Jan Pulsford was one of the biggest surprises of all the people who informed the research for Pluck.
She is Welsh-born, but lives and works in England these days. I found her completely by accident in the very early days of research while scanning the internet to determine what it might reveal about David besides his obituaries.
First, I came across a blogpost she wrote the same day of his wake that almost startled me with its last line: She ended the post in part:
There were many tears. Lelia, who had been cooking for David in the hospice
said " I can't believe it's all over." I said "It'll never be over . . " and I do
believe that. His legacy will live on into the history books.
Who was this JaN PuLSFoRD with the jaunty, quirky signature below her blog post?
I decided to send her a note to ask if she would be willing to answer a few questions, still not knowing who she was and how important she would turn out to be in David's story. After writing to her, I found a few more Jan connections, including an online letter that she had written and posted to the Tennessee Arts Commission to recommend that David posthumously receive their Folklife Heritage Award. She answered my email right away, and, oh my....
Rather than explain in this post, I will leave you to visit her website to learn more and to read about her in Pluck. (Hint: Her credits include composer, producer, songwriter, keyboardist, performer and virtual artist; she's also a festival director and tech visionary who helped David understand the implications of this new thing called the "internet" while they worked together in Tennessee where Jan owned a recording studio at the time.) Among many contributions to the Schnaufer catalog, she also finished David's and Townes Van Zandt's "Waltz of the Waters" after Van Zandt passed away and while working on Delcimore.
Jan became much more than an informant over the last two years; she was a lifeline, encouraging when I needed it, supportive, helpful, incredibly generous, and a critically important idea-bouncer and reader. She opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about music, about writing, and even how to be a better person. She's the big sister or auntie whom everyone would love to call their own. David never stopped experimenting or pushing boundaries, especially when he worked with Jan.
Like David, Jan understood the almost sacred need to honor and preserve traditional mountain music, and they did in their CD, Delcimore. Yet, these two kindred spirits were fearless iconoclasts when it came to music. In Pluck, you'll find the lyrics to their song "Twanging Dude". But print alone is one thing; you can print lyrics, but, without listening to the music, you miss a lot. Thanks to Jan, you can listen to "Twanging Dude" in its entirety. Get ready to be blown away here with Jan's release of this fun mix.
Visit Jan's YouTube channel aMBieNT MuSiC WoRLD here to listen to her soothing "Floating in Silence" among other works.
For just a taste of Jan's unique creative approach, watch her original music video in which she pairs her music with vintage film clips; it's mesmerizing: aLoNe iN The aLoNe
For more information about Jan Pulsford or to purchase her music, visit janpulsford.com and connect with her on her Facebook page.
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