Purnima Productions is an independent music label and distributor operating out of Port Townsend, Washington. Founded in 1989, it is operated by owner David Michael, a harpist and multi-instrumentalist as well as composer and producer.
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DAVID MICHAEL
and RANDY MEAD
BIOGRAPHY

Harpist David Michael has been playing stringed instruments most of his life. He studied cello and piano as a child, gravitated to guitar as a teenager and went on to become a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, taking up bouzouki, psalteries, zithers and other harp-like instruments before eventually realizing he'd been "trying to make a guitar sound like a harp" for years. In 1983 he discovered his forte, the Celtic harp and has recently added viola-da-gamba to his repertoire of unusual instruments he performs on.

David Michael and Randy Mead met in 1973 and began a musical relationship that has spanned a quarter century 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 compositions and experimented with free-form improvisation.

  • 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 while David studied Flamenco guitar and classical cello, and Randy pursued classical flute training. WIND 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 solo albums NEW ZEALAND and SIERRA SUITE, 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 spent many summers performing music in major cities all over Europe, refining their compositions, technique and communication skills.

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 MAGIC CARPET CD.

In addition to being musicians, David and Randy are both published authors with MAs in Arts and Media Technology from Antioch University West. They have recently established a new company, Acoustic Dogma Inc. which specializes in custom underscoring for various media and features an international stable of master ethnic musicians.

The duo has been featured on PRI's 'Echoes' program and their music has been used on radio, cable and network television and videos internationally.