Folkcraft Player - Judy Smith

My name is Judy Smith and I got my first dulcimer for Christmas in 2011. Richard Ash was so kind and helpful as I tried to figure out wood, tone holes, frets, all that good stuff! I ended up with a cherry hourglass that I named “Honeybee.”

I was so scared to try playing it, probably because as a kid I got really discouraged taking guitar lessons. I wanted to play so badly, but my fingers hurt, I couldn’t reach the frets with my small hands, the lessons consisted mostly of theory so after many, many lessons I still couldn’t play a single song that I felt good about. I decided that maybe I just wasn’t able to play music.

When I first got honeybee, I hid in the corner at the dulcimer jams trying to figure out what everyone was doing, but I did eventually catch on. It was so amazing to actually play a song! Now my goal is to tell other folks (especially older ones like myself) that they CAN learn to play an instrument even if they thought they never could.

My husband Jack and I have a lot of Folkcraft dulcimers now and we play at a few local festivals calling ourselves the “Village Dulcimer Players.” Am I a great player? Nope! Am I a great singer? Also nope!

But I still do it and have a wonderful time. Our favorite thing to do is roam the grounds at events playing music and visiting with people. We have met SO many wonderful people from all over the country through music; it’s really been a huge blessing in our lives. The picture is Jack and me and our friend Johnny Appleseed at the Kendallville Apple Festival.