Summer Is In Session - Second Saturdays & Beyond
Good Morning, Y'all!
I hope you've had a good week, and are looking forward to an even better weekend. I'm REALLY looking forward to this weekend! Our first Second Saturday Clinic is taking place tomorrow, June 8, 2024. We have Mandy Tyner visiting the shop to teach a class and give us a concert. Mandy is one of Folkcraft's endorsing artists, and her clinic runs from Noon until 4. We have a couple of seats still open, you can sign up here. We'll have a pre-clinic jam starting at 10 AM, and the concert will run from 4:00 PM until about 4:30 PM.
We have Bing Futch (I've heard that he's kind of good, too - ha!) leading next month's clinic on July 13, 2024. Same schedule as Mandy's, details and sign up are on this web page.
Before I forget, here's this week's on-sale book - volume 5 of Shelley Stevens' Baker's Dozen series. (Dulci-Merry Christmas). I'll leave volume 4 (Shaker Music) on sale for a few more days, but it'll be back to normal price ($12, currently discounted to $3.99) in a few days. A non-musician might look at June or July as "early" for Christmas music, but I'm sure you all "get it" - it takes time to prepare new repertoire, and we usually see a spike in orders for Christmas music in the summer time.
Don't Worry, You Can Still Be Happy. If you read last week's newsletter, you know that Folkcraft had to withdraw (we won't be attending) from this year's Kentucky Music Week. Such weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth... I'm exaggerating a bit, but there was quite an outcry! Don't worry, though - we're still planning on the ODPC Funfest (Evart, Michigan) and the Black Mountain Music Fest (Black Mountain, North Carolina) this year. And you can visit our shop (Woodburn, Indiana) any time for repairs and adjustments. Please call ahead for a shop visit, though - you'll get MUCH better service if you're the only one having work done when you're visiting.
Repairs in Evart and Black Mountain? I bring the full tool cart to those events, and will happily do all kinds of work on-site. Definitely email now to reserve your repair time, though - I generally have to turn away repair jobs once my schedule gets full. I expect both of our remaining 2024 festivals will be exceptionally busy, since Kentucky Music Week didn't work out this year.
In the shop this week? Wow, it's been busy! Here's Dad working on fretboards:
I think this is (yet!) another DulciVox fretboard (photo above). We're really close to shipping the first of our customers' DulciVoxes. A few on the way next week for sure, but maybe a couple on the way to players before you read this newsletter!
Casey is working on (can you guess, yet - I think it has been his sole job the past month) making DulciVoxes. When I go back to the shop to check on him, he's either making parts, assembling parts, sanding completed instruments, lacquering completed instruments, or setting up the strings and hardware. (photo below)
Pam's been making cases (are you surprised?). She has been moving back and forth between cases for standard dulcimers, and cases for DulciVoxes. Guess what she's been working on today?
I would guess that the straight edges of a standard (rectangular) dulcimer case are easier to work with than the curves of a DulciVox case (see photo above), but Pam makes it work either way. Like an instrument, there's a lot of work that goes into making an instrument case. Lots of pieces, then assembly, then finishing.
Cheyenne's been making more fretboards for standard dulcimers (photo below.) Walnut again, this week.
Cheyenne cuts the fretboards oversize and then lets them sit for a few days. This allows the wood to move to a stable position. Then he'll (over a few successive days) remove some of the excess material, a little at a time. Always jointing two adjacent faces, so he can monitor any movement in the material. At some point, the wood finally "sits still", and he can then sand to exact dimensions.
One of the things we do to minimize movement of the wood due to humidity changes? We try (as best as we can) to have the grain running from the top of the fretboard to the bottom of the fretboard. As a piece of wood expands in the summer, and contracts in the winter (humidity, either high or low!), the fretboard width will change, but the action won't budge.
In the photo above, there's an example of our "ideal" fretboard's grain direction. This will be a very, very stable fretboard over the coming decades of season/humidity changes.
That leaves you needing an update on what I've been working on. It seems like there's been a little of a bunch of different projects, nothing big I can point to. So I'll close out with a photo of me with Aly. It isn't in the shop, and I'm not covered with lacquer or sawdust, but we're having a nice walk outside, enjoying the Indiana weather (before it gets too hot!).
I met Aly at a dulcimer festival (in Key West!) in 2010, and married her in 2018. She was a Folkcraft player long before she married me, and she's known Bing and Guy (and other dulcimer luminaries) far longer than I have known them. Originally part of the Knoxville (TN) dulcimer club, now she's part of the Woodburn (IN) dulcimer club.
So that's what's happening this week, Y'all - I'll see some of you tomorrow for Mandy's clinic, and more of you in July for the ODPC Funfest. Until then, have fun making some music.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Richard Ash, luthier-who-gets-to-spend-time-with-all-kinds-of-smart-and-talented-people
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DOROTHY MINER
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Dorothy: I’m a relative newbie to playing the dulcimer. I’ve only been playing for three years, but I’ve been fascinated by the dulcimer (and other folk instruments) forever. I took up playing the dulcimer when a friend played hers at my church and she convinced me that I could learn. She got me started and I’ve been playing ever since.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Dorothy: My first dulcimer was a relatively inexpensive Roosbeck that I bought on line. It was a good learner instrument and it got me hooked. I told myself that if I was still playing it in a year I would get a quality dulcimer. A year later I did just that - I bought a Folkroots all-cherry dulcimer that I love. It’s simple in design, but elegant in its simplicity and it feels great in my hands. I’ll be getting my new custom-made Folkcraft dulcimer in a few months.
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Dorothy: My favorite place to play my dulcimer is in my “do stuff” room that is set up for art projects and music. My favorite audience consists of my three dogs, one of whom is deaf. The two younger ones curl up by my feet as I play. The deaf one checks in periodically. I also play with a local group in Lima, Ohio: the “Dulcimer Divas.” We meet weekly and we play at local nursing homes, churches, one of the area hospitals, and anywhere else that wants us. Recently we have started joining up with a few other dulcimer groups in the area for occasional jams.
Folkcraft: What are your other hobbies and interests?
Dorothy: My other interests include dog training, reading, painting and drawing, and going to antique stores and flea market/junk shops to find odd little doodads and whatchamacallits to decorate my barn. I also love to wander around my property checking on what’s beginning to grow or bloom and what critters have been hanging around.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE DOROTHY AND YOU!
FUTURE FEATURED FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE'RE STILL WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU!
While we're happy to be able to re-feature Dorothy this week, it would be really fantastic to hear from someone new! It's been a minute. All guilt-tripping aside, Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep This Thing Going? It really is super easy to get in on the fun. Just send the answers to the four questions below - plus a photo of you with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) - by replying to your newsletter email. 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 A LIMITED TIME ONLY, 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:
This week, Mandy shows you how to use chord inversions to vary your playing! This is a fun and easy way to use chord voicings. Just click on the image below to watch the video.
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.
THE BEST TUNES YOU NEVER PLAY
by Aaron O'Rourke
Aaron's done it again! With this collection, he's put together some of the more obscure, but totally addicting, tunes, mostly American old-time, that really deserve to have more broad exposure. From "Duck River" to "Wounded Hoosier" to "Waynesboro" (one of your newsletter editor's new favorites) - you're sure to find something you'll really like to play. For the more complex tunes, Aaron includes a simplified version for beginners. Most of the tunes in here are pretty simple and are all in DAD tuning. (59 pages)
With your purchase, we'll email you a link so that you may download the PDF version of your new book. The PDF file is in ZIP format - you'll need to unzip the file after your download is complete.
SONGS INCLUDED:
Battle Of Cedar Creek - Big Scioty - Boogerman - Christmas Time Is Coming - Booth Shot Lincoln - Dry And Dusty - Duck River - Citico - Five Miles From Town - Goodbye Liza Jane - Greasy Coat - Gunboat - Happy Hollow - Hawks And Eagles - Hop High Ladies - Ida Red - Jack O'Diamonds - Old-Time Billy In The Low Ground - Jack's Creek Ridge - Kiowa Special - Last Of Harris - Leather Britches - Little Billy Wilson - Salt Creek - Wake Robin - Walkin' In The Parlor - Washington's March - Waynesboro - Wounded Hoosier