Watch this new generation of dulcimer players perform! Congratulations to Lorinda Jones, the Heartland Dulcimer Club and everyone who made this special performance possible for us to enjoy!
Merry Two Rivers Christmas in 2021
GODC members Lana and later Georgia, Mary Lawrence, Marsha and Barbara S. headed over to Two Rivers Mansion in Nashville to perform for their Christmas Open House. The day was lovely as was the music and the performers!
Music Anniversaries
Leo Kretzner sends us two anniversary celebrations a la dulcimers; read more about Leo here: https://fotmd.com/leo-kretzner
My friend Gregg Schneeman suggested doing this classic song, seemingly out of the blue. As it turns out, Ripple was released 50 years ago, November 1970, so ...
Jerry Rockwell on TED
The venerable Jerry Rockwell made his way to TED; please enjoy his talk and bio below
13:24 / 17:48
The Mountain Dulcimer: A Musical Possibility Box | Jerry Rockwell | TEDxStroudsRun
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Here’s a relaxing and insightful introduction to the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. Musician/craftsman Jerry Rockwell plays some soothing tunes on a mountain dulcimer he built himself. He explains his passion for designing and building fine, handcrafted dulcimers one at a time using traditional hand tools. And finally, he demonstrates a variety of playing styles and techniques, including some traditional ways and some more innovative techniques, like two-handed tapping and playing with the Ebow. Bio: Jerry Rockwell is a musician and luthier who focuses his love of musical structure and fine woodworking on an uncommon American folk instrument, the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. A self-described "one-man music laboratory," he uses hand tools to build his instruments and digital tools for music publishing, recording, and streaming his performances online. During the past five decades, Jerry has played at folk festivals in England, Ireland, Iceland and around the US. He has published nine instructional tunebooks, is featured on many recordings and musical collaborations, has co-founded three dulcimer festivals, and continues to design and build custom acoustic and electric mountain dulcimers. Jerry encourages and challenges dulcimer and guitar students in workshops and online. His recent compositions explore the relaxing, meditative sounds of the electric dulcimer. Jerry’s recent tracks have found their way onto more than 120 playlists on digital streaming platforms. Jerry Rockwell is a musician and luthier who focuses his love of musical structure and fine woodworking on an uncommon American folk instrument, the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. A self-described "one-man music laboratory," he uses hand tools to build his instruments and digital tools for music publishing, recording, and streaming his performances online. As a teenager on Long Island, Jerry developed a passion for stringed/fretted instruments and jazz and rock guitar. Then, while a student at SUNY Plattsburgh, he heard the freewheeling mountain dulcimer music of Richard and Mimi Farina and began searching for a dulcimer and tools for building his own. Thirteen years of dulcimer building, playing and teaching sparked a move to Ohio in 1983 and eventually led to formal music studies and a BA in music at The Ohio State University. As an inspired nontraditional student, he took courses from counterpoint to electronic music to acoustic physics, and a concentration on music theory and composition was the basis for ongoing development and growth as a musician. During the past five decades, Jerry has played at folk festivals in England, Ireland, Iceland and around the US. He has published nine instructional tunebooks, is featured on many recordings and musical collaborations, has co-founded three dulcimer festivals, and continues to design and build custom acoustic and electric mountain dulcimers. Jerry encourages and challenges dulcimer and guitar students in workshops and online. Jerry's recent compositions explore the relaxing, meditative sounds of the electric dulcimer. His recent tracks have found their way onto more than 120 playlists on digital streaming platforms. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Two Rivers Christmas Special
I hope you enjoy these scenes from our second 2019 Christmas performance at our annual visit to Two Rivers Mansion in Nashville. This 1859 Italianate Mansion was built by David McGavock for his bride, but it’s also a perfect performance site for dulcimer players. For more information, click here: Two Rivers Mansion.
We love playing at Two Rivers: it’s one of Nashville’s many beautiful locations all year round, but Christmas is the best for us. We met two especially wonderful people in the audience: Amanda, who sings beautifully, and Maggie, who wants to learn to play her banjammer. We hope to see you, Amanda and Maggie, at our January monthly meeting; we’d love to have you join us! We welcome players of all instruments, no matter the skill level.
Top Right: Grand Old Dulcimer Club players from various satellite clubs, post performance, at the parlor fireplace.
Bottom right: more friends—The Dixie Dulcimers from Mt. Juliet—performing “Joy to the World”. In case you’re new to the dulcimers, you’ll notice two types of dulcimers in the clip: most are playing the Mountain (or Appalachian) Dulcimer; but Gloria, toward the left side of the room is playing the Hammered Dulcimer. If you live in or near Nashville and would like more information on joining the Grand Old Dulcimer Club and/or one of our satellite Clubs, click here: Nashville Local Dulcimer Clubs.
Enter the G* Strings!
The G Strings, one of the many groups associated with The Grand Old Dulcimer Club, performed an exceptionally lovely version of “Amazing Grace” for the crowd at Larry and Elaine Congor’s annual workshop this August at the Lake Barkely, Kentucky resort. *Geriatric Strings (!)
For your enjoyment: