Thanks for the replies. I just thought there might be an off-chance that someone here knew of him. I'll post some pictures when I'm not plumb wore out! We're six hours ahead of EST over here.
A few years ago, I was at the Niles Center at UK and got to see his dulcimers up close. Man, those things are wild! Apparently, he strung them with Black Diamond guitar strings. The frets appeared to be staples. He used them to strum as accompaniment. They were beautiful but also kind of crude, and according to most experts had pretty bad sound. I had the pleasure of speaking with his biographer, Ron Pen. He said he tuned one up once and tried to play it a bit. Anyone have any knowledge of Niles's dulcimers? They're fascinating to me.
What is a folk instrument is very much like the question "what is folk music"... it's a question that can be difficult to exactly define, and can be kind of subjective.
I always appreciated Big Bill Broonzy's definition: "All the songs I ever heard were folk songs, I never heard horses singin' any of 'em."
Hello! I live in Europe (born and raised in KY) and today I was browsing the website of a chain of music stores here called "Muziker." I was intrigued by the fact that their acoustic guitar section was divided into three sections: "dreadnought," "jumbo," and "folk." The first two were self-explanatory, but I was curious about the third. It seemed to be mostly parlor and 0-shaped guitars, with one very pretty archtop thrown in. Furthermore, I've heard banjo players here refer to longnecked banjos as "folk banjos." The plot thickens.
Hello, friends! New to the forums. I just wanted to ask if anyone here is familiar with a dulcimer maker from Deanefield, KY, named James C. Norris? I bought one of his dulcimers off eBay about 6 or 7 years ago, though not from him directly, afaik. It's a beautiful teardrop-shaped instrument with 4 heart and teardrop sound-holes and looks to be all apple or cherry wood. I believe the dot inlays are MOP. It's definitely handmade because the inlays are a little askew, lol. Despite its slightly rough-and-tumble appearance, it has a beautiful sound. It also has the 2nd and 10th fret of a traditional mountain dulcimer bisected with an additional fret.
Anyway, there's a sticker visible on the inside with the handwritten name "James C. Norris" and "Deanefield, KY." It also identifies the instrument as "#10," and that it was made in 2001. I have googled all this information several times over the years with zilch to show for it. It's driving me 'round the bend. Deanefield is in Ohio County, south of Owensboro, in Bill Monroe country. I thought if anyplace could help me, this could! Thanks!
