Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians
Updated November 6, 2024
Dulci-More Members Performing at Dulci-More Festival 13, May 2007
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 by the Unity Classroom of
the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460
(see calendar link for summer meeting locations). All levels of acoustic
instrumentalists and singers are always welcome at the meetings to jam, to
learn, to listen, or to perform. Meetings are generally run as song circles
with most songs or tunes chosen from the Dulci-More Public Domain Songbook with
everyone joining in, but other choices are permitted and usually welcome as
well as solo or small group performances for an individual's selection. Most
members stay until at least
A calendar which should be kept
up to date regularly showing Meetings, Concerts, Workshops, Festivals, Events,
and More for Dulci-More may be available below (although it doesn’t seem to be
showing up in all browsers at this time) or in a larger format at: Dulci-More Google Calendar for your convenience (or for
those not seeing it below).
DUH! Dulci-More Ukulele
Hangout
DUH! Dulci-More Ukulele Hangout is on an
extended hiatus. Information will be updated here when or if it starts meeting
again. It was the newest auxiliary of Dulci-More sharing the enjoyment of
playing ukuleles and singing along with a wide variety of songs. Starting on
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 and going through June 2023, the group met from
1:00-3:00 PM on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month just off the
sanctuary in the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway,
Salem, Ohio 44460. Come join the fun! Follow the DUH! link for more information.
Dulci-More Concert Series
Meeting
Room of the Dale Shaffer Research Library
Of
the Salem Historical Society
239
South Lundy, Salem, Ohio 44460 Use Lundy Entrance & Municipal Parking Lot
across Lundy
Door
from Dale Shaffer Way (Was East Alley) Will Generally Be Locked
Fall 2024 Concert
Series
Performance
Free Event (Performers and Audience Welcome)
Michael Ronstadt & Serenity Fisher on
Singer-Songwriters
& Multi-Instrumentalists from
Admission
at Door – $10 per Person per Concert
Additional
$5 Total for All Children in a Family
No Advance
Reservations Needed
Check Link
from www.dulcimore.org
or
Contact
Bill Schilling at bill@dulcimore.org
or
234-564-3852
234-564-DULC
For More
Information
The Annual Dulci-More Festival was held on Memorial Day Weekend from 1995 through 2019. After postponements for two years, Dulci-More Festival 26 was finally cancelled on March 1, 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in the volunteers available to ensure being able to put on a quality festival. Check the link above for some information about what the festival was like. With this cancellation, there is the possibility that there will not be any future Dulci-More Festival and/or the possibility that if there is a future Dulci-More Festival that it might be in a much different format, at a different time of the year, and/or at a different location.
Dulci-More Anniversary Concerts
The Dulci-More Thirty-First Anniversary Anniversary has been postponed from the originally scheduled date of Sunday, February 4, 2024. Information will be posted here when it is rescheduled.
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians presented their Thirtieth Anniversary Concert at 2:00 PM on Sunday, February 5, 2023 in the Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460 for free. The theme for the concert was Songs of Land and Water. Dulci-More members sang and played songs and tunes connected to this theme. Many of the songs were great for group singing, and words were provided to encourage audience participation. Individual Dulci-More members sng and/or play mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, guitars, autoharps, fiddles, banjos, ukuleles, psalteries, bass, harmonicas, jug, and more. There were 15 members performing during the concert.
No tickets or reservations were needed for this concert. There was no charge. Everyone was welcome to attend. Cookies or cak and punch were served during intermission. For more information or directions, contact Bill Schilling at 234-564-3852 or bill@dulcimore.org or check on the web at www.dulcimore.org or at www.billschilling.org for more information about the club. A concert flyer in pdf format may be added here later.
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians presented their Twenty-Eighth Anniversary Concert as on online Facebook live event at 2:30 PM on Sunday, January 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No Twenty-Ninth Anniversary Concert was presented in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians presented their Twenty-Seventh Anniversary Concert at 2:30 PM on Sunday, January 26, 2020 in the Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460 for free. The theme for the concert was Our Favorite Songs. Dulci-More members sang and played songs and tunes connected to this theme. Many of the songs were great for group singing, and words were provided to encourage audience participation. Individual Dulci-More members sang and/or played mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, guitars, autoharps, fiddles, banjos, ukuleles, psalteries, bass, harmonicas, jug, and more. There were15 members performing during the concert.
No tickets or reservations were needed for this concert. There was no charge. Everyone was welcome to attend. Cookies and punch were served during intermission. For more information or directions, contact Bill Schilling at 234-564-3852 or bill@dulcimore.org or check on the web at www.dulcimore.org or at www.billschilling.org for more information about the club. A concert flyer in pdf format may be added here later.
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians Anniversary Concerts are generally presented in late January or early February (usually the Sunday between Playoffs and the Super bowl) in the Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460 for free as a way for Dulci-More to say thanks to the community and to let more people know what we are doing. The date and information about the next one will be posted on the calendar as soon as we have information about it.
The concert typically features ensemble selections by Dulci-More and solo or small group numbers by a few of our members. Individual Dulci-More members sing and/or play mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, guitars, autoharps, mandolins, banjos, fiddles, cello, bass, harmonicas, recorders, flutes, jug and more. About 20 members or more generally perform during these concerts and there are sometimes audiences of about 200 in attendance.
From 2004-2011, the anniversary concerts also featured some members of Dulci-More Little Eagles, yearly groups of United Local Elementary students who played mountain dulcimers in an after-school program led by Dulci-More members from autumn 2003 through spring 2011.
No tickets or reservations are needed for these concert. There is no charge. Everyone is welcome to attend. Cookies or cake and punch are served during intermission. For more information or directions, contact Bill Schilling at 234-564-3852 or bill@dulcimore.org or check on the web at www.dulcimore.org or at www.billschilling.org for more information about the club.
Dulci-More Workshops and Concerts Featuring Special Guests
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians has sponsored occasional guest artists to present their music to our members and the community in general. These events have been held at the First United Methodist Church of Salem, the Salem Historical Society Old Meeting Room, the New Meeting Room in the Dale Shaffer Research Library of the Salem Historical Society, the First Presbyterian Church of Salem, and the Kent Salem Campus. Performers from 2000 through 2014 (with several of them making return trips) have included, Tina Bergmann & Bryan Thomas from Brady Lake; OH, Gordon Bok form Camden, Maine; Bryan Bowers from Washington State; Four Shillings Short (Christy Martin & Aodh Og O Tuama) from California (and Ireland); Bing Futch from Orlando, FL; Leela and Ellie Grace respectively from Portland, Oregon and Asheville, North Carolina and originally from Missouri; Dave Haas from Charleston, WV; Jan Hammond & Paul Conrad from Wadsworth, OH & Millersburg, OH; Brian Henke from Bay Village, OH; The Hired Hands from Lisbon, OH; Patty Looman from West Virginia (joined by Marilyn & Tom Lashuay from Kent, OH and Bill Schilling in one of her appearances); Madeline MacNeil from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia (joined by Guy George from Concord, OH and Bill Schilling); Magpie (Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino) from New York State (and originally from Northeast Ohio); Pete Morton from England; Butch Ross from Chattanooga, TN; Stephen Seifert from Tennessee; Bill Staines from New Hampshire; Pat Travis & Bill Matlack from Pittsburgh, PA; Ed Trickett with Cathy Barton & Dave Para from Chicago, Illinois and Boonville, Missouri; Susan Trump from New York State; Hunter Walker from Beckley, WV; Bob Zentz from Norfolk, VA, and various members of Dulci-More in solo, duet, trio and quartet performances. Mark Alan Wade was snowed out for his April 2, 2005 appearance, and we finally rescheduled that one for Spring 2017.
For complete information about the most recent series (shown below), go to the Dulci-More Concert Series link.
Dulci-More Performances
Since forming in January of 1993, Dulci-More has averaged over two performances per month for civic groups, nursing homes, churches, schools, coffee houses, festivals, and others including opening for Bill Staines at the Morley Performing Arts Pavilion in Mill Creek Park in the summer of 1996. The club has also been involved in an autoharp recording project for the Stephen Foster Museum in Pittsburgh and others. There are over 100 members in the club. Anywhere from eight to thirty members may sign up for a given performance. Depending on which members perform, there may be singing, mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, autoharps, guitars, harmonicas, whistles, flutes, recorders, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, bass, bowed psaltery, cello, keyboard, percussion instruments, jug, or others. Contact us to find out about performances for your group or event. Check the Dulci-More Google Calendar to see if any are scheduled.
Dulci-More Potluck Jams
Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians generally has met on a weekend afternoon twice a year for jamming throughout the afternoon and evening with a break in the early evening to share a potluck dinner and fun visiting time with some of our members from farther away or those with other activities who cannot get to our regular meetings. Since 2008, several potluck jams have been held on fifth Tuesdays at the home of Bill Schilling rather than on a weekend afternoon. Check the Dulci-More Google Calendar to see if there is one scheduled.
Dulci-More Public Domain Songbooks
The Dulci-More Public Domain Songbooks are
designed to allow people a chance to learn and to play some of the songs that
Dulci-More plays regularly at meetings and events. The arrangements give lyrics
and melody lines in standard musical notation. Accompaniment chords are
included. Numbers for the melody string(s) for fretted dulcimers are also shown
(usually for dulcimers tuned in a DAA tuning). Click here to
find out more about the general songbooks or here to
find out more about the autoharp songbooks or here to
find out more about the octave songbooks. Use this link to open a printable Order Form
(in a new window) to send along with your order.
Dulci-More Little Eagles After
School Program
In October 2003, Dulci-More started working on an after school program at United Local Elementary School with students from grades 4, 5, & 6. In January 2004, students in those grades and grade 3 were again invited to join the program, and over 15 had taken part by early February 2004. The program was made possible when Dulci-More Executive Committee member Lois Mountz heard that Principal Ruth Ann Rinto was looking for new after school programs and contacted her about this. Members of Dulci-More were aware that one of the teachers at United Local had obtained a grant enabling her to buy and build cardboard dulcimer kits and then to work with all the third grade students on playing them in 2003. Permission was obtained to use those dulcimers. Dulci-More members Norma Firth, Doris Tolley, Bonnie Lutz, and Bill Schilling quickly agreed to join Lois Mountz in leading the group. The group was asked if they would like to make their first public performance at the Dulci-More Eleventh Anniversary Concert on February 5, 2004, and at least 12 of the students were there to open each half of the concert (with Boil Them Cabbage Down and with Rainbow Waltz with Dulci-More members joining them on Rainbow Waltz after they had played it through a couple of times), and they did great. Once again, Lois Mountz had been thinking ahead, and she had asked for funding from Dulci-More to get T-shirts for the students. A quick discussion let us know that sports teams and others at United Local Elementary are known as the Little Eagles, and our group then became the Dulci-More Little Eagles with the great drawing and lettering and design done by three generations of the Mountz family including Paige (one of the Little Eagles), her father Steve, and her grandmother Lois. The program continued through the school year, and we heard the Dulci-More Little Eagles in performance again at Dulci-More Festival 10. The program has continued each school year since then to the present (now working with Principal Christina Hughes). Members of the club would probably be available to join in partnership with other local schools for similar programs. Dulci-More member Sue Sabatino helped lead the program for several years with Norma Firth and Bill Schilling. The program lasted through May 2011.
Dulci-More Leader Led Harmonica
Play Along for Guinness World Record in 2007
On
Sunday, September 23, 2007, 1882 people gathered at the Rocky River Reservation
and Frostville Museum part of Cleveland Metroparks for the Cedar Valley
Settler’s Celebration. One of the highlights of the festival was the second
attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people playing
harmonica together with Bill Schilling (that’s I) leading everyone. When the
first attempt was made at the same festival in 2006, we were impressed to have
684 participants, but knew it was far too few to break the record of 1706 in
Seattle in 2005 (I think those are the correct facts, but I am relying on
memory for them, and I may have forgotten some of that). Rather than being
discouraged, the people at Cleveland Metroparks, started planning earlier for
the second attempt, changed the way that several things including my workshop
would be done, and ordered more harmonicas than they had ever ordered before.
I
determined that we would once again use Frere Jacques (Are You Sleeping) as the
song for everyone to play together. I chose the song for several reasons. I
wanted something that almost everyone would recognize so that I would be
teaching how to play the song rather than teaching the song and how to play it.
I wanted something short enough and with enough repetition that I would have
time to break it apart and teach it in very recognizable segments. I wanted
something that I could create some arrangement for (thought about ahead of
time, but done on the fly once I heard how well people were picking it up). I
wanted something that I could play and lead without thinking much about it
(very necessary since I am not really a harmonica player, but I understand the
instrument well enough that I have taught thousands of people the basics of
playing one).
Longtime
Dulci-More member and harmonica player Don Blair (also the most recent leader
of the Steel Valley Harmonica Players and leader of the Grooving Grandpas
Harmonica Group), went along and organized a few other excellent harmonica
players from around the area to join us at the microphones on the stage to help
keep everyone together and sounding good. During the five minutes that we
needed to play the song to establish the record, everyone played together a few
times, just the men, just the women, just the children all played on their own, and the whole group
did the song as a round as well. Photos, a description of the event, and a link
to a YouTube video taken from a crane looking down on the event are available
at http://www.clemetparks.com/events/guiness.asp.
It was a fun event, and I was very pleased to continue a long association with
that festival and its predecessor and to be a part in establishing the official
Guinness World Record for the
Largest Harmonica Play-Along up to that time.
Directions to the First United Methodist Church of Salem
The First United Methodist Church of Salem is located at 244 South Broadway in Salem. The main parking lot for the church is most easily reached by taking East Alley from Pershing Street between Broadway and Lundy. 1) Those coming into town from the west on State Street (State Route 14) can stay on State Street to Broadway in the center of downtown Salem. Turn south (left) at the traffic light on Broadway for one block to a four way stop at Pershing (the black stone church visible ahead on the left is it). Turn east (left) on Pershing for half a block to a south (right) turn on East Alley (with a sign for the Salem Historical Society and a smaller one below it for the First United Methodist Church) and from there into the church parking lot. There is also on street parking on Broadway and in other parking lots nearby. 2) Those coming into town from the east on State Street (State Route 14) are not permitted to turn south (left) onto Broadway in the center of downtown Salem. Thus, they should turn south (left) at the traffic light on South Lincoln for one block to a traffic light at Pershing. Turn west (right) on Pershing and continue for two and one half blocks (past the four way stop at Lundy, but before the four way stop at Broadway) to a south (left) turn on East Alley (with a sign for the Salem Historical Society and a smaller one below it for the First United Methodist Church) and from there into the church parking lot. There is also on street parking on Broadway and in other parking lots nearby. 3) If coming from the north on US 62, do not take the bypass. Instead continue straight and that will be North Lincoln. Continue straight south on Lincoln through the traffic light at State Street (State Route 14) onto South Lincoln for one block to a traffic light at Pershing. Turn west (right) on Pershing and continue for two and one half blocks (past the four way stop at Lundy, but before the four way stop at Broadway) to a south (left) turn on East Alley (with a sign for the Salem Historical Society and a smaller one below it for the First United Methodist Church) and from there into the church parking lot. There is also on street parking on Broadway and in other parking lots nearby. 4) If coming from the north on State Route 45 continue straight rather than taking the bypass and that will be North Ellsworth. Continue on Ellsworth through the traffic light at State Street (State Route 14) onto South Ellsworth for one block to a four way stop at Pershing. Turn east (left) on Pershing and continue for one and one half blocks (past the four way stop at Broadwy, but before the four way stop at Lundy) to a south (right) turn on East Alley (with a sign for the Salem Historical Society and a smaller one below it for the First United Methodist Church) and from there into the church parking lot. There is also on street parking on Broadway and in other parking lots nearby. 5) If coming from the south on State Route 45, do not take the bypass, but continue straight and that will be South Lincoln. Continue on South Lincoln to a traffic light at Pershing. Turn west (left) on Pershing and continue for two and one half blocks (past the four way stop at Lundy, but before the four way stop at Broadway) to a south (left) turn on East Alley (with a sign for the Salem Historical Society and a smaller one below it for the First United Methodist Church) and from there into the church parking lot. There is also on street parking on Broadway and in other parking lots nearby.
Links
A Dulci-More member with her own home page which describes her dulcimer playing, books, recordings, and the Fort New Salem Dulcimer Festival which she directs is Linda Sigismondi. Her home page is at http://lindasigismondi.com for those who want to know more.
Dulci-More members Marcy and Dale Tudor have a great farm vacation bed and breakfast called Weatherbury Farm in Avella, PA. Find information about it at www.weatherburyfarm.com to plan your stay southwest of Pittsburgh. Sheep Fest started there in 2002. Plans are being made to have Folk Arts on the Farm there, which started a concert series and jam sessions in 2004 with Bill Schilling and will continue in 2005 with long term workshops on various instruments. Nigel Tudor also has his forge on the farm. His web page is at www.tudorironworks.com/.
Dulci-More shares a link with the community which is our home base. Click here to find out more about Salem, OH.
Dulci-More has been an organizational member of Folknet: the Northeast Ohio Folk & Traditional Music and Dance Society, We have cosponsored events with Folknet, and our members have helped at Folknet events. Go to www.folknet.org to find out more about Folknet. Its monthly newsletter, Continuum, lists hundreds of acoustic events in the northeast Ohio area and beyond each month. Folknet regularly sponsors concerts, house concerts, educational events, dances, and other activities. Membership forms can be printed out from the web site.
We also share a link with the Mountain Rose Concert Series centered at the Roy Smith Shelter in Fred Fuller Park in Kent, Ohio. They offer second Sunday concerts most months by folk artists from our area and beyond in a wonderful small room setting as well as running or supporting festivals in the area. Find out what's on the schedule by checking their home page. They also are responsible for the weekly radio program, Just Plain Folk on WAPS-FM, 91.3, The Summit in Akron. They have been generous in their support of Dulci-More by having Bill Schilling in 2000; Michael Johnathon and Bill Schilling in 2001; Guy George, Demetrius Steinmetz, and Bill Schilling in 2002; Bill Schilling and Linda Sigismondi in 2003, Bill Schilling in 2004, Susie Large and Bill Schilling in 2005, Leanna Mathes and Bill Schilling in 2006, Bing Futch and Bill Schilling in 2007, and Bill Schilling in 2008 and 2009 on the program the weekend of Dulci-More Festival to help us let more people know about the festival. Since 2003, they also later broadcast the interviews they have done at our Festivals. They also regularly have as guests on the radio program and in the concert series many of the same artists featured at Dulci-More Festivals. Check www.wapsfm.com for the broadcast times for Just Plain Folk. The webcast can be heard live on www.wapsfm.com anywhere.
Contact
Bill Schilling by e-mail.
Return to Bill Schilling's
Home Page.
Links to Other Home Pages Developed by Bill
Schilling
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Contact Information
984 Homewood Avenue
Salem, Ohio 44460-3816
234-564-3852
234-564-DULC