Who is "Hammer On!"?
"Who would think that you could squeeze that much rich resonant [timbre] out of hammer dulcimers, cittern, and guitar? Its easy to see what happened when Dan and his seasoned musician friends found this new sound. They road tested it on all kinds of genres and created a CD that gets more interesting the more you hear it -- and that's the kind of wonderful magic anyone hopes for when they listen to something new." - Malcolm Childers
"Hammer On!" is Randy Clepper, Dan Landrum, Robert McMurray and Mark Wade. The band owes its roots to a jam session in a rabbit barn, a chance encounter in July, 2003, when all four members were attending a music festival in Evart, Michigan.
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Hammer On! Clockwise from top-left: Dan, Robert, Randy, Mark. |
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It was at the Original Dulcimer Player's Club (ODPC) FunFest in Evart, MI, that Dan Landrum, fresh off the 2003 "Ethnicity" tour with internationally known entertainer Yanni, met up with traditional multi-instrumentalist and old friend Randy Clepper. Here, the two were introduced to Mark Wade, 1998 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion, and his friend and musical sidekick, guitarist and hammered dulcimer player Robert McMurray, who were also performing there. The four decided that it would be fun to find a quiet corner somewhere and play a little music, just for kicks. This turned into a jam session that lasted for hours into the night, and grew a crowd of several hundred spectators. Portions of the impromptu performance were captured in a documentary of the festival on Michigan public television.
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| "Those listening that night kept asking us how long we'd played together and where they could buy this music", said Dan. "So we decided that it would be fun to try and get some of it on tape. The four of us spent time over the next year writing and arranging material together, and completed the project in the fall of 2004." The band discovered a real chemistry as they worked together, each bringing a bit of their own background into the project. "Mark is an amazing player and arranger with a classical and bluegrass background, Randy plays traditional Irish music on a variety of instruments, Robert has roots in both rock and classical guitar, and I was a drummer!" |
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Chattanooga Waterfront performance
with Project Bandaloop, Hussain
Jiffry, and Zachary Carretin. From Left: Hussain, Dan, Zach, Robert, Randy, Mark. |
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Chattanooga Waterfront Finale,
Chattanooga, Tennessee. |
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The result of this collaboration is the dulcimer "super-group", "Hammer On!", where these four top-notch musicians all play hammered dulcimer as well as a wide variety of other instruments. Their music defies categorization, taking the instrument into uncharted territory, pulling in as many directions all at once as the varied styles and backgrounds of the band's members. Their debut CD, Hammer On!, showcases their chemistry, with an exciting and eclectic collection of original material as well as some "twisted and turned" familiar pieces. |
You've just gotta hear this band!!!
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Randy Clepper
Bouzouki/Guitar/Hammered Dulcimer/Banjo
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Dan Landrum
Hammered Dulcimer/Percussion/Bass
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Mark Wade
Hammered Dulcimer/Guitar/Bass
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