Celtic Bard
My mission is simple: to serve as a Celtic Bard to the modern world, and thereby to restore some of the mythic awareness of life that has become lost by our modern age. The tools I bring to this work are the Celtic harp, my voice, and my store of songs, poems, and stories drawn from ancient myths and folktales. While I like to entertain, my real purpose is to inspire.
In studying mythology, I have come to find that ancient peoples viewed life in a manner very different from that of our modern societies in that they viewed their lives as taking place within a continuing myth. They were keenly aware of the mythic quality of their own lives.
I came to feel that to do so is the natural state for a human mind, and that our modern world is not good at supplying that very basic human need.
So I do what I can. I play the harp, tell the stories, recite the poems and sing the songs. But the harp, the stories, poems and songs: they're just the tools - they're not the job. The job is to bring that mythic awareness, that sense of belonging, to the people who need it.
Because all myths at heart are about who we really are and how we really feel about this great, unfathomable, magnificent, mysterious thing that is life…I have no problem working with the mythologies and folktales of anywhere and anywhen, though I seem to have specialized in the music, myths and folktales of the Celtic nations. They feel good to me.
The harp is very much a part of this work, too. The sound of harp music carries healing directly to people’s innermost consciousness, which is why the harp has been considered a sacred instrument for a very, very long time.
I was born in California, where I lived largely by my wits. At various times I’ve been a Shakespearean actor, and taught actors how to speak Shakespeare. I’ve been an explosives technician for the movies - fortunately nothing blew up that wasn't supposed to. I’ve traveled as a street harper, supported by the donations strangers dropped into the magic hat.
I’m still a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, and I’ve appeared in a couple of movies and done some radio commercials. I’ve provided character voices for computer games. I’ve done stand-up comedy. I’ve been recognized as an Actor Combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors. I’ve studied the sword arts of Europe and Japan. I’ve competed in many full-contact sword tournaments and instructed quite a few students in the use of the sword.
Having been trained in music as a child, I returned to it in 1984 when I was inspired by a story that could only be told with voice and harp. So I got a harp, and did very little else for several years until I could play it. I first performed Torna's Harp in 1987. It's a classic Journey of the Hero story, heavily influenced by the archetypal mythological works of Joseph Campbell and others.
I’ve given bardic performances as part of a lecture series on Celtic mysticism at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles and as a guest at the Western Gateway medicine gathering in Santa Monica. I’ve played storytelling festivals, weddings and once I played harp and delivered the eulogy at a wake for a friend. I’ve also played various Renaissance fairs around the country – something I still like to do pretty much every chance I get.
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