This information is now current for Dulci-More Festival 24 in 2018
Dulci-More Festival 24
Concert, Mini-Concert, Workshop
Presenters & Vendors
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Link to Online
Registration Page
(Online registration page will be taken offline around
Updated
(Some Presenters Will Only Be at the Festival One Day As
Indicated in the Schedule)
Concert, Mini-Concert,
& Workshop Presenters
Les
Gustafson-Zook, from Goshen, Indiana, is a popular autoharp instructor and
performer, appearing at many festivals and music schools in the U. S. since
1990. Les won the 1989 National Autoharp Championship and the International
Autoharp Championship at Winfield, KS in 2001. Les founded the Willamette
Valley Autoharp Gathering with a group of his students in 1994. He has taught
at Augusta Heritage Center, John C. Campbell Folk School, Kentucky Music Week,
Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, Walnut Valley Festival, Sore Fingers Summer
School, and many other festivals across the U.S. In 2014 he was inducted into
the Autoharp Hall of Fame. He is known for his clear and encouraging teaching
style, his fast, clean picking of fiddle tunes, his energetic performance, and
for his sensitive arrangements of hymns, waltzes, and Christmas carols.
Les has
recorded six CDs, is a core member of a contradance band called Band ‘o Goshen
and often performs with his wife, Gwen. When not doing music, Les works for
Mennonite Central Committee (mcc.org), an international relief, development and peacemaking
organization, and volunteers with a non-profit bicycle shop called Chain
Reaction Bicycle Project (crbp.org).
Les performed at
Dulci-More Festivals 11 & 15.
Hickory Cathedral is the
chamber folk duo of David Mahler and Paul Friesen-Carper. They met in 2017
touring some of the best halls in China and the US as part of Silk Cedar, a
Chinese-American folk-jazz fusion dulcimer band that paired 2004 American
Hammered Dulcimer Champion, David Mahler, with world-renowned yangqin (chinese
dulcimer) virtuoso, Liu Yuening. Working together they discovered a shared love
of folk music and hatched the plan for Hickory Cathedral.
This new collaboration
explores the unique combination of David’s masterful hammered dulcimer playing
and Paul’s fiddle-influenced cello style – and occasionally draws on their
talents as multi-instrumentalists. Their playing brings to life the fire and
warmth of North American and Celtic traditional music with prowess, exuberance,
and intimacy. The soul of Hickory Cathedral is building community through
shared music-making and inspiring the imagination with virtuosity.
The duo plays concerts in
a wide variety of venues and is available for festivals, workshops, weddings,
schools, events, studio work, jams, and collaborations.
David Mahler, a
Paul Friesen-Carper is the
Cantor at
David was previously with
us for Dulci-More Festival 19.
Sally Rogers began her
career as a full-time touring musician in 1979, after encouragement from Stan
Rogers, the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter. That was followed by an invitation from
Garrison Keillor to appear on A Prairie Home Companion. She appeared more than
a dozen times on that show, which launched her performing career. Her travels
have since taken her to
Sally started playing
dulcimer in 1973 after seeing one being played at a festival in
Sally has released
thirteen albums, not including several collaborative projects with other
artists and with students. Her first album, The Unclaimed Pint, has stood the
test of time and continues to be a big seller. Her most recently released
albums have been with her singing partner, Claudia Schmidt. They celebrate over
35 years of performing together.
Although much of
Sally was with us for
Dulci-More Festival 16. Expect her to share part of her concert set with
Claudia Schmidt.
Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform throughout the
Sparky and Rhonda are sure to deliver an
uplifting presentation of toe-tapping music spiced with humor, history, and
tall tales. They take their audience on an educational and emotional journey
that ranges from poignant stories of slavery and war to an amusing rendition of
a Brer Rabbit tale or their witty commentaries on current events. Their music
includes a variety of old-time blues, slave songs, Appalachian music,
spirituals, ballads, work songs, Civil War music, railroad songs, and a few of
their own original compositions.
Over forty years of performing, Sparky and
Rhonda have performed at the
The Ruckers have been featured tellers at the
Sparky and Rhonda weave their music into
captivating stories that the history books don’t always tell, and they share
this knowledge in many schools, colleges, and libraries. Their educational programs span over
three centuries of African-American history, including slavery, the Underground
Railroad, the Civil War, the birth of blues music, and the civil rights
movement. Each era is interspersed with stories and popular songs from the time
period, celebrating the diversity of the nation's history. They are also
available for author visits
to schools and libraries.
While this is
their first Dulci-More Festival, they performed for the Dulci-More Concert
Series in December of 2017.
More than 4 decades as a touring professional have found Michigan
native Claudia Schmidt traversing North America as well as Europe in venues
ranging from intimate clubs to 4,000 seat theatres, and festival stages in
front of 25,000 rapt listeners. She has recorded nineteen albums of mostly
original songs, exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms featuring her acclaimed
12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer playing.
For more than four decades Claudia Schmidt has been exploring the
nuances of acoustic music with her voice, 12 string guitar, and mountain
dulcimer with an exciting collection of original, traditional, and contemporary
writing. From small clubs to large concert stages, her craft is at its height
in live performance. She has been featured on PRI's A Prairie Home Companion,
Mountain Stage, a television documentary on KTCA-TV in St. Paul called "I
Sing Because I Can't Fly", and has written music for and acted in the
musical "Bag Lady Tendencies" with Friends Mime Theater in Milwaukee
and Frank Galati's production of "Good Person of Szechuan" at the
Goodman Theater in Chicago, for which she won a Jefferson Award. All those
elements of performing are brought to bear at a Schmidt performance as she
mines the humor and poignancy of our lives and shapes it into a 'one-woman
revitalization movement', as a journalist from Oakland, Ca. described her. The
stage is her natural habitat, and every member of her audience is made to feel
welcome and energized by her presentation.
Hers is a quirky and wonderful hodge-podge (her word!) of music,
poetry, story, laughter. drama, and celebrating the moment. Work in clubs,
theaters, festivals, TV, radio has added depth and dimension, and since she has
always included her original work along with very personal versions of the work
of others, what you get is a unique look at the world from someone who says
what she sees with clarity, humor, and wonder. The San Francisco Bay Guardian
said: Schmidt's shows are a lot like falling in love. You never know what's
going to happen next, chances are it's going to be wonderful, every moment is
burned into your memory and you know you'll never be the same again." More
succinctly, Garrison Keillor said "when Claudia sings a song, it stays
sung."
Claudia performed in September of 2017 for the Dulci-More Concert
Series, but this is her first Dulci-More Festival. Expect her to share part of
her concert set with Sally Rogers.
DeeDee travels the
Dee Dee has been playing, performing, and
teaching the hammered dulcimer for over 30 years. She has 47 private students,
performs at school assemblies and concerts, and has taught workshops in the
This is her first Dulci-More Festival.
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. Since
October of 2014, Dulci-More also has DUH! Dulci-More Ukulele Hangout. DUH!
meets on the second Tuesday at 7:00 PM and the fourth Tuesday at 2:00 PM at the
First United Methodist Church of Salem. Playing all styles of ukes, they sing
along on a wide variety of songs and styles. They also welcome all levels of
players and singers, and they have loaner ukes available at meetings.
I, Marge Diamond began playing
dulcimer twenty-nine 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-seven
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.
Marge
has been part of all of our Dulci-More Festivals.
Sarah Goslee Reed is an accomplished
singer/songwriter and violinist with many years of performing and seven CDs of original
music to her credit. Originally from
Kerry Kean is a well-known area
instrumentalist and singer/songwriter and makes his home in
Sarah and Kerry were aware of and
admired each other's music for years, and they finally met and performed
together at Folknet's 2012 Rootstock concert. The decision to make it a regular
thing followed and the duo have been delighting audiences throughout central
and northeast Ohio with their original songs, as well as classic folk and
fiddle tunes.
Janet Harriman is a Dulci-More member
who moved from Alliance, OH to North Chili, NY several years ago. On her own as
a Dulci-More member and as a member of Humours ’n Hammers, she has been
presenting hammered dulcimer workshops at Dulci-More Festivals for several
years. Beyond the hammered dulcimer, she has also regularly played flute with
Dulci-More and with Humours ’n Hammers.
Janet has always loved music, and
began her journey into its beauty and intricacies as a young child, as there
was always music around her in the home. Sixth grade found her beginning flute
in school, and from that she taught herself to play piano. High school and
college furthered her skills. Since that time she has played piano for church
singing, choirs, solos, and small groups. She has participated in community
bands and orchestras, as well as small folk music groups. She has taught music
in schools, and learned to play many instruments. It was in 2002 that she first
heard the Hammered Dulcimer, and it was "Love at First Hammer!"
She currently writes and arranges
music, as well as performs it, and teaches music, piano and other instrument
lessons, music theory classes, and workshops at festivals. She has written a
book of hymn arrangements for Hammered Dulcimer, as well as a book of original
tunes. Her most intense endeavor has been writing a book on Music Theory for
Hammered Dulcimer players. She also completed a book of Christmas tune
arrangements, titled Sparkle. She currently plays
in "Striking Strings" out of the Eastman Community Music School in
Rochester, NY, (currently her home town) with Mitzie Collins as director. Janet
also plays with her daughter, Jessica Austin, as Dually Noted. Janet’s articles
on hammered dulcimer have regularly appeared in Dulcimer Players News. She has
presented workshops and done mini-concerts for Dulci-More Festivals 11-14, 16,
17, and 19-22. For the Dulci-More Festival 24 mini-concert, Janet is including
her daughter, Jessica Austin, on stringed instruments. Together they are Dually
Noted. Once again, Jan Douglass may accompany.
The Hired Hands or Allison Miller
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, 18 (featured in an evening
concert that year), 19, 20, 21, and 22. They also played for the Dulci-More
Concert series in December of 2012. They are returning for Dulci-More Festival
23. 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
Sairey Miller
has studied the Suzuki piano method under Mary Louise Foster for ten years, and
discovered her love of traditional music when she began to play harp at age
eight. She has taken workshops at the Ohio Scottish Arts School, 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 completed
two Bachelor’s Degrees in Biology and Philosophy
and is currently pursuing
Laura Miller
has studied the Suzuki piano method under Mary Louis Foster since age six, and
picked up the violin at age 10. She attended the
Micah Miller
has studied the Suzuki piano method under Mary Louis Foster for the past nine
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. She plays many local
gigs and sessions, most recently being involved in a musical recording project
for Christendom College in Front Royal, VA, where she is currently studying.
Maggie Miller
began playing the piano at age 6 and found her niche in the traditional music
scene when she picked up the tin whistle two years ago. She enjoys performing
with the family band and has attended tin whistle workshops at the Celtic
Roots Festival in
Since they are
coming from their current locations all around the country, we may not know how
many of them will be with us until shortly before the festival.
Bill
Locke
Bill
Locke
For over fifty
years Bill Locke has been entertaining audiences with his music
which includes old-time dulcimer, guitar, and banjo, as well as ragtime guitar
and spirituals. Bill grew up in the
Brett
Ridgeway's philosophy is that "anyone can make music, regardless of age,
musical ability or knowledge!” Brett teaches several workshops throughout the
tri-state area and is a full-time musician/instructor. He currently teaches
hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, bluegrass banjo, clawhammer banjo,
beginner acoustic guitar and mandolin. He currently has a lesson series
available on YouTube and also
teaches lessons via Skype and FaceTime. He has been a featured teacher and
performer at the
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.
Rich & Kathy Small
Rich
and Kathy Small are folk singers and instrumentalists from
Stringed Fantasy
Stringed
Fantasy returns from the Canton-Massillon and beyond area. Current members
include Rosalind Wilson, Alma Houston, Greg Zuder, Nancy Koenig, Sue Wheeler,
and (not expected at this year’s festival) Linda Hill 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, 18, 19, 20, 21, & 22.
Mark Alan Wade
performs
throughout
One of Mark’s
first times teaching and performing at a festival was for Dulci-More Festival
2, and he has been back to perform and teach at Dulci-More Festivals 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 15, and 20.
Alice
Whitehill is a Dulci-More member from
Additional Workshops are planned by Jim Stone, Jim Miller,
John Hockett, and members of DUH! (Dulci-More Ukulele Hangout) Becky Hawkins, Jean Linton, Bonnie Lutz,
and maybe others.
Unkle John Hockett
‘Unk’ is
really John Hockett, 91 year old retired oceanographer/college professor. ‘John
has been a fan of folk music for 60 years; a custom builder of dulcimers; he stopped
taking orders after selling #1000. He now has tabbed 321 pieces for dulcimer.
‘Unk’ presents
concerts of dulcimer music and stories very suitable to older folk since the
music and tales reflect earlier days. The tales he tells are often drawn from his
father’s Virginia hills
boyhood, most are true.
Thanks to Tom Ball for
being the Emcee for the Mini-Concerts.
Tom Ball
with Just Plain Folk
Wild Carrot with Tom Ball for Just Plain Folk at
Dulci-More Festival 19
Special
thanks go to Tom Ball of Just Plain Folk (previously a radio
program and then a webcast at www.twistintomradio.com)
for the support he has shown us by having Bill Schilling and other guests on the
radio show to help promote Dulci-More Festival 6-21 as well as special
Dulci-More events. The weekly show, which features recorded music, the Mountain
Rose report, and live music from guests from the local area and beyond, with
about 3 programs available at any time on the web. Starting with Dulci-More
Festival 9, Just Plain Folk recorded a live interview for later
broadcast as one of the workshops at the festival. Since Dulci-More Festival 10
they have done two different workshop interviews each year. Maureen Sellers
even put out a CD with the material from her Just Plain Folk show. We had Tom
as the emcee for the mini-concerts for Dulci-More Festival 22 and expect to
have him back for Dulci-More Festival 23.
Performers & Performance Order Subject to Change as Needed
Mark Wade, Dan Landrum, & Audience at Dulci-More Festival 20
Festival Vendors (not
all confirmed yet)
Alice
Whitehill (Stitches & Strings)
Alice Ann Whitehill will be back
again for Dulci-More Festival 24 with stock from Stitches and Strings.
Dulci-More
Members
Several Dulci-More
members are expected to have a variety of accessories and used instruments for
sale.
Brett will have a
variety of his own CDs and those he has recorded with Phyllis Woods Brown as
well as books and musical accessories. He also vended for Dulci-More Festival
22 & 23.
Unkle John
Unkle John Hockett
will have some music and accessories available at 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.
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Contact
Information
Bill Schilling,
Dulci-More Festival Director
234-564-3852
234-564-DULC