The Original Land Lord!
/Mike Vercelli is someone that I've known about for a few years. Having studied gyil for years, Mike is extremely knowledgable. He has worked with both Dorwana and Bernard, and has great things to say when it comes to both Dagara and Birifor music. In addition to his work with Ghanaian music, he teaches many different styles of world music at West Viriginia University.
During 2011 and 2012 Mike was able to bring Dorwana to the United States to tour, teach and record a two volume album of Birifor funeral music. Through this project Mike was able to travel to Ghana in October to attend the Kobine festival, the first of three gyil festivals in the Upper West. Before arriving at Kobine, Mike and myself traveled to a small village called Donyɛ.
While I will go in depth on our travels over the next fews day, I will end this post by saying how great it was traveling with Mike to the north, and having him at the DMC at the start of my trip. We were able to discuss different ideas around gyil and Ghanaian music. Mike had great stories from when he lived in Ghana for 6 months, gaining the title Land Lord. Overall he was a great guide for the start of my trip in Ghana.