Joel Andrews

Joel Andrews, a spiritual harpist, was immersed in the world of music from his birth in 1928. Andrews' father was a musical entertainer who toured the world, exposing the young Andrews to many exotic cultures. When he was six, his parents divorced; his mother remarried an authoritarian man who, nevertheless, filled the house with classical music from his enormous record collection. Andrews sought emotional support from his maternal grandmother, who bought him a full-size concert harp when he was thirteen.

In the '30s and '40s, Andrews grew spiritually from visits to his uncle's commune in Pismo Beach, California. Here, he interacted with a number of influential artists, poets, dancers, and spiritual leaders, including Krishnamurti, Isadora Duncan, and Alan Watts. Andrews learned about astrology, psychic awareness, and spirituality, yet also felt drawn to the music of the swing era. While earning his bachelor's degree in theory and composition at the University of Santa Barbara, Andrews formed both a jazz group and an experimental group "dedicated to healing through free improvisation." His classical harp education progressed through master classes with famed harpist Carlos Salzedo.

At age 21, he enlisted (to avoid the draft) in the Air Force to play in the concert band and Air Force Symphony. While still in the service, at age 23, Andrews experienced a series of visions, "illumination, a touch of cosmic consciousness," and spent a whole month in a state of bliss. From that time on, he continually studied cosmic consciousness and other planes of existence.

After being discharged from the service, Andrews continued his harp education at the Cleveland Institute of Music and began a teaching career at the age of 27 as head of the harp department at the University of Texas. In 1960, he arrived in San Francisco, where he threw himself into the rich beatnik scene, the cultural riches of the city, and the spiritual offerings of the Monterey area. In 1966, he studied with music healer Kay Ortman. 1968 saw Andrews continue his classical concert harp career, which included a musician-in-residence stint at North Carolina State and a series of solo concerts. In 1972, he became harpist for the improvisational jazz group the Paul Winter Consort, but the following year, Andrews withdrew from the formal music world to be a metaphysical healer. He approaches his music healing through science (he has worked with noted researcher Marcel Vogel), symbolism, and working with higher sources.

Still playing his concert harp, Andrews has for many years specialized in improvising custom healing music; he has completed more than 2, 500 such therapeutic tapes. Many of his commercially available recordings are used for meditation, natural childbirth, massage, healing, and movement. A key early recording from 1976 is The Violet Flame, which is "co-created with the Master Saint Germaine." Andrews has his own label, Golden Harp, and lives in Mendocino, California, with his wife Serafina, an accomplished harpist, dancer, and channel for a group of angels. Andrews frequently tours Europe giving seminars, concerts, and attunement sessions.

In 1993, Andrews began recording for The Relaxation Company with Walking on Air; his 1996 Seven Wheels of Light uses the harp to attune the listener's energy chakras. In 1989, he wrote "A Harp Full of Stars: The Journey of a Music Healer," available from Golden Harp Press.