Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians

Updated May 16, 2012

with information links to Dulci-More Festival 18 Flyer, Small Brochure, and Full Brochure

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. 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 9:00 pm, but many members regularly stay much later. Some come later when they need to. People should feel free to come and go as needed without disturbing the group. A brief update of coming events and items which may be of interest to members is done at some point during the evening when the most people are likely to be in attendance. 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. The group averages over two performances a month for festivals, fairs, schools, churches, clubs, nursing homes, and others. A calendar which should be kept up to date regularly showing Meetings, Concerts, Workshops, Festivals, Events, and More for Dulci-More is available below or in a larger format at: Dulci-More Google Calendar for your convenience.

 

Dulci-More Festival

The Annual Dulci-More Festival has been held on Memorial Day Weekend since 1995. Check the link above for the most current information. Check the Dulci-More Festival Home Page or the Dulci-More Festival 18 Performer Bios & Photos Page for the most current information.

Link to DMF 18 Online Registration Page

(Online registration page will be taken offline around noon on Wednesday, May 23 to allow final preregistration information to be coordinated by the registrar)

Note: for best results in printing the brochures and the program, on the print screen in Adobe Reader, change Page Scaling to Booklet Printing, and the proper formatting for the pages should be applied.

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Registration Forms in Adobe PDF Format

Note: Some of the pages below are from Dulci-More Festival 17 in 2011 and will be updated to the ones for Dulci-More Festival 18 in 2012 as soon as the updates are available. We leave these posted so that those unfamiliar with the festival can get an idea of how things work generally at the festival.

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Flyer in Adobe PDF Format

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Small Brochure in Adobe PDF Format

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Full Brochure in Adobe PDF Format

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Workshop Grid in Adobe PDF Format

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Mini-Program in Adobe PDF Format

Get Dulci-More Festival 18 Program in Adobe PDF Format

Information about performers from over the years should soon be available on a separate page.

More information about location, schedule, performers, activities, etc. is posted at the Dulci-More Festival Home Page.

 

Dulci-More Anniversary Concerts

Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians will present their Nineteenth Anniversary Concert at 2:30 PM on Sunday, February 12, 2012 in the Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Salem, 244 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460 for free. The theme for the concert will simply be Some of Our Favorites. Individual Dulci-More members sing and/or play mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, guitars, autoharps, mandolins, banjos, ukuleles, fiddles, bass, marimbula, harmonicas, recorders, flutes, jug, and more. About 15-20 members are planning to perform. Several of the favorites will be songs that most audience members will recognize and will be welcome to sing along on while others will have easy to sing choruses or parts with lyrics available in the programs with audience members encouraged to sing along. No tickets or reservations are needed for this concert. There is no charge. Everyone is welcome to attend. Cookies and punch will be served during intermission. For more information or directions, contact Bill Schilling at 330-332-4420 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: Folk & Traditional Musicians Anniversary Concerts are generally presented in late January or early February 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 330-332-4420 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 also decided to sponsor 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, the First Presbyterian Church of Salem, and the Kent Salem Campus. Performers from 2000 through 2009 (with several of them making return trips) have included, Tina Bergmann & Bryan Thomas from Brady Lake, OH, Bryan Bowers from Washington State, 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), Pete Morton from England, Stephen Seifert from Tennessee, Bill Staines from New Hampshire, Pat Travis & Bill Matlack from Pittsburgh, PA, and Susan Trump from New York State, and Bob Zentz from Norfolk, VA. Mark Alan Wade was snowed out for his April 2, 2005 appearance, and we have never managed to reschedule that one.

Dulci-More: Folk and Traditional Musicians welcomed Leela and Ellie Grace (originally from a traditional musical family in Missouri, but now respectively from Portland, Oregon and Asheville, North Carolina) for the Dulci-More Concert Series. They performed in concert at 7:30 PM on Saturday, January 14 in the Meeting Room of the Salem Historical Society, 208 South Broadway, Salem, OH 44460. There was a $10 admission at the door, and advance reservations were not required. A total of $5 more covered all the children in a family for the concert. Refreshments were served at the intermission. The Historical Society is on the southeast corner of Broadway and Pershing, and the entrance to the meeting room is through the back door on East Alley. More information is available at www.dulcimore.org or from Bill Schilling at bill@dulcimore.org or 330-332-4420.

Click on the photo below to open a high resolution photo of Ellie and Leela in a new window. Photo by Seth Barr. Click here to get your own copy of the concert poster to print.

Leela and Ellie Grace are singers, multiinstrumentalists, songwriters, and percussive dancers who grew up traveling across North America performing with their parents as The Grace Family. For the past 13 years, they have been making a name for themselves around the country as a duo, in addition to offering solo appearances, and touring with nationally -known bands. Leela (banjo, guitar) and Ellie (mandolin, guitar, fiddle) have been acclaimed by audiences and fellow musicians alike for their powerful voices, close sisterly harmonies, warm stage presence, and driving old-time instrumentals.

Leela and Ellie's music has a strong grounding in traditional American and Old-time string band styles, but crosses over into the contemporary folk realm, including their own compelling original songs. They recorded three albums with the Grace Family (in addition to doing studio work with other musicians) and have released two recordings as a duo. The sisters have performed at prestigious venues across the United States and Canada, ranging from the Winnipeg Folk Festival to the Lincoln Center in New York City to the Summer Solstice Festival in Los Angeles.

In 2003, they released their self-titled debut duo CD, which was acclaimed by folk critics and fans and received widespread radio play on folk radio stations across the country. In his review in Sing Out! Rich Warren said, "Leela and Ellie Grace soar off this disc like a breath of fresh air in the smoky atmosphere of singer-songwriters. This lively recording, exquisitely produced by Pete Sutherland, is truly a joy to behold. . . If you’re hesitant to take a chance on new artists, rest assured this CD will leave you in a state of grace."

2006 saw Ellie relocating from the sisters’ home state of Missouri to the musical mecca of Asheville, North Carolina and touring with the Dirk Powell Band. 2007 was spent recording a new duo CD in the midst of a move to Portland, Oregon by the older sister. Leela and Ellie released their highly -anticipated new CD, Where the Waters Run, at the beginning of 2008 and have since been meeting in Portland, Oregon, Asheville, North Carolina, and everywhere in between to make beautiful music together in support of their new CD!

Find more information about Leela and Ellie Grace at their website at www.leelaandelliegrace.com, or check out some of these YouTube videos of them in performance:

Water, Wood, and Wind (by Leela Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx3F16FvRdI
Common Ground (by Ellie Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypRd9AtrV4

Bridge to the Other Side (by Leela Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVb33yHJkU

Let Us Be (by Ellie Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmSy-HBPSEQ

Wrap Myself in You (by Leela Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZqP_CzEXTo

Right Now (by Ellie Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNuye00Fuxw

Banjo and percussive dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lPJPTSlW7s

Goddess (by Leela Grace): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_ONJ5rr9E

 

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. 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

This program is continuing during the 2009-2010 school year. Norma Firth and Bill Schilling are working with the program this year.

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.

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

Contact Information

Bill Schilling

984 Homewood Avenue

Salem, Ohio 44460-3816

330-332-4420

bill@billschilling.org

bill@dulcimore.org