DAVID’S MAIN MUSICAL BANDS, ENSEMBLES & PROJECTS:
Embodying Rhythm Collective
With their multi-instrumental and multicultural sound, the Embodying Rhythm Collective takes listeners on a heartfelt journey, delivering fun sonic soundscapes, while utilizing different rhythms, grooves, textures, styles of music and different instruments including percussion, brass, woodwinds and strings. Members Arlyn Alderdice, David Alderdice, Daniel Be, Jeannette Carey, & Tony Peters with special guest Sami Akert.
NFV Community & Parade Band
David Alderdice and Jeannette Carey co-founded and direct the multi award-winning NFV Community & Parade Band. David plays melodica and drumset for their sit-down performances and, plays snare drum or tupan (a Turkish/Balkan styled Eastern European bass drum) and apito (tri-tone samba whistle) for their parade appearances. David arranges much of the music for the group. Rehearsals are Monday nights at the Hotchkiss High School band room and there are currently around 40 revolving members. Formerly known as the ‘Funky-Gorilla-Second-Line-Squeaky-Chair-Samba-Parade-Band’ which hosted the first three annual Mountain Harvest Festival Participatory Parades, 
The NFV Community & Parade Band has taken parading on the Western Slope up a few notches with their funky grooves and multi-person parade puppets. They won the Grand Champion Award as well as 1st place in the music category at the 2016 Pioneer Days Parade and they won the overall 1st Place Award in the Paonia Cherry Days Parade in 2017, along with other awards at various regional parades throughout the past few years. If you’d like to join them in parade, or bring them to liven up a parade near you, or if you have any funky parade related questions, contact David.
Music as Medicine
David loves the union of movement and sound and brings his musicality and sensibilities to the Movement as Medicine live music gatherings the first Sunday of the month. These ensembles explore improvisatory themes and create a rich soundscape for the dancers to turn inward and explore their inner landscapes.
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Embodying Rhythm Marimba Ensemble
David is co-founder, co-director, composer, arranger, and musician in the Embodying Rhythm Marimba Ensemble, who plays fun, groovy, multi-dimensional, poly-phonic and poly-rhythmic music. The ensemble consists of Arlyn Alderdice, David Alderdice, Daniel Be, Jeannette Carey, Matt D, Rebecca D, Dylan Fixmer, and Jen Sanborn. Their sound consists of percussion, marimbas, woodwinds, brass, vocals, and found sounds. They released their debut full-length album, ‘Music for Everyday Life’, featuring 10 of David’s original compositions, 2 traditional tunes from Africa, and 1 original by Matt Drbohlav on 15 December 2018.
Check out ‘Music for Everyday Life’ on Spotify here and add it to your play list.
Hear the entire album on youtube here.
You can purchase the album on CD or digital download at CDBaby here.
We look forward to sharing the fun inspiring sounds of these instruments and this music with you. Check out our Embodying Rhythm Marimba page for more information on the ensemble, the album and the marimbas themselves, as well as marimba lessons, workshops, performances, classes, residencies, and how to get involved and learn to play the marimbas.
Embodying Rhythm Quartet
Formed out of the Embodying Rhythm Music Outreach Ensemble, which is our small group educational outreach project, the Embodying Rhythm Quartet plays diverse music from around the world, including musical selections from eastern and western Europe, southern Africa, and the Americas. The musicians include Arlyn Alderdice on clarinet, marimba, mbira, & percussion; David Alderdice on melodica, tupan, frame drum, marimba, & percussion; Daniel Be on cajon, marimba, electric bass, & percussion; and Dylan Fixmer on mandolin, trumpet, Irish flute, guitar, & vocals. All the members of the quartet are part of the larger 8-person Embodying Rhythm Marimba Ensemble.
World Music in Paradise
David Alderdice is the Founder, Producer, and Artistic Director of The World Music in Paradise Concert Series, Educational Workshop, and In-School Music Outreach Program. Concerts are hosted by the Paradise Theatre of Paonia. Visit the Embodying Rhythm World Music Page for information. Here is a link to David sitting in with master frame drummer and teacher, Glen Velez, during his concert on the series in September 2019.
David Alderdice & Friends
David Alderdice and Friends is a fun musical performance project that David puts together with a bunch of his favorite musicians for occasional concerts to try out some of his new musical ideas, original arrangements, of some of his favorite tunes from around the world. He really enjoys trying new and not commonly heard sound combinations and fun timbre pairings with the instrumentation. Most recently, David Alderdice and Friends manifested as David on percussion, Zachary Reeves on cello, Dr. Benjamin De Kock on upright bass, and Dylan Fixmer on mandolin, trumpet, and acoustic guitar, playing music from around the world (a lot of gypsy jazz) as well as playing live music to the silent Charlie Chaplin film, ‘It’s a Dog’s Life’. Before that David Alderdice and Friends manifested as the Musical Caravan Ensemble with Javier de los Santos on classical guitar, Stephanie Mientka on viola, Jeannette Carey on sousaphone, flute and solkattu, Dave Noe on Trombone, Arlyn Alderdice on marimba, guiro, and solkattu and David on Drumset, Framedrums, tupan, melodica, dumbek, marimba, vibraphone, gong, solkattu, bongos, desk-bells, handpan, bull-roarer and other fun sound f/x toys, caxixi and other shakers, cowbells, and castanets. 
David is also joined frequently by Dr. Marcin Ardent on violin and Dr. Kimberly Patterson on cello, and occasionally by April Johanesson on bass clarinet, Joseph Mentoni on piano, Tony Peters on Trombone, Mitch Montelegre on double bass, and/or other special guest musicians. They play a variety of music from around the world that’s fun to listen and/or dance to.
Celtic Band FEAST
David is one of the founding members of the classical Celtic world fusion group FEAST. Starting as a quartet in 2005 featuring violin, cello, electric piano and drumset, the FEAST ensemble now usually consists of violins, violas, cello, bass, electric piano, pedal harp, drums, and auxiliary percussion as well as Irish dancers. Sometimes a brass section, some singers, and/or other types of dancers are added to the show. 
Based in Colorado, FEAST has done multiple tours throughout the Western and Midwestern United States as a 14 piece crew consisting of violin, viola, cello, bass, keys, drums, percussion, 2 Irish dancers, lighting guy, sound guy, tech guy, road manager and bus driver. FEAST was featured for a TV special on Rocky Mountain PBS and has toured Europe as both a quartet and a quintet. Check out David’s drumming on FEAST’s CD or DVD “Celtica Symphonia” recorded live at the Vilar Center in 2008. www.musicbyfeast.com
Grizzly Pears Jazz Band
The greasy New Orleans flavored sounds of the North Fork’s own Grizzly Pears Jazz Band features Lazer Kid-Kotowich on trombone and vocals, Jon Hickam on accordion, guitar, and vocals, Jeannette Carey on sousaphone, and David Alderdice on drums, cymbals, bells, and blocks. 
Their repertoire consists of a bunch of dirty old New Orleans blues tunes and some Appalachian hollers, with some modern tunes through into the mix. They are sometimes joined by special guests, Lizzy Plotkin on violin and Dylan Fixmer on trumpet. Check out David’s drumming and some of Jon’s original songs on the Grizzly Pears 2016 release, “Apertif”.
OTHER MUSICAL PROJECTS
David, along with Bridget Law (of Elephant Revival) and Charles Parker Mertens (of Thievery Corporation) fill out the touring band for the lush, soothing, healing, and heart-felt rockin’ sounds of Mr. Kurt Baumann and Ms. Katie Gray in the Orcas Island based band, the Sea Stars. www.seastarsmusic.com. Check out David’s drumming on their albums – “The Unknown” 2013 and “Zodiac” 2012.
David plays drums, percussion, and melodica in the Sticky Mulligan & David Alderdice Duo as well as playing drums and percussion for the soulful grooves and beautiful harmonies in the Sticky Mulligan Band. Check out David and Sticky do an impromptu improv water bottle jam.
David plays occasionally with Cooper and the Three Tinkers. Musicians include: Greg Cooperman on keys, accordion, and vocals; Daniel Be on electric bass; Tony Peters on guitar and trombone; and David Alderdice on drumset and percussion.
David sits in and plays regularly with other amazing, fun, and talented artists when they are traveling in the Rocky Mountain region, including the award-winning soulful Americana stylings of the Portland based duo Pretty Gritty www.pretty
grittymusic.com, the Near Eastern inspired 4-octave soprano voice of multi-instrumentalist Beth Quist (of Bobby McFarrin’s Voicestra) www.bethquist.com, the neo-tribal jam band from Boulder, TIERRO www.tierroband.com, and the souled-out, reggae-infused, flamenco-tinged, bluesy folk-rock sounds of Philadelphia-native Orion Freeman. www.orionfreeman.com.
Story Telling, Theme Concerts, and artistic collaborations –
David enjoys creating live sound effects, percussives, grooves and soundscapes for multi-media presentations led by the adventurer, story-teller, and author Craig Childs www.houseofrain.com. David and Craig have been working together on a yearly winter solstice themed multi-media presentation entitled Dark Night, every winter since 2008. In 2018 they started annually teaching a summer weekend Rhythm and Writing Workshop in Norwood together.
David also presents percussively themed based concerts collaborating with other percussionists including Jon Seligman (professor at Mc Daniel Collage, Towson University) www.globalpercussiontrio.com, Aaron Jerad (permaculturalist, didgeridoo player and percussionist), aaronjerad.com, as well as members from the Colorado, Grand Junction, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. David enjoys working with dancer and choreographer, Alya Howe, who is also the director of Alya Howe Performing Arts Umbrella.
Check out the video pages on this website to see David in action with these groups.
Dance and Movement
David loves the union of movement and sound and has enjoyed accompanying, collaborating, and performing with many dancers including Belly Dance troupes, Modern Dance departments and performance groups, African Dance classes and performance groups, Irish Step teams, western Tap Dancers, Flamenco Dancers, poi and staff Fire Dancers, Ballet companies, Dances of Universal Peace gatherings, Five-Rhythms workshops, as well as Ecstatic Dance, Embodiment Dance, and Avant-Garde movement events. Recently David has enjoyed working with dancer and choreographer, Alya Howe, who is also the director of Alya Howe Performing Arts Umbrella based in Carbondale, CO.
Celebrate the Beat
David is a musician and musical director for the Celebrate the Beat dance program which is a non-profit organization bringing special dance classes (with live musicians in each class) 
to get 1st through 8th graders in the public schools of Colorado, New York, and Mexico movin’ their bodies. Celebrate the Beat (CTB) is sponsored by the National Dance Institute. David is the musical director for the Delta County CTB residencies and plays drums for the CTB residencies in Crested Butte and fills in some for the year long CTB program in Eagle County. www.ctbeat.org.
In the Pit
David has played with different theatre companies and has played drums and percussion in pit bands and orchestras off and on since 1996. His performances include, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, West Side Story, Godspell, Pirates of Penzance, Crazy for You, You’re a good man, Charlie Brown, Seussical the Musical, and many others.
In the Studio
David has been a session drummer on dozens of albums ranging throughout many different styles and genres. He has recorded throughout North America and has been first call drummer for recording studios in the D.C., Maryland, Virgina area as well as throughout Colorado. For David’s discography click here.
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