Lots Of New Instruments In Stock
Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!
We've been busy in the shop this week, assembling dulcimers from all the parts I've been making over the past several weeks. Some of the dulcimers we've been working on have been customer orders, while some have been instruments for our own actual showroom/website inventory.
We've been whittling down the list of remaining backordered instruments, too, and expect to be telling people 8 weeks for a custom order before much longer. For the past couple of years, it's been 3 - 4 months! We haven't been this organized/caught-up since before the virus.
New Instruments In Stock
We currently have DulciVoxes in stock now - five of them!
And there's even an in-stock resonator. We haven't been able to keep a resonator dulcimer in stock for a long, long time. As soon as we make one, it sells. This one's so new, I haven't had time to get an "official" photo for the website, so here's the resonator sitting on the counter in the showroom:
I played this one a bit on Tuesday evening with the Woodburn Dulcimer Club, and I'm tempted to keep it for my own use. If I do take this one "off the market," the only change I would make would be to add a pickup. (And a strap, of course, plus a capo and a tuner dedicated to this particular instrument.)
Here's A Link To The Resonator
Two Dulcimer Events This Month
I'm heading to the Dayton Dulcimer Doin's (dulcimer festival) next weekend. I'll be there all day on Saturday, February 15th. In the basement of the Spiritual Center Of Maria Stein, a retreat center located in Maria Stein, Ohio. I'll be doing basic repairs/restringing, and have lots of dulcimers on display. Hope to see a few of you there!
The following week, I'm traveling to Port Canaveral, Florida, to spend a week on the world's seventh largest cruise ship, the Norwegian Epic. I'll be teaching classes, jamming with my dulcimer friends, and spending time with some amazing people as we sail around the Bahamas. I'm honored to be part of the small cast of instructors - Bing Futch, Sharrie George, Guy George, and me. I will NOT be bringing repair tools (other than a pair of wire cutters, and some strings!) and I won't have dulcimers to sell. But... I can bring two pieces of luggage - so if someone wants to buy a dulcimer, and have me deliver it onboard, I'm happy to do so. (How many of you can say you bought your Folkcraft dulcimer while visiting the British Virgin Islands, or while at sea, in international waters?)
This is a busy time of year, but once we're past this two-festivals-in-two-weeks hurdle, it'll be "Get to work making dulcimers, Richard, and see if you can get the backorders down to four weeks."
More Upcoming Events In 2025
We do have a few other scheduled events this year. Three Second Saturday Clinics here at the shop, and two outside festivals - the ODPC Funfest in Evart, Michigan (in July) and the Black Mountain Music Fest in Black Mountain, North Carolina (in October). I have a scheduling conflict for KMW this year, so won't be able to attend that festival. Click the link below to see all our upcoming events.
Thanks for reading, Y'all - I hope you have a super (warm, not icy) weekend. Go play some dulcimer music for me!
Richard Ash - luthier-who's-been-making-resonator-dulcimers-since-2013-and-still-doesn't-have-one-to-call-his-own
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JANE APPEL
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Jane: I saw a dulcimer on my honeymoon in Gatlinburg in 1977 and picked up a small paperback book about the instrument. In 1981, my father-in-law surprised me with a dulcimer he had made me from a kit he found listed in the back of that book. I played by myself and was frustrated because I couldn't form chords. I learned at my first group event - in 1988 at Appalachian State University - that the strings on my instrument weren't spaced properly (father-in-law was a carpenter, not a luthier). The dulcimer doctor Joe Shelton fixed me up and I began to enjoy the instrument more. So, I've been playing (gulp) 43 years and a few months.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Jane: Our RV was in for service near Woodburn in 2017 and I thought I'd take a field trip to the Folkcraft shop. I did NOT intend to buy an instrument. However, Richard Ash was very welcoming: He not only showed me through the shop, he also helped me sort out the woods and features I would look for in a "hypothetical" new dulcimer. He brought me many instruments from the showroom walls until I found the combination of woods that felt like my voice: Butternut and walnut. I ordered an instrument when I got back to the RV that afternoon.
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Jane: I lead a song circle with my Folkcraft mountain dulcimer at our winter home in Casa Grande, AZ. Through the years I have played...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF JANE'S INTERVIEW AND ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE JANE & YOU!
HELLO FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!
While we don't have a new player to welcome to our online global dulcimer community today, we are still happy to re-feature Jane Appel. How ya been, Jane?
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep This Thing Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to hearing from you and featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
FOR JUST A LITTLE WHILE LONGER WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER)
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
The second part of our lesson for the beginners. We will work on the B-part of our song. We'll be using 2-finger chords, which will make our EOM very important. You can do it! Just click on the image below to watch.
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
IRISH SESSION TUNES - Volume One
by Aaron O'Rourke
With Valentine's Day coming next Friday, you know what that means? Barely a month before St. Patrick's Day arrives. Do you need some Celtic tunes for a gig or a jam next month? We've got just the book for you! "Irish Session Tunes, Volume 1" is a collection of 36 jigs, reels, and polkas commonly played in Irish sessions arranged for the mountain dulcimer. Aaron O'Rourke includes a brief introduction to playing in an Irish session and explanation of Irish ornamentation. (DAD tuning, 59 pages)
This book is published by Fingers Of Steel, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
SOME OF THE SONGS INCLUDED:
Boy In The Boat • Castle Kelly • Drowsy Maggie • Fred Finn's • Green Fields Of America • Musical Priest • Rakish Highlander • Sally Garden's
Wind That Shakes The Barley • Banks Of Lough Gowna • Hag In The Kiln • Miller's Maggot • Rambling Pitchfork • Banks Of The Quay • Crucaharan Cross • Kerry Polka • Ryan's Polka • Terry Teahan's