Roots and Branches: The Bird Song
By Fiona Potts | Trace the origins of the words and tunes of "The Bird Song," also known as "Leatherwing Bat," featuring Margaret MacArthur.
Profile: Randy Marchany
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. ...
Possibility Box: The Safe Passage Project – Another 4-Chord Loop
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 ...
Creed Russell, Dulcimer Maker
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, ...
Geordie
Traditional, arranged by Fiona Potts | The song "Geordie," also known as "As I Walked Over London Bridge."
Tales & Traditions: Samuel F. Russell
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. ...
Shape Notes: Lewis and Clark (‘Beach Spring’)
Arranged by Peter Irvine, Words by Dick Dunagan | The shape note tune "Beach Spring" arranged for mountain dulcimer.
Shape Notes: Lorraine Lee Hammond
By Lorraine Lee Hammond | An update on Lorraine Lee Hammond and information about her arrangement of William Billings' shape note hymn "When Jesus Wept"
Shape Notes: Finding ‘do’ on the Fretted Dulcimer
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...
Ralph Lee Smith
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. ...