel," I told him. He gave me one of those wrinkled brow looks that let me know he had no idea what I was talking about, and it occurred to me that since he's not used to snow, he'd never made, or even seen a snow angel. "Just move your arms and legs back and forth," I said. So he did, but since he didn't know what I was talking about he began moving them up and down like he was clapping rather than in the way that I, and the other onlookers expected, which as you all know is a sort of horizontal jumping jack. We had a good laugh at his expense and I'm glad he's a good sport. He finally figured it out and I got the pic which you can see by clicking the Photographs link.

This afternoon we take a long bus ride down hill to Colorado Springs for tonight's concert.
¶ 1:38 PM 0 comments

Winter Wonderland

Wet snow began blanketing Salt Lake City just as we headed to the arena last night. The weather didn't stop 4 thousand or so fans from turning out for the show and making us feel warm and welcome. Thanks. Immediately following the show we rushed to the loading dock to discover a parking lot covered with ice and snow. Musicians carrying violins and cellos took baby steps toward the awaiting shuttle bus which carried us to the airport.

More ice. The steps leading into the tail of the plane were treacherous enough that even I held on tight and moved slowly. It was comforting to reach the upper steps which were dry and feel the warmth of the plane. After we settled in and prepared for take off we were told to just sit tight for 20 minutes or so while the plane was de-iced. Out of the darkness came trucks with cranes and sprayers to wash away the snow and ice from our Rausch Air charter. There was more than a little tension and it didn't help when one of the flight attendants told us they're just not used to flying in this weather since they normally carry Nascar teams. You could hear a collective sigh of relief and even a little applause 30 minutes later when we cleared the clouds. The flight was a little bumpy and we landed 45 minutes later on a snow covered runway in Denver. The bottom few stairs heading out of the plane were completely ice covered now and several people narrowly missed sliding off the last tread.

Around 2 AM we checked into the hotel to de-stress. We, that is the musicians and production crew, can't complain when we think about what the road crew was up against. They didn't get to leave until three hours later and had to travel the 500 or so miles in the tour busses over snow covered highways, then set the show up again to be ready for tonight's performance in Denver. I know a few of you guys in the crew read this journal so let me publicly say thanks for all you do to make it happen night after night. You are amazing.

David Hudson and I were treated to lunch by Russel and Ann Whithers in the lodo (lower downtown) area of Denver. Rus is working with indig.com (http://www.indig.com) to increase the marketing presence of indigenous music in the United States. If even half of the ideas they discussed today come to fruition it will be great news for David.



¶ 1:46 PM 0 comments

Salt Lake Pictures

Our flight to Salt Lake City was pleasant and uneventful. When we fly private charter it is always on a Rausch Racing Team jet, which I think is a 727.

We arrived in Salt Lake to relatively warm weather so a group of us walked to a nearby mall for lunch. I later split off from the group to get some serious walking in and take pictures. There was a storm front moving in which would eventually bring snow, so the sky was rather dramatic. I captured an eye catching shot of the Joesph Smith Hall in Mormon Square. You can see it, along with other photos, by cliking the Photographs link.

This morning David and I were treated to breaky, as they say down under, by Marko Johnson and Don Fulton. Don is a didge player and Marko is a player, maker and teacher. The box you see in David's hand in the picture is a folded-tube didge that Marko designed. David played it and I was surprised at the full sound. Check it out at Marko's sight:

http://www.rounddoor.com

We have a show tonight in Salt Lake and then board the Rausch Jet afterwards to travel to Denver. ¶ 1:26 PM 0 comments

More pics and a movie

I just posted more pictures to the Photographs link as well as a short movie that shows the deep meditation some of us enter prior to taking the stage for a Yanni show.

Tonight's show will be the last in Canada for this leg of the tour. Tomorrow we fly to Salt Lake City and Angie flies back to Chattanooga. I'll miss her as it will probably be our last time together until this leg of the tour ends December 13.
¶ 3:54 PM 0 comments

Photos From Banff

I finally have an internet connection again. It is Thanksgiving morning and Angie and I are in Edmonton, Canada. We're about to grab a bite to eat with Hussain Jiffry and David Hudson.

I posted pictures from our day trip to Banff a moment ago - use the Photographs link to the upper left. I have more pictures ready and a short video of a hackysack session from the dressing room. I'll post those items later this afternoon.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! - Dan
¶ 1:44 PM 0 comments

Headed to Canada

We're on the bus again headed toward the Canadian border where I'm quite sure we'll have a lengthy wait due to the many ethnicities represented in our gang. Tonight's show in Seattle was a high point of the tour for me as Ray and Sue Mooers, along with Scott Mercado all from Dusty Strings were in the audience. I spent the day with Ray and Sue talking shop and touring their new instrument building facility which is amazing.

I'm afraid we're going to drive out of Sprint coverage area soon so I'll keep this note short and try and get some pictures posted before the signal disappears. If I don't get them done in time they'll have to wait until we get back from Canada. We'll be flying back into the United States on Thanksgiving. Have a happy holiday and I'll update this page as soon as I'm able. ¶ 2:58 AM 0 comments

Hacky Sack

I’m on the bus now at around 12:30 AM pacific time somewhere between Portland, and Seattle where we’ll arrive around 3 AM. I’m looking forward to having breakfast with my friends Ray and Sue Mooers later this morning. They are the owners of Dusty Strings, the company which builds the D600 I play as my main instrument. They’ll be my guests at the show at Key Arena Sunday night.

Our Portland show went well with an appreciative yet somewhat subdued audience.

I feel I’m adjusting to the sleep-deprived routine of being on the road rather quickly this time. I’ve learned that if I hop in the bunk as soon as I get on the bus and do a little email or write in my journal, I fall asleep more easily than if I hang out and talk in either one of the lounges. It is fun to just goof off with the guys but I regret it when I’m exhausted the next day and unable to get much useful work done.

I have one new routine that I’ve established this tour that seems to be working out nicely. Immediately after I finish eating in catering I head to the stage where I usually have 20 to 30 minutes to practice without anyone around before the doors to the venue are opened. This new found practice time has been dedicated to working on Christmas music for the past few days as I get ready for gigs I’ll play while home in December.

After I finish practicing I hunt down Zach and Pedro and we've established a habit of playing hacky sack for 20 minutes or so which gets our blood pumping and seems to put us in a better frame of mind to take the stage. We’ve been joined by a half-dozen or so others who jump in and try their foot from time to time.

A Hacky Sack is just a lemon sized bean bag that you try to keep in the air by using mainly your feet, but sometimes your head, knees, shoulders, etc. - anything but your hands. In our version of the game the only rules are never serve yourself, which simply means if you pick up the sack, toss it to someone else’s foot rather than your own, and never say your sorry if you miss or kick the sack out of play. You know you missed it, everyone else knows you missed it so what’s the point. Just start playing again. I wish there were more games like this where there are no points and no winners or losers. We’re all on the same team and rooting for each other. It sounds much like what a band is all about.
¶ 3:18 AM 0 comments

Fall in Spokane

I feel like a million bucks this afternoon after spending the morning foot cruising along Spokane's Riverwalk in a new pair of hiking shoes. I bought the shoes last night after walking to a nearby mall in 40 degree weather in my sandles. Even two pairs of socks couldn't hold back the cold.

Today's hike started out in the 30's with a misty rain, but by mid-morning the sun had kicked at the clouds long enough to break through and illuminate some brilliant fall colors. I posted a few pictures you can see by clicking the Photographs link.

Tonight we'll play the first of four shows in a row here, followed by Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver BC. After the Vancouver show we have a 600 mile overnight bus ride to Calgary. We arrive in Calgary on the 23rd which happens to be my 20th wedding anniversary. Angie is going to meet me there and weather permitting we plan to head up to Banff for a quick getaway celebration. ¶ 5:18 PM 0 comments

Flying High

I just posted a bunch of pictures I took today on our charter jet flight from Bakersfield to Spokane. There are a lot of things I grumble about when it comes to life on the road. Flying a luxurious private charter isn't one of them. ¶ 1:55 AM 0 comments

Fresno

It's a beautiful day here in Fresno where we had a lazy day off yesterday. As I write this note a cool breeze is blowing through my hotel window. We have a show here tonight and will then travel to Bakersfield.

I spent the better part of yesterday practicing and doing a little work on my linear chromatic hammer dulcimer. I've temporarily removed all the markings from the two main bridges in an attempt to grasp intervalic relationships by feel and sound, rather than by sight. It's not as complicated as it sounds. So far the results have been positive. I improvised for a couple of hours and played some licks I never would have if I had been choosing notes I new to be 'correct' based on the markings. It is sort of like coloring outside of the lines, or on a blank sheet of paper.

Zachary Carrettin and I spent a little time yesterday and again today going over potential music for an exciting gig we’ll be doing along with Hussain Jiffry and the Chattanooga Symphony next May. More on that later . . . Right now I’m going to have a spot of tea with David before we head to the arena here in Fresno.

(I posted a few new pictures today. These are more pics that I took in Reno on the 14th. Use the Photographs link.) ¶ 5:20 PM 0 comments

A Few New Pictures

Click on the Photographs link and then on Hershey the poodle's head. ¶ 9:56 PM 0 comments

Calling all hammer dulcimer players . . .

. . . probably wouldn’t take that long.

As I travel the country on the Yanni tour I’m surprised that I haven’t met, or at least received email from more hammer dulcimer players. This may be because there just aren’t that many players out there. But I have to think that on any given concert night, with a crowd of six thousand people or so, there should be at least a couple hammer dulcimer players in the audience.

I know if I went to see a concert and a hammer dulcimer player appeared on the stage you’d have a hard time keeping me from shouting “DULCIMERS ROCK” or some such foolish thing.

I wonder sometimes if the hammer dulcimer playing community is suffering from some sort of identity crisis. The instrument has been tagged a ‘folk,’ as opposed to a ‘serious,’ instrument in the United States which doesn’t really make sense when you look at it historically. It is older than the guitar, violin, and piano put together. In other parts of the world, China or Hungary for instance, players of instruments closely resembling hammer dulcimers are often considered master musicians in their respective cultures. It would be a mistake to let western popular culture tag this instrument as an anachronism.

So, having hopped briefly on, and now back off, the soap box I’m simply asking fellow players to identify yourselves! Drop me an email, sign the guest book, talk about yourselves and any local clubs in which your involved. If you don’t have a local club then organize one.

There are probably more hammer dulcimer players out there that you think . . .. ¶ 6:10 PM 1 comments

Is all this really necessary?

It is amazing how much stuff most of us choose to bring on the road. In addition to the necessary hammer dulcimer, clothing and toiletries, I travel with the following:

Cell phone
Lap top computer
Lap top computer riser
Ipod
Two Bose speakers
Palm Pilot
Large Digitech GNX4 Multi-effects pedal
CDR’s
DVDR’s
Microphone
Microphone stand
Music Stand
Hot dog stand (kidding)
A bunch of hammers (musical, not construction)
A bag of extra instrument Pickups
Two extra hammer dulcimers
Two versions of experimental lighted hammers (as if I have time on the road to finish this project!)
Several books
Camera
Tripod
Publicity photos to hand out after concerts
Multiple boxes of all 4 of my CDs (anyone interested?)
Two pairs of Bifocals
Sunglasses
Laundry Detergent
A stack of CD mailing envelopes
Goggles and snorkel (I mean, doesn’t everyone need goggles and snorkel?)
An assortment of tools
A pretty darned impressive assortment of power supplies and cables (he says as he can’t find the one he needs)
And a Ukulele (what was I thinking?)

It sounds like a lot of stuff, but I keep telling my self the exercise I get by just hauling it all around is worth it. The truth is, I have fewer bags to carry than most. My buddy Hussain even carries a cappuccino maker. He makes a mean cup by the way so we don’t tease him. About the only thing hotel room coffee is good for is taking the smell out of Birkenstocks – try it some time, it really works and your feet smell like coffee all day.

Some of the smallest females on the tour travel with the greatest number suitcases, a few of which are heavier than their owners. I think there’s some sort of exponential law at work here and I don’t even want to think about what they may be hauling around.

Last nights show went well and afterwards, David, Zach and I walked from the HP Pavilion back to our hotel. Our tour book said we were going to be traveling overnight to Sacramento but they kept us here in San Jose instead which was restful, but messed up appointments David and I had scheduled with people for Saturday morning in Sacramento. We both spent a portion of this morning apologizing for standing up our friends. (Sorry Georgia)

We're driving from San Jose to Sacramento this afternoon and going directly to Arco Arena. After the show we’ll be driving to Reno – at least that’s what the book says ;-). It’s only 138 miles so I won’t even pretend to try and get any sleep. We usually have a pretty good time on the 2 to three hour bus trips so I’m looking forward to the drive. We should get to to the hotel around 3am and be able to sleep in Sunday morning.
¶ 4:51 PM 0 comments

Sleeping Not

Something I didn’t expect when I started doing these tours with Yanni is how little time I would actually spend playing my hammer dulcimer. You’d think that as a touring musician the opposite would be true. But in reality the traveling, and then recovering from the traveling takes up most of our time.

Even when we have a day off like we did yesterday it is quite often preceded by an overnight bus ride. I still haven’t gotten sleeping on a bus down yet and I’m envious when I walk through the sleeping quarters and hear people snoring. I’ve always been a very light sleeper, startled by the tiniest distractions and the long ride to Anaheim Tuesday night was full of them.

Just as I was dozing off one of my bus mates who will remain nameless decided to head back to the front of the bus and hang out with the stay-up-all-night folks for a while. This person unfortunately left their cell phone in the bunk. It took about ten unanswered phone calls before I slipped my street clothes back on and made my way to the front to let them know. Now this may not sound like a big deal but have you ever tried getting dressed in coffin sized quarters?

The offending party apologized profusely and took care of the problem as the bus continued its thump and bump journey over America’s potholes. For even the most restless person exhaustion eventually takes over and you fall asleep. However sleep was short lived for me that night as another of my bus mates, who was so anxious to get back home that he set the alarm on his palm pilot for 5:20am to sure he was ready for our predicted 6am arrival. Unfortunately he awoke around 5am and headed to the front of the bus to ride shotgun with the driver. He of course forgot to take the Palm Pilot along with him. I guess I let it go through its cycle of ringing and sleeping about five times before I got out of bed to stand in the isle and figure out where the sound was coming from. The hardest part was standing there listening to everyone else snore while I waited for the alarm. We all had a good laugh about it later.

Yesterday’s off helped me catch up on my sleep so I decided to get in a little practicing just for fun this afternoon. It was wonderful and I spent most of my learning learn “Girl from Ipanema” on my linear chromatic hammer dulcimer. I also remembered that I packed a small ukulele (as opposed to a big ukulele) to play around with. It was given to me before I left and I don’t know much about it. I’m going to take it with me on the bus this afternoon and see if we can get some singing going again. Hopefully someone knows more than I do about how to play it. ¶ 8:16 PM 0 comments

From the 12th Floor

It’s time for an explanation as to why I haven’t written about this tour as much as I have during past legs. In going through past journal entries I’m noticing a habit of writing that assumes most regular visitors to this web site are Yanni Fans who know just about everything there is to know about the tour. Even the previous sentence assumes you know what ‘tour’ I’m talking about. This is not my intention.

While I hope Yanni fans always find this site entertaining and read regularly, I’ve been unconsciously allowing a sort of “Yanni fan” filter to constrain me creatively, which has taken some of the fun out of writing. I’m glad I figured it out because what I want this journal to be is simply a place where I log my experiences and what, if anything, I’ve learned from them. I believe honest writing, and honest people for that matter, are the most interesting.

Ok, enough that. It is November 9th and I’m sitting in my room on the 12th floor of a Hotel in Anaheim California with a view of Disneyland off to the left and Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral to the right. Tonight we’ll perform the fourth show in a 26 show (24 cities) tour that is sticking to the western side of North America from as far south as Mexico City to as far north as Edmonton Canada.

The first show of the tour was recorded for a live DVD/CD at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas November 6. That project will probably not be released until sometime next year.

Rehearsals for this tour began one month prior to the opening date at a television studio in West Palm Beach Florida. It was there that we found out one of Yanni’s most popular band members, Karen Briggs, would not be touring with us this time. She’s pursuing her solo career and everyone hopes she has great success. We will of course miss the incredible energy she brought to the stage so consistently. And I have to confess that when I look up from my hammer dulcimer during certain songs I still expect to see Karen in a bright red dress digging into a solo. At management’s request I wasn’t able to write about the fact that Karen wasn’t there or even respond to email so I apologize to those of you who knew what was going on and wrote me with questions. I also wasn’t able to write about our newest member, Sayaka Katsui, or about changes to the new show.

The solos that Karen used to play have been divided up among Samvel Yervinian, Armen Movsessian and Sayaka. It is obvious that they’ve all put in hundreds of hours to learn the new parts and it sounds great.

Sayaka, who is from Japan, speaks very little English, but does speak a little Spanish and is able to communicate with quite a few band members. She is yet another Apple computer user and it has been fun trying to help her out with a few technical issues when everything on the screen of her iBook is in Japanese. She call’s me Mickey, as in Mickey Mouse, because of the large headphones I wore during rehearsals.

One day while riding to rehearsal with Hussain and me in my car, we were able to understand enough of her broken English to gather that she’d never driven a car. We pulled onto a private drive near the studio and put her behind the wheel. We made sure she understood ‘stop’ and ‘go’ and their associated pedals, tightened our seat-belts and let her drive. It was a little tense as she learned the feel of the brakes, but her smile alone was worth the stress as I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a larger grin when we began to roll. As we hit about 30 miles an hour and Hussain, in a very friendly Sri-Lanken accent, said “maybe you should slow down”, she laughed and said “I having fun.” It was a great moment.

Sayaka is a tremendous player and brings a whole new kind of energy to the band. I’m sure you’re in for a treat if you haven’t seen her play yet. One of these days I’ll tell the story about how she came to be a member.

The show is easier for me this year as I’m sitting down to play. I’ve definitely learned that I play with more control and ease if I play sitting. I think from now on I’ll always carry a stool to my gigs, even though it means one more thing to haul.

Angie, my wife, was able to join me for a week in Florida and almost a full week in Las Vegas. I won’t get to see her again until we get to Calgary on the 23rd where I get a day off from the tour and we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! Woo Hoo! It seems like we just met yesterday.

Angie did not get to see the opening show in Vegas as her flight left to early. But just about an hour after she flew out that Saturday morning my friends Bob and Kathleen McMurray joined me to hang out until the show. Bob is one of the members of our band ‘Hammer On!’ They came to the fan buffet with me Saturday afternoon and Bob even signed a few autographs on the new CD.

The opening show and recording went well and I just wish the DVD would come out more quickly. It’s just that there’s no way it can be edited while we’re on the road and with the exception of a short break in December, we’re touring steadily through the end of February.

We have since played Pheonix, where my friend Dennis Schreiner was able to attend the show, and Tucson.

A quick note that will probably only interest dulcimer players: I, (and unfortunately Yanni) noticed some funky dissonance in one of my solos in Phoenix. A review of the tape found that I wasn’t accidentally hitting wrong notes with the hammers so I had to figure out what it was. It dawned on me that I am scooting my chair in closer for the previous song which is in the key of F and is played high on my D600. I wasn’t remembering to scoot it back before the next song and my position wasn’t correct for playing at the bottom of the instrument where most of the solo occurs. It turns out that my knuckles were lightly scraping some of the notes on the ‘super-bass’ bridge, just enough to make them sing a little bit out of tune. I remembered to check this before the Tucson show and it was perfect, which is of course what is demanded for each and every show. The lesson for me is to be conscious of my body position while playing and anticipate what the song demands.

Tonight we play at the Anaheim ‘Pond’, home of the mighty Ducks. ¶ 2:06 PM 0 comments

Getting Ready for the DVD

It's hyper-focus time as this weekend's live show recording approaches. Yesterday we ran through all the songs and the music is definitely ready which is a good thing as there's still a lot of work to be done in many other areas.

The crew is still hanging lights and lasers. I'm not supposed to talk about the staging yet as they want it to be a surprise. All I can say is that it is quite dramatic and I can't wait to see how this will look on video.

If I'm not mistaken there are 20 cameras shooting from just about every angle imaginable. There's even a 'fly' camera which can zoom across the entire arena in just a few seconds.

Today's rehearsal is a 'full tech' rehearsal which means every technical aspect of lights, cameras, staging and sound is supposed to be running. It will be our first time to see it all come together. Let's hope it goes smoothly.

Angie and I had a pleasant dinner with Hussain and his wife Marida last night.

Walter Rodriquez is beaming after the birth of his first child a couple of days ago. Both baby Christopher and new mommy Hosanna are doing fine.

I posted a few more pictures on the Photographs page.
¶ 11:53 AM 0 comments