I can't think of a better way to pass the time on the road (great acoustics too). Ya done good, Tom!

Really like the blues grew up with Loui Armstrong, you did very well.

Thanks

Thanks, Ken. I've enjoyed your work as well. Minus the lyrics, a song like this can be pretty boring after the second time through.

I'm working in Minneapolis (Eagan, really) for at least the next several months, but still living in Kentucky. I've always traveled for work, but this is unusual in that I'm teaching at the company training center instead of flying around to different locations. On the downside, the Holiday Inn here is in a bit of an industrial wasteland. So, nothing much to do in the winter but play music in my off time. On the plus, nice people on staff, and I can walk to work when the weather is good. And, the stairwell is semi-heated and has decent acoustics. if you are scouting them as music venues, you find that many are unheated, or have a lot of machinery or light fixture noise.

I play quite a bit at home, but making videos is mostly an on-the-road hobby. I've shot so many vids in hotel rooms that I sometimes feel the need to point out that no, that crummy carpet in the background is not in my house. Most of my stuff lately is copyright material, so it winds up in the Rockin in the Free World group, or doesn't get posted here at all. I'm sure I'll be adding more. In the meantime, I've just created a Hotel Stairwell Concert Series playlist on youtube. Enjoy!

Wow, thanks Dusty!

I don't have much confidence in my singing, and tend to mess it up. Am empty stairwell and my phone for an audience, and there are still a bunch of jump cuts to take out the bad spots.

Indeed, DAd in Bm. Really easy to play using these (non-copyrighted) chords , with nothing needed above the third fret. I did find slightly different lyrics that I liked better, and threw in an F#m during the big "dulcimer hero" part towards the end.

I don't have tab, but there are a few specific techniques used. One is the F#7 chord at the end of the second line. I form that by barring the 2nd fret melody and middle with my thumb, and fretting the 1st fret middle and bass with my index and middle fingers. Obviously, you don't really need to fret the same string in two places. But doing so gives you a very stable hand position. (This chord shape works well for most any 7th chord on a dulcimer). Also, you are set up in advance for the Bm chord that starts the third line. Just pick up the thumb and slide or pull-off & hammer the index from the first to second fret while the middle string rings.

The other thing I'm doing a lot of is tapping the middle string, first fret. Last, there are some hammer-ons on the bass string as I move to and between Bm and G.

If anyone is interested, I can do one of those traditional headless dulcimer player videos so you can see the fingering style.

Tom, great to see someone else putting up videos with singing. What hotel are you in? You have right sound and feel for that old song. Are you going to do more in your "hotel stairway series"?

Are you in DAd playing in Bm? That's really nice! I wouldn't have thought to try this tune on the dulcimer, but it totally works. And your voice fits this old blues really well. You sound like a cross between Louis Armstrong and Tom Waits.