Byron Metcalf

A drummer who specializes in shamanic trance, Byron Metcalf is a musician, producer, and educator based in Arizona. A professional drummer since the age of 15, he played on hit albums including Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler before earning a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology. His dozens of new age recordings include collaborations with composer Steve Roach. After deciding to focus on the healing arts instead of session work in the late ’80s, Metcalf released the solo album Helpers, Guides & Allies: Navigating the Shamanic Landscape in 1998. An album with Roach called The Serpent's Lair followed in 2000. He then self-released his second solo LP, 2001′s Not Without Risk. Subsequent albums included 2003′s Wachuma's Wave and 2004′s Mantram, both with Roach and Mark Seelig, and 2005′s The Shaman's Heart. The latter featured Metcalf on drums as well as instruments like rattles, beads, udu, and seed pods. A Warning from the Elders followed in 2007, and another record with Roach and Seelig, 2008′s Nada Terma, marked his debut with Projekt Records. Induction: Breathe, Surrender, Repeat arrived in 2009. In the 2010s, Metcalf continued to record his meditative, drum-based music at a steady pace, issuing Dream Tracker with Roach and Dashmesh Khalsa in 2010. The Shaman’s Heart II: The Healing Journey and Earth Om: Sacred Resonance both followed in 2012. Earth Om featured credits such as gong, didgeridoo, om chanting, and nature recordings. Metcalf and Roach’s Tales from the Ultra Tribe started off 2013, which also saw the release of Medicine Work with Rob Thomas of Inlakesh, and the solo LP Holiday Shamanic Journeys. The Seelig collaboration Intention and his own A Healing the Earth Journey were issued the following year, and 2015 brought Monuments of Ecstasy (Metcalf/Roach/Thomas), The Strong & Powerful Heart Meditation (Metcalf), and, with Sandra Ingerman, The Spirit of Healing. His next album, 2016′s Earth Luminous, paired him with electronic musician Erik Wøllo. With guests on synthesizers, chants, and drones, Shamanic Trance Dance arrived later that same year, as did Inner Rhythm Meditations. A collaboration with vocalist Jennifer Grais titled They Were Here followed in early 2018. ~ Marcy Donelson