Geoff Oelsner was born in KC, MO in 1949. Early musical influences include a piano-playin' Grandma and his parent's' record collection, especially some great Harry Belafonte calypso tunes which the young artist (age about 6) vividly recalls performing at a party in his underpants. Never such complete self-exposure since, although he strives for emotional nakedness when singing, to be sure.

Geoff collided with formative musical influences around 1962, when he found the first pressing of the first Bob Dylan LP. He's followed that Zimmerman thread ever since. Other musical thrills and spills came a bit later upon encountering the recorded works of Ravi Shankar, John Fahey, Jefferson Airplane, Doc Watson, Bessie Jones and other black gospel singers, the harmonica playing of Sonny Terry, and--particularly-- the ultrasoulful vocals and politically potent messages of the great Buffy Saint Marie.

Geoff began writing both songs and poems in 1963, and has continued to now. Some of his songs initially come to him in dreams, including lyrics and even specific instrumentations from time to time. His first CD, Morning Branches (2004) featured original songs and 2 poems. All proceeds from it go to a center for homeless people in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where Geoff has lived with his wife and musical partner Leslie Berman Oelsner since 1979.

Late in 2009, Geoff released his 2nd CD, Ordinary Mystery, featuring 4 songs relating to Native American and Canadian indigenous tribal peoples. Proceeds from sales of this 2nd CD and from Geoff's performances all go to five Native American non-profits, descriptions of which can be viewed at his website, ww.geoffoelsner.com. This site also offers a view of some of Geoff's poems and his wife's eloquent photography.

Geoff performs on guitar, harmonica, harmonium, the shruti box (a drone instrument from India), autoharp, and dulcimer.

Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.