An article appeared over 20 years ago in the University of Iowa newspaper about Iowa City musician A. Scotty Hayward.

A few days after it was printed a woman showed up at his door with a kalimba — the African instrument the article said Hayward played.

“I thought she wanted me to appraise it or something,” Hayward said. “She handed it to me and just started walking away.”

Hayward asked the lady why she was leaving, and she told him she was giving him the instrument.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because you are the Kalimba Man,” she answered.

No two words have better described Hayward than those of the mystery lady who gave Hayward one of his dozens of kalimbas.

He is the Kalimba Man. And as far as he knows, Hayward is the only Kalimba Man in the Midwest.

“I have seen the kalimba played five times,” Hayward said. “If you can imagine being a guitar player for 28 years and only seeing someone else play one five times … but here I am.”

Hayward was just 18 when he “met the instrument.” His parents bought him a factory model as a gift.

“I have always been into strange forms of music,” Hayward said. “European renaissance music was the fad I was into before that.”

Seven years after his first pluck on the kalimba, Hayward was introduced to a custom instrument designer from Des Moines by the name of Ryphon Gray. Hayward eventually went to work for Gray designing kalimbas and selling them at art markets.

“It didn’t last too long,” Hayward said.

But the Kalimba Man did not give up on his instrument and now had several custom-built kalimbas of his own.

Hayward began jamming with other Iowa City musicians in 1989 and eventually formed a band under the name Earthmother’s Majimba Band. (The term majimba refers to playing the kalimba in an unconventional manner.)

“We started out with about 10 people,” Hayward said with a laugh. “We were a vocal band and started to form a nucleus around that.”

Five years ago the band turned primarily to jazz (with African and Caribbean rhythms) and two years ago became a jazz trio.

“We’ve never been a bar band really,” Hayward said. “We usually play coffee houses and art shows. Some of our best shows have been in small towns for art shows. What we do is something real unique, and it usually draws people of all ages.”

The kalimba, also known as the mbira, sansa, thumb harp and thumb piano, is one of the most popular melodic instruments in Africa.

Hayward currently tours with seven kalimbas, all tuned to a different key. He also owns several more, including a bass kalimba, which is known as a marimbula.

“It is much much bigger than a regular kalimba,” Hayward said. “I strap it around my waste when I play it.”

The Earthmother’s Majimba Band, which consists of Hayward, Jackson Phalen III, Chris Loeckle and Tom Chute, has recorded three tapes and a CD, which was released in 1996.

“Kalimba Dreams,” which was recorded by Iowa City producer John Svec of House of Large Sizes, contains 13 songs performed by the band or various members.

“I am influenced by everything around me,” Hayward said. “All the music I listen to all runs together.”

Kalimba Man has set one career goal, and that is to stay kalimba man.

“I just want to keep growing as a musician,” he said. “I’ve never set the kalimba down for more than a few days, and I don’t plan on it.”

Earthmother’s Majimba Band is playing tonight at People’s Bar and Grill with the Ames band Medulla Oblongata and Friday at Lost and Found with Strange Neighbors. The group is also scheduled to play at Lost and Found on Feb. 26.