The TELESMA experience is an ecstatic trans-cultural phenomenon with a highly infectious and danceable beat. Exploding on the Baltimore music scene in 2004, it soon developed a loyal local fan base and then shook the underground festival scene from coast to coast. To date, the band has released four CDs and one DVD, featuring the first Baltimore Visionary Gathering with special guests Alex Grey and Allyson Grey. Included on the DVD is an interview with the band and Alex Grey.

TELESMA's live show blurs the line between performer and audience, attracting the most creative VJs, dancers, visual artists and body artists to its shows. Every Telesma show is a vortex of creativity; a celebration of body, mind and spirit.

The didgeridoo and manDrum too. Telesma’s vast arsenal of musical finery includes instruments as divergent as the didgeridoo, kubing (bamboo mouth harp from the Philippines), to electronic and tribal drums and the manDrum, one of the inventions of Telesma’s guitarist, as well as bass, keyboards, drum kit and the human voice.

Hard to describe. Dancing is mandatory. TELESMA's sound has been sometimes described as “psychedelic tribal modern world dance music, “ with diverse sounds ranging from intense polyrhythmic rock to the trance-like pulses of modern electronic dance/groove music.

“Dead Can Dance... with Teeth” TELESMA has been compared to Dead Can Dance, Pink Floyd, Tabla Beat Science, Amon Tobin, King Crimson, Ravi Shankar, Krishna Das, Afro-Celt Soundsystem, Bob Marley, Sun Ra Arkestra, Thievery Corporation, Tool, Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, and Peter Gabriel, to name a few.

TELESMA Offerings. Telesma introduced the first “Visionary Gathering” to Baltimore with the internationally recognized artist Alex Grey in 2008. Captured live in 5.1 Surround Sound, the band released the DVD of the event as well as the live CD, Hearing Visions: Live to great acclaim. More collaborative projects with Alex Grey at his Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) ensued, as well as performances with visionary artist Adam Scott Miller. Their first studio album, O(h)M, also received critical acclaim upon its release in 2007 on the independent label sTRANGELY cOMPELLING mUSIC. Telesma released its second studio album, Action In Inaction in 2012 and its third studio release, Decade Dance, in late 2014 at the band’s 10 year anniversary concert. In 2014, TELESMA released ”Chain,” the first of a trilogy of music videos created by Adam Scott Miller. TEESMA hass performed with artists such as Shpongle, Beats Antique, EOTO, Tipper, ArcheDream For HumanKind, Delhi2Dublin, Woodland, Bernie Worrell, See-I (featuring members of Thievery Corporation), Faun, Elliot Lip, Jim Donavan (Rusted Root), The Gypsy Nomads, HuDost and many other artists from around the world.

Coast to coast. Not to be missed, TELESMA has been in demand from coast to coast at such venues/festivals as Camp Bisco, Rootwire, Bethlehem Musikfest, Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, Artscape,  Starwood, FaerieWorlds, PEX Summerfest, Spoutwood Fairie Festival, EvolveFest, FaeireCon, Raw Spirit Gathering, Culturefest, Karmafest, Maryland Faerie Festival, Alex Grey’s Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), Free Spirit Gathering, Primal Arts Festival, the Baltimore PowWow, Phanphest, SoWeBo Festival, Nelsons Ledges Quarry Park, 98Rock’s Summer Concert Series, and many great venues including Sonar, 8×10 Club, Rock & Roll Hotel, Quixotes True Blue (CO), Ukiah Brewery (CA),  Recher Theatre, Metro Gallery, The Senator Theatre, Center Stage, The Creative Alliance at the Patterson, Public Assembly (NY), and The Whiskey to name a few.

We are TELESMA: Ian Hesford (didgeridoo, kubing, dumbek, percussion) and Jason Sage (keyboards, vocals, percussion, programmer), Joanne Juskus (vocals, percussion, karatalas), Chris Mandra (guitar, analog guitar synth, the manDrum, and vocals), Bryan Jones “Jonesy” (6 string MIDI & upright basses, theremin, percussion), and Mike Kirby (drums) to complete the lineup.