Garrett Viggers
In 1996, Garrett Viggers picked up his first guitar and began singing. A few years later, he heard the hammered dulcimer being played by Rich Mullins and was in awe of the melodic and percussive dance. He purchased his first D25 hammered dulcimer from Dusty Strings in 1997. Now, Garrett plays the Dusty Strings D650, which includes a damper pedal system and pick-ups. Singing while playing the hammered dulcimer has been a unique musical expression that Garrett has been working at for the past 10 years. Garrett has sought to connect the ancient sounds of the hammered dulcimer within the modern world of music, including arrangements with eclectic bands. In 2006, Garrett was at Dan Landrum's Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival and heard the lap dulcimer being played by Butch Ross, stand-up style (like Garrett plays guitar). The sound waves created by the lap dulcimer quickly inspired Garrett to add this instrument to his collection. Garrett describes the lap dulcimer as "a western diatonic sitar sound." Currently, Garrett lives in Redding, California, and has been a worship leader at Risen King Community Church since 2000. Prior to Risen King, Garrett led worship at the YWAM Chico, California, base. He has one beautiful bride (Tara) and three children (Judah, Gabriel and Scarlett), with one cat (Snow Leopard), one parakeet (Capono), and two Leopard Geckos (Spike and Joe).