Tingstad & Rumbel

Narada recording artists Tingstad & Rumbel have built careers as performer/composers delivering contemporary folk across North America from the mid-'80s onward. Classical guitarist Eric Tingstad and multi-instrumentalist Nancy Rumbel, whose arsenal includes oboe, English horn, and ocarina, first connected at a Pacific Northwest music festival. Their mutual desire to transplant classical technique into non-traditional contexts led them to weave ethnic, jazz, rock, and additional modern strands into their playing. The resulting neo-classical instrumentals, softened by folk warmth, earned the label "Northwestern Impressionism" and drew the interest of new age imprint Narada, which issued the holiday-themed The Gift in 1985. Persistent touring through smaller U.S. and Canadian communities cultivated a loyal following and broadened their reach to varied listeners. Solo projects appeared as well—Tingstad's Renewal in 1992 and A Sense of Place in 1995, alongside Rumbel's Notes From the Tree of Life—yet their joint efforts produced the strongest results, with 1997's Pastorale and 1998's American Acoustic each entering at number one on new age voice radio.