Forum Activity for @steve-c

I do like Dusty’s idea of a Spring date, but I also agree with Richard on a set day.  But think of this…Aaron Copeland’s great masterpiece Appalachian Spring was based on the Shaker tune Simple Gifts..played by many dulcimer players around the world.  To me it speaks to what the Appalachian dulcimer is all about.  The dulcimer is a simple gift, easy to play and yet whether you play traditional noter drone or fancy finger picking with chords..the instrument just sounds wonderful!  I never thought of it but our beloved dulcimer is just that, a gift.

Good thoughts Stumelia! I think myself Appalachian refers best to the region of its development and initial usage.  Though most have moved away from this name to Mountain dulcimer.  But if we want to give a nod to its history International Appalachian Dulcimer Day might worth considering.

Robin, We can make it International Mountain Dulcimer Day.  By doing this we can give a shout out in the news releases to its European ancestors.

Ok Stumelia suggested a poll to get some sort of consensus.  If we can agree on a date and a title for the day: National (Mountain, American, etc.,) Day, I can register it and will take care of the fees, if any, and we can begin promotional press releases.  I have looked and no such day exists in the archives so we can get this done.  I’m not rushing this just letting you know the processs.

Good point Leo!  I think the instruments are from such different origins that most will understand.  But certainly, we need to clarify which dulcimer we mean.

You can learn to edit images for Wikipedia, but you must register to do so and learn their basic tools for editing.  For images they must be free to upload, most images are not, but certainly one could easily create a free image of an American Dulcimore to use.

Here is a site for establishing a National Day.  It requires an application from an organization and you have options if you want them to promote it.  I don’t know how solid they are but will check them out..

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/register-a-national-day/

By the way..SEO is Search Engine Optimization work.  There are specialist who can make your site come up when ever anyone searches for dulcimer.

Here are suggestions (I looked this up) for creating a National day:

How to Create a Special Day:

Anyone can create a special day. The tough job, is to gain recognition. Here are some tips for getting your special day created and recognized:

• Create the name for your special day.

• If you are going to make a "National" day, see National Days Definition below.

• Define what the day is all about, why it is created, and what people should do to observe the day.

• Assign a date that it is to be celebrated. It could be a fixed date, or vary. If it varies, make sure it is well defined.

• Identify the creator(s) and the date it was created. The date created is sometimes different than from the dated celebrated.

• Using all of the information and definitions from the above steps,  create a website for your special day.

• The URL should be the title of the day, if possible.

• Add relevant pictures to the website.

• Now comes the hard part... getting your new special day and the website recognized.

• We recommend SEO work.

• Also, email existing holiday calendar websites, announcing your special day, and provide the link to your website.  

National Days Definition:

Of particular note is the growth of "National Days". The word "National" is being added to an overwhelmingly large number of proposed and recently created days. The word "National" has even been added by some holiday calendar websites for special days that were not created as a "National" day! This causes confusion as to the whether or not, a special days is in actuality a national day. 

Interesting link listing national instruments of each country, the United States is listed with two entries the Appalachian dulcimer and the banjo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_instruments_(music)

I appreciate all that has been said, but if too much emphasis is put on Jean and the Kentucky dulcimer we may, unintentionally, leave out the Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio players and their respective historical collections.  Virginia has the oldest dulcimers and possibly is the place of origin for the dulcimer as we know it.  Not to mention players in other regions.  I feel that if it’s going to be a Dulcimer Day it should be about the Dulcimer.  I still think Jean Ritchie needs and deserves her own day and there is no reason that there cannot be both a day to celebrate her and her legacy and a day that celebrates our beloved instrument.  

I love the idea of Jean’s birthday, but my concern is that puts the day in the midst of the holiday season and it might get lost in all the events going on at that time.  If we wanted to schedule a big event for that day it might be challenging with everyone’s holiday plans.  But, I agree that Jean is certainly the most influential leader of the dulcimer world.  I still play her records every week and sing her songs.

here is another thought, Jean died on June 1, 2015, that would put the celebration in the midst of dulcimer festival season…might be easier for events…just thinking out loud…

Of course we could consider the earliest authenticated dulcimer with a date of….drum roll please…John Scales, Jr. August 28, 1832 which could also coincide with play your dulcimer on front porch day…which that dulcimer will be 190 years old this summer.  In ten years it will be two hundred years old..big celebration..

Jean Ritchie was born on December 8, 1922….is a possibility. Is that what you were thinking?

Hope you all had a happy thanksgiving!  

Great article Kevin63!

Well it’s not a Stockard, Gary Galileo says he has no idea who built it.

I know of a fully chromatic dulcimer he built in 2007 that is number 217. 

I’ve just learned that Gary Gallier, John’s son-in-law has an early Stockard that has wooden pegs.  

Does anyone know how many dulcimers John Stockard built? I picked this one up and it is super nice to play and sounds amazing.

 djpitiis8secexsmeopy.jpeg - 29KB

Looks like it could have been an early John Stockard?  

I lived there myself and have family there.  There were more than a few dulcimers around there.  I have one that is supposed to come my way, it was built in the 1940’s and is fully fretted.  Chet lived outside of town, not sure exactly where.  He said his first one wasn’t very good.  Didn’t start building seriously until he moved to Dayton.

Great find!  I own two of Chet’s instruments.  Yours was called his Masterpiece dulcimer.  Ron Ewing apprenticed under Chet and can tell you more about him.  There is a bio of Chet in Jean Ritchie’s book Dulcimer People.  He built his first dulcimer in 1935 as a teenager in Chillicothe, Ohio. 

I think I find the song below mournful, because the words all sound beautiful, though the tune is very haunting, then at the end it says all this will be "When you lie still."

The World is Old Tonight.

I have a Blevins large bass or something kind of dulcimer.  It has wooden tuning pegs.  Pretty amazing instrument.