Heidi Muller

I'm a touring performer, workshop instructor, and singer/songwriter. I started out teaching myself guitar when I was eleven years old and took up mountain dulcimer in 1984, introduced largely by my friend Gail Finnie, who was learning from Lorraine Lee Hammond. I perform both solo and in a duo with my multi-instrumentalist partner Bob Webb, who was one of the original members of the Mountain Stage radio show house band. Though originally from New Jersey, I spent many years living in Seattle. Later I lived and taught children and adults in West Virginia, before finally moving back to the Northwest in 2012. Bob and I now live in Joseph, Oregon. Over the years, I've recorded 9 CDs, four of which are with Bob: Up Hurricane Creek, Dulcimer Moon, Light the Winter's Dark, and Seeing Things. I've also published a variety of dulcimer tab book & CD sets: Dulcimer Moon, West Virginia Fiddle Tunes, Dulcimer Duos, Fingerpicked Hymns, A Dulcimer Holiday, two volumes of Bill Staines songs (So Sang the River and Spirit Song) and two volumes of Waltzes.

I've always loved playing in the 4-equidistant style that I first learned, but I teach 3-string playing since that is the "common language" of dulcimer players. I like to jam on fiddle tunes and fingerpick pretty songs, as well as use the dulcimer for song accompaniment. I've been honored that my tune, "Leaving the Methow," appears on the Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer, Vol. II CD. Heidi & John Cerrigione also recorded my tune, "Winter's Turning," as the title cut of one of their CDs. I've taught at festivals around the country, including Kentucky Music Week, Melodies & Musings, Ohio Valley Gathering, Augusta Spring Dulcimer Week, Dulcimer Chautauqua on the Wabash, Gebhard Woods,  Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering,  Colorado Dulcimer Festival, S. California Dulcimer Heritage Harvest Festival, Gateway Dulcimer Festival, Ozark Folk Center, Northeast Dulcimer Symposium, and other eastern festivals from Vermont to Florida. Bob and I also organize the annual summer festival, Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas, held near Joseph, OR. For more information, please visit my website at  http://www.heidimuller.com .