No Assembly Lines At Folkcraft
December 1, 2023
Good Morning, Y'all!
I can't believe it is December already! After finally finishing the 2023 dulcimer festival lineup, we're preparing for the 2024 festivals already. I've talked to Nancy about doing "dulcimer doctor" work at KMW, emailed a vendor contract to Peg for the Evart Funfest, and I'm working on my class handouts for the Florida Gulf Coast Dulcimer Retreat.
Who does this animal belong to?
This handsome gentleman is one of the backstage organizers of the Retreat. Roscoe hangs out with one of the other backstage personalities, Chip. This event (the Florida Gulf Coast Dulcimer Festival) is pretty much owned and operated by the two famous dulcimer personalities represented here by their furry - and feathery - family members.
Who does this bird belong to?
Bonus points if you know which famous musicians are associated with each of these two animals. The answers to those question are at the bottom of this blog.
New Website Feature
We added a new feature to the Folkcraft.com website a few weeks ago, and y'all have started benefitting from this already. In the "customer reviews" area at the bottom of each product page, you'll find a new link called "Questions." You can post a question here, and our software will automatically query previous purchasers of the item in search of an answer for you. Both the question and the answers are added to the Folkcraft website, so when future shoppers have the same question, it'll already be answered for them.
Here's where to find the question/answer section on Folkcraft.com
This question/answer format is nothing new. The big websites have had a feature like this for years, but the Folkcraft web designer/creator/maintainer is me. And I have a lot of jobs here besides adding features to the website, so it is a slow process to add new features like this. I hope this helps some of you.
Have a great weekend - go make some music!
Richard Ash, website-designer-dulcimer-builder-and-when-time-allows-dulcimer-player
P.S. The dog and bird in the photos above? The dog is Roscoe (Bing and Jae Futch) and the bird is Chip (Guy and Sharrie George). I don't bring any pets to the Retreat, so I bring my wife instead.
P.P.S. I saw yet another Facebook (or was it a dulcimer forum) post last week in which someone once again talked about "factory instruments, like Folkcraft." I'm sure that all of YOU know this, but we don't even begin to have an assembly line churning out mass-produced dulcimers. Our total staff is four people; one of which is (theoretically) retired, and works part-time.
Here's the Folkcraft staffing lineup: Pam (who doesn't make dulcimers - she makes our cases, and maintains our book and string inventory); Jim (our "retired" employee - also my dad - who works strictly in the shop, making mostly fretboards and heads); Cheyenne (who works mostly in the shop, but also packs orders and boxes up our dulcimer kits); and Richard (that's me - I'm probably half-time in the shop, and half-time doing other jobs for the company, everything from writing blog posts to attending dulcimer festivals).
So, when you see someone make one of the "assembly line/factory" posts and actually say "like Folkcraft," would you please (gently!) correct them? Thank you!
Here's the Folkcraft staffing lineup: Pam (who doesn't make dulcimers - she makes our cases, and maintains our book and string inventory); Jim (our "retired" employee - also my dad - who works strictly in the shop, making mostly fretboards and heads); Cheyenne (who works mostly in the shop, but also packs orders and boxes up our dulcimer kits); and Richard (that's me - I'm probably half-time in the shop, and half-time doing other jobs for the company, everything from writing blog posts to attending dulcimer festivals).
So, when you see someone make one of the "assembly line/factory" posts and actually say "like Folkcraft," would you please (gently!) correct them? Thank you!