Dulcimer Players News Volume 50 Number 2

Cover of Dulcimer Players News Vol. 50 No. 2, adapted from Vol. 9 No. 1.
Cover of Dulcimer Players News Vol. 50 No. 2, adapted from Vol. 9 No. 1.

Spring (May) 2024

Publisher
Dulcimer Players News
505 Cornhusker Rd.
Ste 105 PMB 265
Bellevue, NE 68005

Editor
Fiona Potts
editor@dpnews.com

Sales
Bill Wake
staff@dpnews.com

Print Graphic Designer
Morgan Seibel
morganbseibel@yahoo.com

Cover of Dulcimer Players News Vol. 50 No. 2, adapted from Vol. 9 No. 1.
Cover of Dulcimer Players News Vol. 50 No. 2, adapted from Vol. 9 No. 1.

Special thanks go to this issue’s many contributors:

Columnists

Collector’s Corner
Carilyn Vice

DPN Restrung
Butch Ross

Dulci-lore Corner
Lil Rev

Possibility Box
Jerry Rockwell

TablEdit Tips
Melanie Johnston

Features:

Steve Carney
Terry Conners
Lorraine Lee Hammond
Peter Irvine
Linda Paulus

Peace - Pen and ink drawing of a woman and bird on a forest path. From the DPN Archives Vol. 10 No. 1.

Remembrances and photos:

Nick Blanton
Jesse Chappell
Bill Collins
John, Paul, and Kate Crocker
Vincent Farsetta
Ken Longfield
Jim Miller
Ray Mooers
Don Pedi
Ben Seymour

Archival materials

Hank Arbaugh
Glenn Branham
Bonnie Carol
LaRaye Cunningham
Nick Engler
Bob Everhart
Rick Freimuth
Sue Ford
R. P. Hale
Willie Jaeger
Rick Knocks
Michel Legare
John Lomax III
Madeline “Maddie” MacNeil
Dorothy May
Randy Mohr
Missy Monahan
Masahiro Nogami
Gerry Norris
Eileen Rains
Sam Rizzetta
Cathy Sabol
Jean and Lee Schilling
Ralph Lee Smith
Jon Stephenson
Betty Stuedley
Linda Lowe Thompson
David Young 

Contents

Ink well and feather with words “Dear Readers.” Drawing by R. P. Hale.

Editor’s Letter: Madeline MacNeil

025 min read
By Fiona Potts | Tracing the history and highlights of Dulcimer Players News through the years, featuring the words of Madeline “Maddie” MacNeil in her Editor’s Letters.
Drawing by Michel Legare. Featuring a violin and hammered dulcimer.

Collector’s Corner: Memory Garland

01 min read
By Carilyn Vice | Instead of her regular column, Carilyn Vice has shared a collection of photos in memory of the dulcimer players featured in this issue. Her regular column will return in November.
Jean Ritchie and John Crocker play dulcimer together circa 1994 when Jean visited the U.K. Photo courtesy of John and Paul Crocker.

Letters to the Editor: Memories of Maddie and DPN

05 min read
Bill Collins, Ken Longfield, and Paul Crocker share their thoughts, memories, and images.
Jean and Lee Schilling, who ran the Folk Life Center of the Smokies and hosted the Cosby Dulcimer Convention, were featured on the cover of Maddie MacNeil's first issue as the sole editor. She wrote a short piece about them and included the arrangement "Mountain Sky" from Jean. From the DPN Archives Vol. 5 No. 1 (1979).

Gatherings: Jean and Lee Schilling

08 min read
Jean and Lee Schilling, who ran the Folk Life Center of the Smokies and hosted the Cosby Dulcimer Convention, were featured on the cover of Maddie MacNeil’s first issue as the sole editor. She wrote a short piece about them and included the arrangement “Mountain Sky” from Jean. I am reprinting them here, followed by some festival reports and a few of my favorite vintage ads.
DPN Restrung by Butch Ross

DPN Restrung: The Doubleback

08 min read
By Butch Ross | Highlighting and examining the story “The Doubleback” by Nick Engler, from DPN Vol. 2 No. 3 (1976).
Vincent Farsetta playing the dulcimer he made for himself, which he used while recording for John Lomax III's upcoming album "Lomax on Lomax." Photo by Linda Paulus. — Dulcimer Players News

Profile: Vincent Farsetta

017 min read
By Linda Paulus | Vincent Farsetta didn’t start life in the mountain places that eventually would infuse his soul. He was born just thirty miles from New York City while Jean Richie and Alan Lomax were jumpstarting urban interest in the Appalachian dulcimer, and where folk music waves were washing over, around, and through Greenwich Village…
Sam Rizzetta: Showing you the tools 

Sam Rizzetta: Showing you the tools 

016 min read
Compiled by Fiona Potts | I wanted to share Sam Rizzetta’s story in his own words – first with excerpts from Maddie MacNeil’s interview of him in Vol. 9 No. 1 (1983) (we adapted the cover of that issue for this anniversary issue), followed by selections from his “The Answer Column” and “Technical Dulcimer” columns through the years….
Ralph Lee Smith on the cover of DPN Vol. 8 No. 3.

Ralph Lee Smith

06 min read
By Cathy Sabol, from the DPN Archives Vol. 8 No. 3 (1982) | McDougal Street, Greenwich Village, New York, 1956. The folk music revival was in full swing, and the Folklore Center was selling dulcimers ‘imported’ from North Carolina for $30.00 a piece. Ralph Lee Smith, freelance writer and player of the harmonica, guitar, banjo, and bones, decided to invest in this strange instrument. Fortunately it came tuned. …
Cover of DPN Vol. 4 No. 2 (1978) featuring a picture of the dulcimer owned by Paul Robinson.

Shape Notes: Finding ‘do’ on the Fretted Dulcimer

017 min read
Compiled by Fiona Potts | This feature is an assortment of articles from the DPN Archives, all centered around fretboards, shape notes, and tunings. Though not originally connected in any way, together they illustrate both the interconnectedness of the people and events during the decades that Maddie MacNeil was the editor of DPN…
Image courtesy of Lorraine Lee Hammond.

Shape Notes: Lorraine Lee Hammond

05 min read
By Lorraine Lee Hammond | An update on Lorraine Lee Hammond and information about her arrangement of William Billings’ shape note hymn “When Jesus Wept”
Bird perched on a mountain dulcimer headstock. Drawing by Gerry Norris.

Shape Notes: Lewis and Clark (‘Beach Spring’)

01 min read
Arranged by Peter Irvine, Words by Dick Dunagan | The shape note tune “Beach Spring” arranged for mountain dulcimer.
A dulcimer made by Samuel F. Russell in 1939, in the Smithsonian collections. ID Number 1996.0276.10. The image has been cropped and enhanced to increase the visibility of the construction features. Photo credit: Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Tales & Traditions: Samuel F. Russell

17 min read
By Ralph Lee Smith, from the DPN Archives Vol. 25 No. 2 (1999) | I have been remiss in not paying tribute to old-time Virginia dulcimer maker Samuel F. Russell of Marion, Virginia in this column. Russell is the only person who produced a significant number of Virginia-style dulcimers for sale prior to the post-World-War II folk revival. …
flower sketch from the DPN Archives

Geordie

03 min read
Traditional, arranged by Fiona Potts | The song “Geordie,” also known as “As I Walked Over London Bridge.”
Figure 1 – The Creed Russell dulcimer. Photo by Heather Smith.

Creed Russell, Dulcimer Maker

010 min read
By Steve Carney and Terry Conners | A previously unseen Virginia dulcimer, obviously old, showed up at a Georgia auction in 2022, where it was purchased by a woman who thought “it was something special!” This dulcimer is a teardrop-shaped instrument with four equidistant strings, an open “D” tailpiece, …
Jerry Rockwell on the cover of DPN Vol. 11 No. 4 (1985). — Dulcimer Players News

Possibility Box: The Safe Passage Project – Another 4-Chord Loop

02 min read
By Jerry Rockwell | This A Mixolydian 4-chord loop is one of my favorites, and it is very popular with my Patreon subscribers. It has a dark, foreboding Celtic vibe …
No Strings Attached members Wes Chappell, Jimmy Crawford, Rusty May, and Randy Marchany, circa 2017. Photo courtesy of Randy Marchany. NSA retired in 2018. Former band members include Bob Thomas, Pete Hastings, Sozu Gorsline, and Rytas Vigalys. Photo by Jesse Chappell. — Dulcimer Players News

Profile: Randy Marchany

07 min read
By Fiona Potts | No Strings Attached legend still looking to the future. The band No Strings Attached (NSA) first appeared on the cover of DPN in 1986. Hammered dulcimer player Randy Marchany is there on the right. …
Illustration that accompanied Madeline MacNeil's “Roots and Branches” column. From the DPN Archives Vol. 6 No. 2 (1980). — Dulcimer Players News

Roots and Branches: The Bird Song

012 min read
By Fiona Potts | Trace the origins of the words and tunes of “The Bird Song,” also known as “Leatherwing Bat,” featuring Margaret MacArthur.
Artist Ian Scott Massie’s delicate watercolors embrace the CD sleeve and liner notes beautifully. Visit him at ianscottmassie.com.

Album Review: Dan Evans’ ‘A Waltz Through The Woods’

04 min read
By Linda Paulus | Dan Evans’ new album “A Waltz Through The Woods” flows like a brook that sparkles and dances across ancient, polished stones. The cross-cultural, multi-era, and diverse genres that comprise the album … With Dan Evans’ arrangement of “The Banks of the Lee” for mountain dulcimer.
Melanie Johnston, TablEdit Tips author.

TablEdit Tips: Working with modules

02 min read
By Melanie Johnston | Using TablEdit for arrangements with multiple staves.

Our Supporters

A special thanks to the following people and businesses who advertised in the print edition:

  • American Folk Music School
  • Karen Ashbrook
  • Atwater-Donnelly
  • Backyard Music
  • Janita Baker (Blue Lion Dulcimer)
  • Black Mountain Music Festival
  • Phyllis Woods Brown
  • Joe Collins
  • Colorado Dulcimer Festival
  • Larry and Elaine Conger
  • Ron Cook
  • DulcimerCrossing.com
  • DulcimerDownloads.com
  • Dulcimoon
  • Dusty Strings
  • Erin Mae Music
  • Steve Eulberg
  • Ron Ewing
  • First National Dulcimer Orchestra
  • Folkcraft
  • Robin Freed
  • Bing Futch
  • Gateway Dulcimer Society Music Festival
  • Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival
  • Tull Glazener
  • Deborah Hamouris
  • Kirk and Judy House
  • Stephen Humphries
  • Melanie Johnston
  • Lorinda Jones
  • June Apple Dulcimers
  • Kentucky Music Week
  • Lapidus Music
  • Thomasina Levy
  • Lil Rev
  • Master Works
  • McSpadden/The Dulcimer Shoppe
  • Ilace Mears
  • Jim Miller
  • Karen Mueller
  • Music for Healing and Transition
  • Northeat Ohio HD Festival
  • Original Dulcimer Players Club
  • Don Pedi
  • Quarantune Virtual Dulcimer Festival
  • Jerry Rockwell
  • Sandbridge Hammered Dulcimer Retreat/HD Homeland
  • Shindig on the Green
  • Songbird
  • Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps
  • Linda Thomas
  • Doug Thomson
  • Mark Alan Wade
  • Carol Walker
  • Wolf Hill Woodworking

© 2024 All Rights Reserved
ISSN Print: 0098-3527
ISSN Online: TBD

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