Day 32: Crushing Your Adversary.

Today was a great day. I muzst admit that I was worn really thin in the midday when others were in their workshops and we were alone. But I do enjoy interacting with the dulcimer people here. They are warm and wonderful and welcoming.

We started off with a breakfast in a diner, which looked like it'd be a greasy-spoon diner. But the food was mostly really good. At least the omelet and rye toast were. The "home fries" were not so good, and it is not often that I won't eat a fried potato!

We got to the church just before nine and expected to get to the opening meeting, but the opening meeting had already happened. The sessions had already begun. I didn't know when mine was, so that was a bit of a problem. But it turns out that it is tomorrow, and that is wonderful! It is at 8:45am. The session is Songs and Dance Tunes From the Jewish Tradition, and I'm really excited. I met the teacher, Lucy Joan Sollagub, today, and she is really nice. Plus, I did some research on her, and she is a wonderful and very active teacher and musician. And she wrote a great book: Shiron L'Shalom: A Sourcebook of Jewish Songs for Peace Education.


Okay, I cannot think. I want to list the builders that I've met and that have been so kind to me along with their web information. But I'm too tired. There is also a days worth of really important stuff, like concerts and peg heads and why this group of builder is not adversarial. And ask me about the woman who asked 5 luthiers how to put a strap on her octave instrument. But tomorrow, I hope. I'm done for today. I'm exhausted from all of the great stuff that happened.

Workshop bench after much work. Dwain cautions and advises me on how to decide what repair to do "curb side."

Lunch was a turkey sandwich, macaroni salad, and some chips and a brownie.







We watched a baby woodchuck climb into the engine compartment of a car and alerted the driver. They put food out and the little guy went on his way.



I took a picture of dinner half way through and the boys laughed at me. I told them that I was on a diet so I wanted to show how little I ate. I had already eaten the mashed potatoes and gravy, a big spinach salad, and most of my chicken.

Sunhearth.

People came and it was nice to talk about instruments and music.

Bear Meadow

Dwain is carving a scroll head for an instrument that he is building. On a whim he went over to look at the Sunhearth's scroll head--there is a couple that sold the Sunhearth here at the gathering. Dwain likes the lines and curves of the Sunhearth better than his, and he cannot recall why his developed differently than his teacher taught him. He went back to the one that he is working on and promptly made the changes. Done. That is the mark a true master, I think.



There were three concerts put on. The only part of one that I saw was a woman dressed as an Irish special guest singing an Irish tune about a woman who kills her entire family in weird ways.

Another concert was put on by the directors of Dulcimer U, Larry & Elaine Conger. When he did the Everly Brothers' "gee wiz" song everybody sang. I knew the "dream, dream, dream" and "gee wiz" parts. He put on a nice show that displayed his versatility.

Yeah, this is really up in the church.

George Handy, who has been building for just over a year with his wife. He makes some really nice dulcimers with wonderful inlay.

And these guys are amazing! House of Waters.

And it is 12:04, and I'm going to sleep!

Day 31: In the Right Spot.

I slept through the night! I don't know when the last time I did that. I was in bed and done reading around midnight, and I didn't get up until just before six! I'm sure that the sleepless night before and the almost seven mile run had something to do with it. Plus, Noel made a great spicy tuna casserole last night, and I had thirds!

I was already packed for our trip to Latham, NY, which is just north of Albany. The drive took about four hours because we made a couple of stops. But traffic was just fine until we got near Albany on a Friday afternoon at 4:13pm. Then there was some traffic.

We got to the  church where the gathering is being held, and Dwain was welcomed as an old friend by many. There are seven builders here, which is pretty incredible to me. They welcomed me and were friendly. I got to tell my "how'd you get into dulcimers" story to two great musicians on very different paths. Carol Walker, a.k.a. Music Lady Carol, and Norm Williams, whose motto seems to be "just sit down and play already!".

Three years ago I was doing a workshop at Arrowmont, which is a craft school. I was learning to work with ceramics. Val was doing Kaufman Kamp. Both are in TN, but an hour of geography separated us. My workshop was two weeks and hers one. So I went over to pick her up and bring her back with me. On our way we saw a craft market on the side of the road--it was fancy because we had to pay a couple of dollars to get in. Val saw this guy who was teaching at Kaufman Kamp, and he was selling the mountain dulcimers that he makes. So she says hello and Mike Clemmer, the builder, shows val how to play. I really liked the sound, but I know my sausage fingers are not meant for any stringed instrument.

So Val brings it home and cannot stand it. We've come to think that it is because it is diotonic and not chromatic, but who knows. So Val hangs the thing on the wall, where it lives for a year. I was in the room where it hung, and I was moving something. I hit the dulcimer and it sung to me, sweetly. I pulled it down and played with it. Then I started looking online for how-tos, and I found Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer, which is a fantastic community and resource. Well, I'm an artist, so of course I wanted to build my own dulcimer. And I started looking around for plans and kits. During my research I found the Bear Meadow web site, which tells you how to build a dulcimer!

After corresponding through email with Dwain for some time and a few phone calls and a lot of internet stalking, I decided that I wanted Dwain to teach me how to build dulcimers. The plan turned into Dwain teaching me how to make the materials to make dulcimers which then turned into I get to carry on the Sunhearth/Bear Meadow dulcimer building tradition! Who could know we'd be at this point today?

There was even a concert that I got to hear and see. It was really nice to see such talented musicians at work and to think that some of them may want my machines at some point. But I didn't stay long because Dwain was working on a Sunhearth that a guy here is selling. There were some repairs done to it by someone who has no idea about dulcimer action because the settings were just bad.

But Dwain got that done and earned a little cash besides restoring to a much better condition one of Walt's machines.

We didn't have a place to stay, so the Assistant Pastor said we could stay with him. He is a really nice man who just recently lost his wife--she died, she's not missing. He talks about her with such love that I had to smile as he told stories of their collaborations, where he cut wooden stuff and she painted it. He has a great wood shop in the basement where I'm staying. He does a lot of scroll saw stuff, too; he does the really intricate stuff that'd drive me crazy! So I get the whole entire basement for my own! And it has a fireplace, as you can see in the photo.

Today has been a great adventure, and if it wasn't 12:06am I'd write more. But I have to get up and get ready for another day of dulcimer gathering!

Day 30: Back in Rachacha

I had a great time reconnecting with Maryville and seeing my family. It is pretty tough to be separated from them for long periods of time, especially when there is so much settling to do in our house in TN. It is not really our house, but we have to make it a home. So Val has been working her butt off to get the upstairs done, and she was at an impasse when I got home. So we decided that I'd stay a little longer to help her get a handle on things, which we did. The upstairs is nearly complete, and Val has a great plan to get it finished. And we are both really happy with most of the upstairs. There is a bit more work to do, but not much.

We really needed more kitchen space, but there is no such thing as a cabinet stretcher, so Val and Patty found this great hutch for $100! It is old and has some stuff wrong going on, but it is a solid piece of furniture. So I fixed the structural stuff and primed it, and then Val painted it Val colors. It turned out really pretty. The handles need to go back on and then its done!

The boys were great. Andre was extra clingy, and I really love the attention, but he somehow thinks if he lays down really high he is the king; I guess he is. Wishy has always been distant unless he doesn't want to be. But he yelled at me a lot while I was home, for sure. They were both a bit sad to see me go. Val is too. And I'll miss my family, but I'm already in the second Session! I'm still so pleased to be studying under Dwain, and I cannot wait to get started back in the shop.

But before we do we are going to the Cranberry Dulcimer Gathering. Dwain has been going for about 20 years, so he is well known there. He suggested introducing me to the gathering as his apprentice, and I think it is a great idea because we can talk about passing the dulcimer building torch to me all we want. But we both feel that others must witness the event, too. I have to get people talking about me so that they will be interested in my dulcimers, and going to the gathering is one way to do so. I think I'll have to find my own gathering, too.

So what do you do after just a couple of hours of sleep on a bus--Greyhound is really comfortable if you twist just so! And with my veteran discount I get a ticket for $88! And I made it here in only 17 hours with no hassle. Plus, I get to see fringe people, you know, people like me. I know that my kind are everywhere and come in every flavor, but Greyhound fringe is really fringy. I saw so many different kinds of characters, as anyone would when travelling. But some of the characters are just too fantastic.

I saw a princess, I swear. She was Eastern European and carried herself really princessy--I know because I seen all of the Disney princess movies. There was a 45 minute stopover, and so I got a nice, hot meal. As I was eating my fried, processed chicken sandwich with a mess of vegetables on it--jalapeños are a vegetable, right?--a dude sits down two seats away from me , took out his teeth and started cleaning them. It was just the uppers, so I guess it was okay. Was it wrong that I watched him while I ate?


I get here in Rochester at 4:30am and I walk the 2 miles carrying my fifty pounds of stuff for the month to Gretchen's house. There is supposed to be a house full of people, so I sit on the porch until 6am so I at least wake them up an almost respectable time. Then Bodhi the Cat comes and demands some love and some food, so I let him in. George is right there to greet us, and I feed them both, which is why George was there to greet us, I'm sure.

I left my bags and fell asleep downstairs because nobody in the house was moving. I woke up at 9am to a call from the VA Clinic in Knoxville because they wanted to set up my first appointment to see my new Dr., who is actually a nurse practitioner or some such because her name is Ms. Kelly. But I'm in and they'll treat me. A big WooHoo! to the VA in a time of crisis for many vets and the VA. I've really had great experiences with the VA in these past ten or so years--but not always, mind you.

There is this guy, Brandon Bryant, who is a Facebook friend (but I think that we could be real friends outside of Facebook). He is the first drone pilot to speak publicly about his duty to murder people, and he suffers greatly from his experiences and deeds. He gets a lot of flack from other military guys, but they are probably supply clerks with delusions of war being glorious and want to be heroes who can tell others they've killed. So my hat goes off to Brandon as he struggles with his doings, and today I sent to him the information for the Zaltho Foundation, which is run by Claude Anshin Thomas, who is a Vietnam vet whose deeds there were terrible. He's the one who taught me that his war and battles are not mine, so I have to deal with me as a the guy in my own skin who did some stuff and has to live with it. As for Claude Anshin Thomas, he has spent the rest of his life since then making amends and atoning for those deeds. He is a powerful man who saved my life. Anyway, Brandon is having a tough time with the VA right now. I'm sorry, brother.


Well, so what do you do after a 17 hour bus ride and a few hours of sleep?
You go run, of course! There is this park on top of this hill that Dwain told me about, so I set a course to run up there. It is a beautiful day for a run, too. I plotted out a just-over 4.5 mile run. There is a reservoir on top of the hill. It is huge cistern! I guess it makes sense that they used to be made this way, before water towers were put into use, I guess.

I get there and decide to run up this dirt path. Gee Wilikers! I had no idea the path went straight up the hill just a few meters after it started. The path started with a gentle slope and then after a few turns the slope was steeper than 45 degrees! I had to walk and use my hands just to get up. I was not ready for that! Then I went to the water fountain to get the dirt out of my mouth--really, it was that steep that I had to reach up and pull myself up. But there is construction on the reservoir, so they cut off the water. Poop. So I just ran on. I went around the waterless reservoir and then decided to run down the grassy slope on the other side of the hill to balance out the silliness on the dirt-trail side. When I got to the bottom I took a left when I should have taken a right. I knew after I ran a mile that it was the wrong direction, so I had to turn around. That added two miles to my run. That takes care of my six mile run for the month--6.68 miles the map says. I definitely was not ready for that!

I'm still staying at Gretchen's place. Did I tell you that she is letting me stay for free? This will save us a lot of money over the next 3.5 months! I've been doing work around her house because I can and she needs the help (Even fiercely independent persons need help; they just don't want to ask for it.), so we're helping one another. She is a wonderful, gracious, and fiercely independent woman who has led a really interesting life.

After my run I decided to do one of the tasks that Gretchen put on her list. The list is not a must do list she assures me, but if I can I help her with the list I will. So because I didn't get enough hutch at home I decided to move the rug she has in a room under her hutch. It is so solidly built that I had to take out all of the drawers and most of the china. But I did it!


As I took out the china I strategically placed it so that I would know exactly to where the things went back. I spent a lot of time, too much I'm sure, getting things just right because the lines of the 120 year-old floor were about as straight as the lines of the 50 year-old hutch whose lines were as straight as the woven rug. So I couldn't get anything to line up perfectly. But the rug is off of the fireplace and everything in the room is mostly straight in relationship to the room itself!


Noel, Gretchen's daughter, and Dillon, Noel's son, are staying here for a while. And today is Dillon's birthday. I got to celebrate with the family.


And I got to play my dulcimer. I'm really liking it as an instrument, and as my repertory grows I start to understand much more about the music the dulcimer can make and music in general. I'm up to four songs, solidly played.

It is making Val and my relationship better, too!

Day 28 and 29: Sunhearth.

Today started with a nice walk around Hollidaysburg, PA, where they love their God! There are churches everywhere and in all different flavors! There is even a bank that lives in a defunct church, or so I'm going to claim because it looks like an old church that has been fortified against all non-believers!

It was a beautiful morning, and I was not the only one out and about. The place is pretty hopping for 8am on a Saturday. I think I'm the only tourist, though, because nobody else is looking at the history that abounds. As a boy who grew up in central FL, where the oldest buildings are strip malls, I really do love to see this kind of historical architecture. Which makes playing with all of these dulcimers even more fun because I'm already slipping back in time!

Not that all dulcimers or their builders and players are as sentimental as I am. And I am a finger picker who likes to play in a chord and melody style, but even so I still feel the instrument is a way to make a shift to a different time and place in my past. Sure, I didn't grow up in the mountains, but I grew up on the edge of a swamp surrounded by farms and orange groves. We were country. So I do go home when I'm playing or making dulcimers.

The house is now empty, as everyone went out to do something--mom, kids, and friends went to a park. And Dwain and Richard went to a hardware store and to get some fabric and foam. So I'm going through and looking at all of the dulcimers, taking in the aesthetics. I've seen a lot of instruments online, but to really see the intricate and beautiful work of a Conrad in person is something much different. Dwain and I were talking about making a machine using planed down intarsia, and here is a live example of that. Plus, there are some other decorated ones, like this painted one from the '70s. This kind of study is just what I need now, as I'm entering into this building career because although I'm going to build in the Sunhearth/Bear Meadow tradition, I can see a well-decorated Sunshine Wave model somewhere in the future.

The Bear Meadow machines are just pretty, there is no doubt. I like the carved scroll head the the curves of the instrument, as well as other fineries, such as the carved tail block and purfling. So as I grow as a builder I will make machines much like Bear Meadow, and I don't see changing any of the mechanics of the instrument anytime soon, as Dwain is so much more knowledgeable about that aspect--could be the time he spent in the Yale physics labs. But I do have a keen sense of aesthetics that I've honed since I was a child. Since this is the case, my contribution to the tradition, at least in the near future, will be something about the surface and decoration of the instruments. Will I use pyrography, tint the shellac and lacquer, carve into the back or top, use intarsia, or do something crazy like just paint them? I don't know how the art objects will take shape, but they will be that, for sure: art objects that can be played with.


I've gotten to play so many instruments including Sunhearth, Presnell, Mize, McSpadden, Ewing and other machines that were built during the folk revival. As I've told you, I've really been thinking about aesthetics and the machines that I'll make. One of my ideas is to do intarsia, as I've said. Well I also got to play a Conrad, who is doing really beautiful work on his dulcimers. I've gotten to play so many instruments, really. Of course, what I call playing others may call playing with. In fact, the tag line for our business will be "Folk art you can play with," and it will cover all of the stuff that we make!

So today we went to the birthplace of the Sunhearth, and, using the ancient water-drop technique, got to repair one of the instruments that live there. It was really nice to see the beginnings of my tradition. It really helps to reinforce the fact that I'm apprenticing with the right builder. I really am honored and humbled that he has taken me on with the intention of me carrying on his mantle. Amazing, just amazing.

Richard is a musician, and he has a wide variety of instruments, some of which I don't know what they are called. And he can play most of them. The only one that he said he cannot conquer is his seven string banjo from the late 19th century. Val said that she'd take a crack at it, but there was some
difficulty getting in tune. We got it pretty close on some of the strings because the pegs need to be hammered out and then put back in. Still, she got Old Joe Clark and some other tunes out of it. It was great to see her working it! She also took a shot at playing a nyckelharpa, but she didn't have much luck with that. But, as is apt to happen in a musician and instrument dealer's house, there was a violin builder that visited.

Frank Russo, whose been building violins for some time, came by to help out with some ebony needs. Frank was on his way through town, and he offered to lead Richard to his house so that Richard could get the ebony wood. Well, when Frank got there Richard said take a look at this. Frank lit up when he saw it, and he went to town. There wasn't much time, and there is a pretty steep learning curve with this machine; but Frank had it making some pretty noises after only a few minutes. He promised to stop back by!

I got to ride into the Cove, which is so beautiful that I'm not sure I'd ever leave if I lived there, to visit Frank's shop and get the wood. It was really nice to see how he set up his shop. I think that I will have to plan more of these trips so that I can develop better shop skills.