Janet Naylor grew up with Scottish and Irish music in her native New Zealand. Later she fell in love with the Celtic
harp. Now she performs and teaches throughout the Northwest at Celtic festivals, Medieval Fairs, and the like.
In the late Seventies Janet studied belly dance with Lana Kincaid and Barbara Sellers, which led to a passion for and
commitment to Middle Eastern music.
Janet began to study kanoon, the plucked zither instrument found in the Middle East from North Africa to Egypt, Turkey,
and beyond.
Janet has been Americanistan's kanoon player since 1998. She also plays tar and percussion and transcribes music for
the band. Several years ago Janet acquired a simsimiyya, or Egyptian lyre, which she also plays with the band (shown
photo above).
Visit Janet's Celtic website
here.
