I must admit that my previous two posts were a tad heavy-going. Time to unwind with a little music! Nothing too serious, something wistful and dreamy. Here is the soothing instrumental sounds of the award-winning duo, Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel with a piece they call Spring Maiden (performed by Tingstad on the acoustic guitar with the accompaniment of Rumbel on the ocarina).

Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and travelled together for over 30 years. Since they began collaborating in 1985, they have produced 19 albums. Their debut album was titled, The Gift. In 1998, their album, American Acoustic was honored as “Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year”. In 2000, they performed at Carnegie Hall. Three years later, their album “Acoustic Garden” received the Best New Age Album award at the 45^th Grammy Awards. Eric grew up in Seattle and attended Western Washington University where he was trained in the Segovian classic guitar tradition. Nancy grew up in San Antonio and continued her musical education at Northwestern University where she was introduced to ethnomusicology which led to her joining the Paul Winter Consort, a “new age” group that mixes elements of classical, jazz, world music and the sounds of nature.