Artist Spotlight - Bing Futch

This week I'm adding a new feature to our newsletter... the "Artist Spotlight". Most of you have met some of these artists at festivals, seen them on stage, or had them as instructors for a clinic or class, but you rarely get to spend enough time with them to really get to know them. This week I'm going to focus the article on the first of the artists that I got to know... Bing Futch.

I first became involved with dulcimers because of a video that Bing had put up on YouTube. Since then, he has taught at each of the Indiana Dulcimer Festivals we have hosted as well as the Midwest Uke Fest and some of the Second Saturday Clinics... and through it all, I have gotten to know him well enough to call him a friend. When you see him on stage, he is always wearing that big smile, and that is really who he is - a genuinely nice person spreading happiness through music.

The text following the picture is the official biography from Bing's webpage.

Bing Futch

With a big smile and wild dreadlocks, Bing Futch kicks off every performance with a buoyant energy that is inviting and energizing. Using Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Native American flute, ukulele, drums and electronic effects, he deftly navigates the varied waters of traditional and modern Americana with passion, wit and a genuinely huge heart for sharing music with a crowd.

Known for his musical shape-shifting, Futch switches the channels on style with every new song, sung in a limber tenor voice and woven together with the other instruments. His casual way with any audience, coupled with a fierce originality on the lesser known mountain dulcimer, makes each show a one-of-a-kind and good-timing romp.

As a nationally touring solo performer he's headlined at such events as The Florida Folk Festival, Old Songs Festival, The Big Muddy, Kentucky Music Weekend and Common Ground On The Hill.

With a strong love for traditional music, Futch has enjoyed a career on both sides of the folk and rock divide, first as guitarist for CCM post-punkers Crazed Bunnyz in 1986 and much later in 1999 as co-founder of Mohave on mountain dulcimer. That band, with bassist Mike Burney and drummer McGyver, took off after their debut performance at the House of Blues at Walt Disney World and over the course of the next seven years would become a crowd favorite and open for the likes of Molly Hatchet, St. Somewhere and The Crests.

In 2006, Futch began performing solo at county fairs and festivals across the country, along the way opening for Grammy-award winning act The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Grammy-award nominated artists Sam & Ruby, bluesman Scott Ainslie and sharing the stage with Grammy-award nominated act The Dixie Beeliners among others.

He has recorded a number of albums and published several music-education books including the best-selling "Blues Method For Mountain Dulcimer 101." His love for blues music has led him to teach workshops on playing Delta blues on the mountain dulcimer all across the country as well as writing articles on the subject in Mel Bay's Dulcimer Sessions and Dulcimer Players News. As a member of the Orange Blossom Blues Society, he helps with the organization's mission of presenting, preserving and promoting the blues by participating in the "Blues In The Schools" program in central Florida. In 2014, Bing won the "Solo Artist" award in the Central Florida Blues Challenge competition, earning a coveted entry into the 2015 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. Taking the mountain dulcimer where it had never gone before, Bing competed in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals, gaining new notice and fans for himself and this unique instrument.

Futch's music has been featured in film and video productions, video game soundtracks and exhibits at the Orlando Museum of Art. He was composer and musical director for "The Jungle Book: A Musical Adaptation" which ran for 66 shows at Stage Left Theater in Orlando, Florida. He also contributed music to the soundtrack of The Castle of Miracles at Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida.

Futch can often be found teaching music workshops at various festivals and colleges, presenting music education programs at schools and libraries and producing episodes of his video podcast "Dulcimerica" which has been viewed by over a million people worldwide and is currently in its eighth season.

In traveling over 19,000 miles a year, Futch's home away from home is a 21 foot long Winnebago Warrior that has been dubbed "Rita." While off the road, he lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife, Jae, and a menagerie of critters.

My wife and I have really been grateful to have Bing as a friend. This photo was taken at my wedding - Tiffany and I in the middle, flanked by Bing Futch and Wendy Songe.