This information is now current for Dulci-More Festival 18 in 2012.
Dulci-More Festival 18
Concert, Mini-Concert, Workshop
Presenters & Vendors
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Updated May 16, 2012
Concert,
Mini-Concert, & Workshop Presenters
Cathy Barton and Dave Para have
created dynamic performances acclaimed for 25 years for their variety and
expertise in vocal and instrumental music. They have celebrated the musical
traditions and folklife of Missouri and the Ozarks in festivals, clubs, concert
halls, schools, and studios across the U.S. and Europe. Their audiences are as diverse
as their repertoire.
A versatile duo, Dave and Cathy play
several stringed instruments including hammered and fretted dulcimers, banjo,
guitar, and autoharp, as well as "found" instruments like bones,
spoons, mouthbow, and leaf. Their concerts present a range of music from the
lively dance tunes they have collected in their home region to old ballads to
new songs. They have conducted several instrumental workshops as well as those
about songs from the Civil War, from American rivers, old gospel songs,
children's songs, and Christmas music.
Putting the song before the singer,
Dave and Cathy are caretakers of a long musical heritage, and they are known
for deep understanding and affection for traditional music. They also keep
their minds and ears open as the roots and branches of folk music run deep and
spread wide. Missouri is a social and geographic meeting place, and its rich
cultural diversity continues to inspire Dave and Cathy’s music and broaden
their repertoire.
In their mission to introduce new audiences
to folk music, Dave and Cathy have participated in the artists-in-education
program for the Missouri Arts Council since the early 1980s. They have done
folk arts residencies and assembly programs in schools across the state. They
also created and serve as artistic directors of two annual folk festivals, the
Big Muddy Folk Festival, in their hometown of Boonville, and the Boone’s Lick
Country Folk Festival, in Arrow Rock,
Children of the folk revival, both
Dave and Cathy can credit older sisters with sparking their interest in folk
music in the early 1960s. Their life in rural Missouri has focused that
interest.
A recognized master of the frailing
banjo style Cathy has twice won the Tennessee Old-Time Banjo Championship. The
late Roy Acuff
often called her his "favorite banjo player" because her playing
reminded him of earlier country music sounds. Cathy can also be credited for
some of the growing interest in the hammered dulcimer in the Midwest. In the
mid-1970s, she introduced it to the Walnut Valley
Festival in
While earning college and graduate
degrees in humanities and folklore, Cathy worked as an assistant folklorist at
the Ozark Folk
Center in
Dave Para took his sister's guitar to
classes at the Old Town
School of Folk Music in his hometown
Of their ten recordings, the first few
and most recent few were-self produced. In 1982 the Walnut Valley Occasional
called their Ballad of the Boonslick album "the finest
acoustic music heard this year." The release of their On a Day Like
Today album in 1986 for Folk-Legacy Records was a special achievement.
This small, family-run record company renowned for exceptional recordings of
important traditional and contemporary folk musicians has greatly influenced
Dave and Cathy and helped to inspire their study of traditional music in their
own community. Teaming up with the company's founders, Sandy and Caroline
Paton, they produced an album of lesser known Christmas music, 'Twas on a
Night Like This, which the American Library Association named a Notable
Recording in 1990. They have appeared on several other recordings with the
Patons, Ed Trickett,
Ramona Jones, Bob Dyer,
Wade Hampton Miller, Jay Round and Ron Penix, Judy Domeny, and Lisa Redfern.
In 1993 and again in 1995, Dave and
Cathy conspired with friend and musician Bob Dyer to produce two landmark
recordings of songs from the Civil War in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas, Johnny
Whistletrigger, and Rebel in the Woods. Both albums were
named "Notable Recordings" by the American Library Association.
These two albums have gained the trio
wide respect among Civil War historians in the region and put them in demand
for seminars and performances at national parks, re-enactments, and historical
meetings throughout the state, including the third funeral for Jesse James in
1995, after the remains of the famous outlaw were exhumed for DNA testing.
This will be the first Dulci-More
Festival appearance for Cathy & Dave.
The Hired Hands are a very local group
for our festival (living about a mile from the festival site) and have attended
some workshops at the festival in the past as well as a couple of Dulci-More
meetings over the years. Their preference is for Scottish music (with some
Irish and other Celtic music mixed in). Dulci-More Festival 15 was the first time
that some of the group members gave workshops at a festival, and they were back
for Dulci-More Festival 16 & 17. They are returning for Dulci-More Festival
18 after many who heard them the past three years asked us to make sure to
bring them back and to feature them for a year in one of our evening concerts.
These sisters from the Miller family include:
Allison Miller began her musical
career at age three with Suzuki piano lessons under the tutelage of Carol
Wunderle, and although she continued to play piano for the next thirteen years,
she picked up the harp at age fourteen and began to explore the traditional
music scene. She attended workshops at the Ohio Scottish Arts School and, after
completing an undergraduate degree in biology, had the opportunity to pursue
post-graduate studies in Clarsarch (Scottish small harp) and Scot's Song at the
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Allison taught
with the Comhaltas coinin Erin group in Scotland, has taught both privately and
publicly in America, and has appeared in concert in Scotland, Canada, and at
multiple venues in the States. She and Sairey play as a duo, The Hired Hands, and they released their
first CD, Something, in the
spring of 2009. She has just completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and
she hopes to bring both good tunes and ergonomic playing techniques to the
field.
Sairey Miller, currently a Senior at
Christendom College in Virginia, has played Suzuki piano under Mary Louise
Foster for ten years, but it wasn't until she began playing harp at age nine
that she truly discovered her love for traditional music. She has taken
workshops at the Ohio Scottish Arts School and at the 2007 Edinburgh
International Harp Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has had the privilege of
studying under such diverse musicians as Sue Richards, Ann Heymann, and Sharon
Knowles of the US, Wendy Steward, Catriona McKay, and William Jackson of
Scotland, and Robin Huw Bowen of Wales. She has competed extensively and was
awarded first place in the Master’s division at the National Scottish Harp
Competition in 2008.
Laura Miller (age 17) has studied the
Suzuki piano method under Mary Louis Foster since age six, and picked up the
violin at age 10. She attended the Ohio Scottish Arts School and was duly
converted to the realm of traditional music -- she now plays only Scottish,
Irish, Quebecois, and Welsh fiddle tunes. Since 2005, she has studied under
fiddle masters Andre Brunet of Quebec, Anna Wendy Stevenson and Mike Vass of
Scotland, and Ed Pearlman of Maine, and she has competed at the Ohio Scottish
Games, the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania, and most recently at the
2010 National Fiddle Competition in Virginia.
Micah Miller (age 16) has studied the
Suzuki piano method under Mary Louis Foster for the past ten years and picked
up the Anglo concertina in 2005. With the concertina she is mainly self-taught,
learning tunes by listening to CDs and playing with her sisters. In addition,
however, she has had the chance to take workshops with brilliant concertina
players such as Grainne Hambly, Caroline Keene, and Frank Edgley. The
lighthearted tone of her concertina may be heard on several tracks on the
family CD and she often joins her sisters onstage.
Maggie Miller (age 13) began playing
the piano at age 6 and found her niche in the traditional music scene when she
picked up the tin whistle three years ago. She enjoys performing with the
family band and has attended tin whistle workshops at the Celtic Roots Festival
in Goderich, Ontario. She has also branched out to the Irish low whistle, so
listen out for some lovely low undertones during the program!
Heidi Muller and Bob Webb perform an
eclectic mix of original songs, traditional tunes, and contemporary
instrumentals. From Charleston, West Virginia, their shows feature Heidi's
songwriting and crystalline vocals backed by both on guitar and Appalachian
dulcimer, and by Bob additionally on electric cello and mandolin. Heidi was a
well-known performer in the Pacific Northwest for two decades before moving
back home to New Jersey, when she met Bob at a Northeast Regional Folk Alliance
conference. Bob’s multi-instrumental talents at accompaniment (he’s a 9-year
veteran of the Mountain Stage Band) and skills as a recording engineer led to
their further collaboration, and they began performing together in 2003. Heidi
and Bob have appeared at the NewSong Festival, Augusta Heritage Center, Central
Florida Dulcimer and Autoharp Festival, Tumbleweed Festival, and Seattle
Folklore Society concerts and shared the stage with Bill Staines, Robin and
Linda Williams, Crooked Still, Kate Campbell, Johnsmith, and Small Potatoes.
They released their first CD together named Seeing Things in late
2005.
Seeing Things includes nine of Heidi’s original songs, a cover of “I
Will” by Lennon-McCartney and three instrumentals that reflect a sense of
place, stories and roots stretching from the Appalachians to the Pacific
Northwest. “Muller’s songs express down-to-earth sentiments in lovely poetry,”
writes Rich Warren of Sing Out! magazine. “She sounds like she
truly loves singing and wants nothing more than to share that with you.” The Victory
Review describes the new songs as “created from true heart... sweeter,
deeper and more meaningful than ever.” Two tracks were written with the
community of Big Ugly Creek, WV where Heidi wrote songs and collected oral
histories in 2004. This resulted in a book named Patchwork Dreams,
which was published in 2007. Described by Dulcimer Players’ News
as “one of the dulcimer community’s best songwriters and performers”, Heidi has
shared her music across the country for over 25 years, headlining at festivals
including Kerrville and South Florida Folk, and opening for such artists as
Nanci Griffith, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Tanglefoot, Bill Staines, and Jean
Ritchie.
Bob Webb has played cello and guitar
since childhood, and dulcimer and mandolin for over 20 years. He was a founding
member of Stark Raven that became the house band for the public radio show
Mountain Stage. In his years on the show, he accompanied musical stars Odetta,
Tom Paxton, Shawn Colvin, Arlo Guthrie, and many others. Bob is also a
recording engineer and producer. He has recorded CDs for YouTube phenomenon
Chris Cendana, jazz artist Ryan Kennedy, the Voodoo Katz, Comparsa, the
Contrarians, Bare Bones, Jon Wikstrom, and many others. He collaborated with
Kate Long on the production of the 2002 radio series In Their Own Country,
which was nominated for a Peabody Award, and the 2008 radio documentary Kettle
Bottom. A song he recorded for Ann Savoy was included in the 2006 movie
All the King’s Men. Bob is also known for his work with children
-- he directed programming at Great Oak Farm and Creative Capers kids’ camps in
WV, taught over 700 children and adults to make and play his “boximer”
cardboard dulcimers, and helped develop the Music Mentors program that provides
music lessons to at-risk children in Charleston, WV.
Heidi & Bob were with us for
Dulci-More Festival 11. As this is written in December 2011, they are on tour
in the Pacific Northwest promoting their newest CD, Light the Winter's
Dark.
Don Pedi is from Marshall, North
Carolina. He was with us previously for Dulci-More Festival 13.
Don Pedi's music sounds with a clear
melody and a pureness of spirit. It surpasses the boundaries of musical style,
unfolding a timeless expression of human creativity. For over forty years Don
has amazed and delighted audiences with his unique "Fiddle-Pick"
style of playing the dulcimer. Drawing on decades of association with many of
the best musicians in the southern mountains, as well as his deep commitment to
preserving the old music, Don carries on the tradition in an exiting and
innovative fashion. Rhythm and melody match the fiddles, up to speed, note for
note, creating an ancient sound, that strikes a chord with the most modern
listener.
Don won first place in the first
contest he ever entered at the 1974 Fiddler's Grove Festival, in Union Grove,
North Carolina. Before retiring from festival competitions in 1982, he had won
over thirty first place trophies and awards.
Don Pedi has performed with a great
many musical legends. He currently performs solo, as a duo with Bruce Greene, or in a group with
Bruce.
In 2003 Don represented Appalachia at
the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in
Don and his music appear in the
motion pictures: Songcatcher and The Journey of August King.
Since 1985 Don has served as an on air host at NPR
affiliate WCQS-FM in Asheville, NC. Close to Home features
Traditional, Old-Time, and Classic Folk music. The show airs on Saturdays from
8:00-10:00 pm. Listen locally on the radio, or streaming on the world wide web
at WCQS.ORG.
Don Pedi was born into a
musical family in Chelsea Massachusetts. On weekends, his grandfather, who died
before Don was born, would close his barber shop for business, and open his
home in the back as a gathering place for family and friends to share homemade
food, fellowship, and live music. Don's grandfather played guitar, mandolin,
and banjo. Don's uncle Frank made his living singing and playing music. Another
gifted singer is Don's dad. He'll burst into song at the drop of a hat.
Don got involved with the Boston area
folk music scene in the early sixties. 1964 was when he first laid eyes on a
dulcimer. It was being played by Richard Farina at a live performance by Mimi
and Richard Farina at the old Unicorn Coffee House in Boston.
The sound of the dulcimer proved most
alluring. That night in a conversation with Richard Farina, Don was convinced
that someday he would get himself a dulcimer and play it. Contemporary
performers like Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Joan Baez and others
attracted Don to the Newport Folk Festival. While there he was exposed to
traditional musicians like Frank Proffitt, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt,
Almeda Riddle, and such that were a major influence on his musical tastes.
By 1966 Don was traveling a lot. With
Cambridge as a base, he lived for various periods of time in different parts of
the country. In 1973, while living in the Colorado Rockies, Don met Tad Wright
and Keith Zimmerman, a couple of musicians from Asheville, NC. After hearing
Don play, they invited him to join them. He did, and they piled into Tad's 1969
Volkswagen mini-van and drove to North Carolina.
At first sight of the mountains around
Harmon Den and Fines Creek, Don knew he was home. He's pretty much lived in and
around Asheville from then on. Since settling in Western North Carolina Don has
been recognized as the man who could "really play" a dulcimer. He is
a pioneer in that his music has broken new ground and cleared a path for
others. In Don's hands, the dulcimer has been accepted as an instrument well
suited to playing traditional Southern Dance music. This was at a time when
most "Old-Time" musicians thought a dulcimer should be hung on a wall
with a pretty ribbon.
In 1991 Don and wife Jean moved to a
little farm in the mountains of Madison County, North Carolina. The area is
rich in traditional music and customs (neighbors still plow with mules and
horses). Don is at home.
Ranked
as the most influential dulcimer player of the last decade by readers of Dulcimer
Player News, Rick Thum has made his mark on every aspect of the
hammered dulcimer world. Rick is perhaps best known
from his latest album, “Front Porch Waltz,” and his festival performances,
which have regularly earned him the “most popular performer” title at the
largest national dulcimer festival. He brings a combination of passion and
friendly accessibility to his teaching that makes his workshops and master
classes favorites at festivals across the country, and has tapped this teaching
experience to produce the best-selling instructional CD series for hammered
dulcimer, the "Original Song of the Month Club". Rick is also the
designer of the highly-regarded line of hammered dulcimers bearing his name.
Yet for all his time in the studio, onstage, in the classroom, and in the
luthier’s shop, Rick is most at home at a late-night jam session, where you
might even find him playing an instrument other than the dulcimer from time to
time.
Rick Thum taught himself to play guitar and
drums at age twelve and played the trumpet in his high school band. Throughout
high school and college (B. S. Industrial Administration) Rick played in rock
bands, eventually playing regularly on the upper deck of the Admiral in St.
Louis. While raising his family Rick directed his church choir. Rick's interest
in traditional music was sparked when he bought a hammered dulcimer on a whim
and found himself in a three-piece folk band. In 1991 Rick became co-owner of a
large midwestern acoustic instrument shop. In 1994 he sold his interest in the
shop to devote more time to being a traveling musician. He placed first at the
1994 Southwest Regional Dulcimer Contest and third in the 1995 National
Championship at
Rick is from
Ed Trickett
Ed Trickett will be coming to us from
his home in the Chicago area. He was previously with us for Dulci-More Festival
11. Over the years, he has been described as a singer’s singer who has the
ability to take a song, get to the heart of it, and share all of it with
others. He accompanies his singing with thoughtful and delicate playing on 6
and 12 string guitars and on the hammered dulcimer. Ed says:
I have been collecting and performing
folk songs for over 40 years. My early musical influences were Frank Profitt,
Larry Older, Bob and Evelyn Beers, George and Gerry Armstrong, and Howie
Mitchell. Later I learned from and sang with a number of other musicians whose
commitment and talent were extraordinary: Gordon Bok, Bob Coltman, Cathy
Barton, and Ann Mayo Muir. Each taught me that it’s the song, not the singer,
that’s important. Over the years I’ve performed in coffee houses, colleges,
folk music festivals, and varied other occasions in the United States, Canada,
and the British Isles. I have also had the opportunity of appearing on several
wonderful radio programs across the country, including Garrison Keillor’s
Prairie Home Companion (St. Paul, MN) and Rich Warren’s Midnight Special
(Chicago).
I’ve learned hundreds of songs, and
probably forgotten as many as I know. My repertoire ranges from traditional
ballads to songs of the sea, labor songs, songs of love, and parodies. I am not
a song writer. I am a song finder and a song crafter. I gravitate toward
beautiful melodies and good stories. While I play primarily 6 and 12 string
guitar, I also play the hammered dulcimer, which I use primarily as an accompaniment
instrument. Singing with the hammered dulcimer is a little like rubbing your
stomach and patting your head while singing. My recording efforts began in 1964
with the Golden Ring (Folk Legacy #16), a loose collection of friends who used
to gather in the living room of George and Gerry Armstrong in Wilmette,
Illinois. I’ve been part of 4 other ensemble recordings since then, as well as
recording 4 solo albums, the most recent of which is Echo on the Evening Tide
(Azalia City Recordings). In addition, for 26 years I sang with Gordon Bok and
Ann Mayo Muir, out of which came 10 CDs. I’ve also had the privilege of
accompanying a number of wonderful musicians, including Don McLean, Rosalie
Sorrels, Mark Spoelstra, Sara Grey, Sally Rogers, Cathy Barton & Dave Para,
and Joe Hickerson.
My greatest musical disappointment was
going to Woodstock in 1969 with Dave Bromberg and Rosalie Sorrels, getting
flown by helicopter at dawn and seeing all those people, but, in the final
analysis, not getting to play on what admittedly was one of the more minor
stages.
Bill Schilling is a high-energy folk-style singer and
multi-instrumentalist who believes that this type of music should be inclusive.
He is the founder and leader of Dulci-More and the Dulci-More Festival and a
member of many other groups, which share or support the music. At Dulci-More
Festivals, he has performed solo and as Bill Schilling with Carol Ellis; Bill
Schilling, Linda Sigismondi, and Marge Diamond; Bill Schilling & Folks;
Threes Co.; Whistler's Lane; and presented his Schilling's Slides, Songs, &
Stories program. Bill has put together the music that Dulci-More uses and has
it available in several volumes and formats: Dulci-More Public Domain
Songbooks -- Volumes 1, 2, 3, Christmas Volume (all with numbers for
lap dulcimer melody strings as well as music, chords, and lyrics), Autoharp
Volume (with melody chord numbers in place of the dulcimer numbers), General Volume (with DAA Numbers)
which is the full size version of the four smaller volumes plus much
more material, Lyrics with Chords for
those who prefer not to have the written music, but want to play along, and Lyrics Only for those who just want to
sing along. The full size version is over 300 pages with over 300 songs.
Bill has released a CD, Songs
from Canal Days, with Linda Sigismondi and continues to threaten
to release more recordings upon the world. Since 2005 with Dulci-More members
Marcy and Dale Tudor, he has been the Music Coordinator and a regular
instructor for Folk Music at Weatherbury Farm,
the Tudor’s award winning farm vacation bed and breakfast in
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians is a club that
started in January 1993, at the First United Methodist Church of Salem. The
purposes of the club are to have fun with folk-style music and to share that
music with others. The club meets at 7:00 pm on the first Tuesday and Third
Tuesday (note: it was the third Wednesday until January, 2000) of each month
just off the sanctuary in the Unity Classroom of the First United Methodist Church
of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460. All levels of acoustic
instrumentalists and singers are always welcome at the meetings to jam, to
learn, to listen, or to perform. Call ahead if you are coming from far away
since performances or special meetings may be scheduled a few times a year on
regular meeting nights.
I, Marge Diamond began playing dulcimer
twenty-six years ago. Without any musical background, but with tons of
enthusiasm, I passed through the beginner stage. Progress was slow and quite
painful at times, but persistence began to pay off. By attending dulcimer
workshops when ever possible and hanging out with other musicians I began to
pick up some technique, learned to keep a fairly good beat, and began making a
few fiddle tunes my own.
Learning to play was an amazing thing for me, but then there are the
fantastic people I have met along with the tunes. I just would never have
believed that adults could come together to share music and have so much fun.
There is nothing to compare. For twenty-six years I have been doing this, and
it still feels new and fresh. I am still learning. There is love shared with
the learning of the music.
Currently Marge plays with The Oberlin Dulcimer Group and Dulci-More.
Marge has performed and taught Dulcimer workshops since 1987. She has been on
hand teaching and performing at all of the Dulci-More festivals, at most of the
Fort New Salem Festivals, at several of the Kent State Folk Festivals, and has
been on hand for some of the COFF festivals. Since retirement in 2003 Marge has
been pursuing her love of making art. With her business, Winsome Expressions, she makes airbrushed music themed shirts,
"Ultimate Totes", and other items for sale. Marge has one recording, Beyond Cabbage. which has
occasionally been available on CD.
Evening Rose includes Laura Elder
(guitar, mountain dulcimer, pennywhistle, concertina, voice), Kathy Smith
(hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, pennywhistles, guitar, voice), and Cindy
Wolfinger (guitar, mandolin, bodhran, banjo, percussion, bowed psaltery, voice)
playing a wide variety of styles to fit any occasion, but with a primary focus
on Traditional/Folk/Celtic music.
They feature a large variety of
instruments in their performances, which give depth and richness to their songs
and provide a perfect accompaniment to their harmonious voices.
Evening Rose has a distinct sound and
wide repertoire from joyous and upbeat reels and Irish jigs, to sorrowfully
haunting ballads and instrumentals making them a perfect compliment to
weddings, parties, organizational events, or any occasion where music is needed
- whether they are the front stage focus of the entertainment, or simply
providing background atmosphere.
They are from the Lancaster, Ohio
area. They have three CDs. This is their first time at our Dulci-More Festival.
Guy George is a rhythmic, melodic hammered dulcimer player
with a definite jazz influence to his playing style. He also plays saxophones,
flute, whistle, steel drum, and keyboard. His wife, Sharrie, performs and
records with him on the guitar and ukulele. Their CD is Dream Castle. Guy also is
included on Maddie MacNeil's CD, As
Time Goes By. Guy and Sharrie joined us from their home in
Concord, Ohio for Dulci-More Festival 7. Demetrius Steinmetz performed along
with Guy and Sharrie at Dulci-More Festival 8. At Dulci-More Festival 10, we
had Guy George with Tull Glazener. Since then, Guy and Tull have performed
together at several festivals. Guy and Sharrie along with Sue Rust joined us
for Dulci-More Festival 11, Guy and Sharrie were back for Dulci-More Festival
12, 15, 16, & 17, and Guy was on his own for Dulci-More Festivals 13 &
14.
Lisa & Heather Malyuk are celebrated performing artists
in the U.S. and abroad. These young musicians have received much positive
acclaim for their interpretation of old-time Appalachian, Celtic, world, and
original folk music. The girls' performances feature an articulate hammered
dulcimer coupled with inventive guitar playing and are spiked with dynamic
tunes on the fiddle and banjo uke. Lisa & Heather exude musical maturity
and ingenuity during their sets of eclectic folk tunes while preserving the
history of the music and carrying the traditions into the future. Their ever
growing repertoire of energetic reels and jigs, bittersweet waltzes, driving
international rhythms, and old-fashioned sacred music is a must hear!
Lisa & Heather were both home educated from
kindergarten through high-school which allowed them to focus their creative
abilities on music and the performing arts. Both girls were introduced to the
piano at age 4. A few years later, Lisa began taking flute lessons and Heather
began her study of the violin. After some time, Lisa became discontent with the
classical scene and had the opportunity to purchase a hammered dulcimer; the
instrument that was bought on a whim became the joy of her musical career. Lisa
began taking lessons from hammered dulcimer virtuoso, Tina Bergmann, and
quickly developed into a proficient player. It was not long before Heather
purchased a guitar in order to collaborate with Lisa in folk music. Heather
took guitar lessons from Tina Bergmann, as well, and joint lessons under Tina's
guidance encouraged the girls to explore and develop their take on traditional
folk tunes. While Lisa has shifted her entire focus to music on the hammered
dulcimer, Appalachian dulcimer, and banjo-uke, Heather has continued to
progress on violin, guitar, fiddle, and nyckelharpa. As well as staying
occupied with their busy performance and teaching schedules, Lisa & Heather
also pursue lives outside of music. Lisa is a Registered Dietitian and Heather
is completing her Doctoral degree in Audiology.
Lisa & Heather have independently recorded and produced
three folk albums, 13 Tunes, Summer's End and Stella
as well as Merry Christmas from Lisa & Heather Malyuk which
was released at Walt Disney World during the holiday season of 2009.
Lisa & Heather can be seen and heard at numerous music
venues, art galleries, coffee houses, wineries, farmers' markets, festivals,
and other cultural events throughout northeast Ohio and beyond. In 2005, Lisa
& Heather had the pleasure of appearing on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio
Hour in Lexington, Kentucky, and were privileged to participate in the first
annual Causeway Dulcimer Festival in Bushmills, Northern Ireland. Lisa placed
first in the Mid-Eastern Regional Hammered Dulcimer Competition in May 2006 and
went on to place fourth in the National Hammered Dulcimer Championships in
Winfield, Kansas in September 2006. Lisa & Heather have been among the
prestigious staff at both the Upper Potomac Dulcimer Festival in Shepherdstown,
West Virginia and the Great American Dulcimer Convention in Pineville,
Kentucky. The girls' notable past performances include the Kent State Folk Festival,
Dulci-More Festival in Lisbon, Ohio, the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville,
North Carolina, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, just to name a few.
Lisa & Heather Malyuk have received much positive acclaim during their
career thus far and look forward to continuing with many musical ventures in
the years to come.
Lisa & Heather are from Streetsboro. They played at
Dulci-More Festival 12.
George Mann is from Ithaca, New York.
This is his first Dulci-More Festival.
He says: I've been making music, "seriously," since 1998, when I teamed up with Julius Margolin and began a decade of fun and frustration, singing for the cause of unions and in eight years of protest against a stolen election and illegal president. Julius never once would concede that George Bush was president.... I accepted it and fought. We produced three CDs of our music and four CDs in the Hail to the Thief compilation series that ended, thankfully, with Farewell to the Thief! in 2008.
Along the way, we made a film about
Julius (A Union Man), got to know some wonderful people and
musicians, and played for people on both coasts and in between. When Julius
faced his final illness last in the summer of 2009, he did so with the love and
support from literally hundreds of people all over the world who knew of his
dedication, determination, and love for the struggle. Julius died on August 24,
2009, one week after his 93rd birthday, leaving me as a solo act. But he is and
will always be a part of my work and he has left an impressive body of work on
his own. See www.georgeandjulius.com for
more info about our work together.
As I write this in July 2010, I am
promoting both my new solo CD, Songs for Jules and Bruce, and the
veterans CD compilation Until You Come Home. You can find out
more about this compilation of songs that speak of the horrors of war and the
struggle of our military families at www.untilyoucomehome.com.
Gary & Toni Sager are from
Waverly, Ohio. They performed and did workshops for us at Dulci-More Festivals
12-17, as well as vending with Prussia Valley Dulcimers Acoustic Music Shop and
are back again to do all of those things for Dulci-More Festival 18.
Toni has been playing the autoharp for about eight years, after getting an Oscar Schmidt as a Christmas present. She had seen a lady playing one at the Fraley Mountain Music Festival at Carter Caves State Resort in Ky. and fell in love with the instrument. Toni mostly plays chord style as she plays along with husband Gary, who plays the mountain dulcimer. She has taught beginner workshops at several regional festivals. She really enjoys getting folks started on the autoharp. Toni and Gary have done occasional performances at several dulcimer festivals. Their recently released recording of instrumentals, Rats in the Fence Corner, features them with appearances by Doug Felt and Stephen Seifert.
Linda Sigismondi is a mountain dulcimer player and
folksinger from Gallipolis and director of the Fort New Salem Dulcimer
Festival. Her music includes traditional Appalachian tunes, traditional and
contemporary folk music, and some original compositions that feature
environmental themes. She has five mountain dulcimer books: Appalachian
Ballads & Songs, Songs from Canal Days, Christmas
Songs, Celtic Tunes, and Old Time and Fiddle Tunes.
Linda has released a recording, Songs
from Canal Days, with Bill Schilling and has companion
recordings for her other books. She also plays guitar, Native American flute,
Kratz zither, and MacArthur harp. Linda has taught workshops and performed at
many folk music festivals in West Virginia, Ohio, and New York. Linda has
played at Fort New Salem, West Virginia, for the Harvest and Christmas
Festivals for many years. She is a Dulci-More member, attending a few
activities a year even though she lives in Gallipolis. She has won many
competitions at Roscoe Village Dulcimer Days and other competitions. Linda has
been part of all of our Dulci-More Festivals.
Stringed Fantasy
Stringed Fantasy returns from the
Canton-Massillon and beyond area. Current members include Rosalind Wilson, Alma
Houston, Donna Johnston, Greg Zuder, Linda Hill, and Sue Wheeler with hammered
dulcimer, guitar, folk harp, violin, recorder, accordion, percussion, etc. They
enjoy playing Celtic, folk, civil war era, and a variety of music. Several are
Dulci-More members and some are members of the Canton Folk Song Society. Sue
and Roz started giving workshops at Dulci-More Festival 2, and Stringed Fantasy
has been with us for Dulci-More Festivals 3-11, 14, & 15.
Adam Sutch and Sutch Sounds will
return this year from Daisytown
Sutch Sounds performed at Dulci-More Festivals 12, 14, 15,
& 17.
What
would you call a person who is on a first name basis with almost all of the
major folk musicians in the North American continent, who has an astounding
grasp of the folk music genre both past and present, who manages to be a
husband, father, teacher, writer, and excellent folk music performer? The
answer, of course, is Matt Watroba.
Matt
brings a very special set of talents to the stage whenever he appears as a folk
musician. His excellent guitar playing, mellow voice, friendship with his
audience, and knowledge of his presentations is impressive. Add to that Matt’s
own special brand of humor and you are in for a most entertaining and
enlightening evening. You will feel his obvious love of folk music, both
traditional and contemporary--the writers and performers, the heroes and
villains. Matt sings songs of compassion, inner strength, humor, and every day
living. He sings songs that you will feel and remember for a long time. You
will love his music, you will love the journey that his music takes you on, and
you will love the place that his music takes you to.
His
love of folk music has led him to his position of "Folks Like Us"
radio host, a position he held for over 20 years on WDET-FM. He was awarded
"Best Overall Folk Performer" by the Detroit Music Awards for the
year 2000, and his long list of credits include the prestigious Ann Arbor Folk
Festival, the Detroit 300 celebration, The Ark, the Spirit of the Woods
Festival, the New Jersey Folk Weekend, Louisville’s Kentucky Music Weekend, and
hundreds of school and community presentations throughout the Great Lakes
Region. He has shared the stage with some of our greatest performers, including
Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Shawn Colvin,
Christine Lavin, Peter Yarrow, and Richard Thompson.
Matt
is also the host of the national radio program Sing Out! Radio Magazine, an
hour-long magazine format show featuring interviews as well as live and
recorded music. The program may be heard on many public radio stations, on XM
Satellite Radio in The Village, and it is streamed online at FolkAlley.com.
Matt is now from Kent, OH
where he is part of FolkAlley.com and WKSU-FM radio. He was with us last year
for Dulci-More Festival 17.
Alice Whitehill is a Dulci-More member from Hookstown, PA.
She has been a part of all Dulci-More Festivals. Alice sings and plays
dulcimers, autoharps, guitars, and more. She is often joined in performance by
Earl Whitehill (her husband), Rachel Huff (her daughter), Deb or Kristi Boyd,
or others. She also leads the Dulcimer Players of the Upper Ohio Valley. She
and Earl have won a variety of competitions at Roscoe Village Dulcimer Days.
Alice sells musical instruments and supplies as Stitches & Strings and is a
vendor at this Dulci-More Festival.
Additional Workshops by Tom Ball, John McAuliffe, Jim Stone,
Dulci-More Members (Don Blair, Leanna Dugan, Lynn McLeish, Jim Miller, Kathy
& Richard Small), Festival Vendors
Performers & Performance Order
Subject to Change as Needed
Festival Vendors
Alice Whitehill (Stitches & Strings)
Alice Ann Whitehill will be back again for Dulci-More
Festival 18 with stock from Stitches and Strings. Alice expects to have
a variety of instructional, song, and tune books for different instruments. She
will also have accessories including strings, stands, electronic tuners and
tuning clips, picks, and more. Alice also has several instruments in the shop
including lap dulcimers and Oscar Schmidt guitars and autoharps. Alice is a
Dulci-More member and has been a part of all of our Dulci-More Festivals. Alice
has regularly contributed prizes for our Name That Old Time (or Other) Tune
Contest and will do so again this year.
Guy George, in addition to performing this year, will also
be a vendor with products like Rick Thum hammered dulcimers, Chieftan pennywhistles,
mountain dulcimers, Fluke ukuleles, Steel Drums, some books and CDs, and more.
Guy has performed at five previous Dulci-More Festivals and started vending
with us at Dulci-More Festival 10.
Lynn McLeish
Lynn will have a selection of home made and other musical
accessories available for festival attendees. This is her third time vending at
a festival, but she was in charge of our Dulci-More Festival kitchen for
Festivals 13 & 14 and is once again a key part of the planning and working
group for this year’s festival.
Lois and Ken Mountz operated a framing gallery and art
store in downtown Salem for many years. They moved it from downtown Salem to
their home outside of Salem during 2008. A few years ago they added musical
instruments and accessories to their stock, and they say that Mountz Gallery is “where art and music
have come together.” They had been some of our major vendors for seven years in
a row. Since Ken passed away in 2011, Lois has been scaling back in her Mountz
Gallery stock, but she expects to have some of the T-shirts with her that she
has designed for several years for our festival as well as the beautiful
T-shirt she has designed for Dulci-More Festival 18. She is an active member of
Dulci-More. Mountz Gallery is located at 14996 Garfield Road, Salem OH 44460;
330-537-2143.
Prussia
Valley Dulcimers Acoustic Music Shop
Gary and Toni Sager were with us for the first time at
Dulci-More Festival 12 and this will be their fifth year with us. They have
been vending at festivals around the country for several years with the Prussia
Valley Dulcimers that Gary makes and many other products. After years of doing
that, they also opened their Prussia
Valley Dulcimers Acoustic Music Shop in Waverly, Ohio a couple of years ago
with a full stock of folk instruments, books, recordings, and accessories. The
shop is located at 122 North Market Street, Waverly, OH 45690; 740-941-1271.
Paul Conrad is from Holmes County, Ohio. He started
building mountain dulcimers for a while in the mid 70s, and he returned to
building them in 2005. He mixes woods in visually stimulating patterns on some
of his dulcimers to give them a unique look. He has taken his dulcimers to
several festivals. This is Paul’s fourth time at a Dulci-More Festival.
Rick Thum builds
the Rick Thum Professional 17/17 hammered dulcimer in a design that is fully
chromatic without adding extra bridges. They can include dampers. He also
carries some accessories as well as his recordings. This is his first time at
our Dulci-More Festival.
Sara Mullins expects to have an area with some of the CDs
she has made over the years with her various instruments. She has called them In
Company of Friends. She was a vendor with us for many years along with her
husband, Jack, until he passed away. We look forward to welcoming her back to
the festival.
Marge Diamond will be back with Winsome Expressions including airbrushed music themed shirts and
other items for sale. Look for her latest "Ultimate Totes" with music
themes. Marge is based in
Contact Bill Schilling by e-mail.
Return to
Bill Schilling's Home Page.
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Schilling
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Contact Information
Bill Schilling, Dulci-More Festival Director
330-332-4420