Friends, I just received word that Mike Slone who worked with the Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming in Hindman, KY died. I copied this from the Appalachian Artisan Center Facebook post:
Arrangements for our dear friend and accomplished luthier apprentice, Mike Slone will be at Nelson Frazier Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday January 4th six to nine p.m. and visitation on Saturday. Funeral will be Sunday January 6th at eleven a.m. with burial in the Slone Family Cemetery.
Mike Slone was a tenacious student of local musical heritage and in particular, of the dulcimers of "Uncle Ed" Thomas and McKinley Craft. In 2012, he began making quality replicas of these significant instruments at the AAC Luthiery and in 2014 was granted a KY Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant to further this work. He became a certified Community Scholar through the Kentucky Arts Council. He was a major contributor and curator of the Museum of the Mountain dulcimer, on permanent display in AAC's Cody building, and he coordinated the Hindman Dulcimer Festival in 2014 and 2015.
Mike Slone was the co-recipient of the 2016 Kentucky Governors Award in the Arts on behalf of the AAC's Hindman Dulcimer Project.
We hold Mike Slone's family in our hearts as we honor the memory of a "true original". A strong voice in the telling of the story of this region.
My sympathy goes out to Mike's family and friends. He was an enthusiastic proponent of the mountain dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
