Dede Alder is a High Priestess, drummer, singer, percussionist, and teacher. She plays and sings and brings the medicine to the people. A reminder to live this life to it's fullest. I value all the people that want to look closely at our lives and our future and change it. To propel us forward with our hearts and minds. It is a strange time to be alive, maybe every ancestor who has lived through any historical changes feels this same way. Maybe change just feels hard and strange and uncomfortable. I don't know, but one thing I'm clear on is that it is the role and job of the artist to give voice to it all. We, out of any occupation, are allowed, in fact encouraged, to look at it, question it, and explore it. What is the it? It's the disfunction, the imbalance, the ugliness, the shadow, and the beauty. It is our job to dive deeply into these subjects and give witness, and ultimately, if we do our job right, come back with the silver lining of hope. Come back with the spark that lights the fire in other's souls. That spark that reminds us of the things we used to know and our values as children. The things that disarm us. At least, this is why I make music. Dede Alder came into this world in the form of a female human and grew up in Traverse City, MI where the need to play music filled up the never ending winter season. An Earthwork’s Artist, she is passionate about her connection with nature and all living things. She is skilled on various percussion instruments but mainly features her Marimba or Vibraphone playing, songwriting, and singing. Her Whirled Music style swirls so many elements together Folk, Reggae, Soul, Jazz and more. Dede has been playing drums and percussion since 1998, and studied band and hand drumming before that. In 1998, she started a drum circle facilitation business called Rhythmic Adventures. She went on to study with Layne Redmond, Judy Piazza, Glen Velez, Gwendolyn Burgett Thrasher (MSU Percussion Instructor), Allesandra Belloni, and Raquy Danzinger and at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Dede is a professional singer, songwriter, and marimba player where she leads a band, Dede and the Dreamers, and plays and records in a freelance setting. Dede has traveled to Ireland, Italy, Istanbul, and Hawaii. Dede teaches sacred drumming, arabic percussion, and songwriting workshops internationally and locally. She is also an active online teacher with both American and Canadian students.