October 2008 Club Meeting

[originally posted in September 2008 on www.Memphis-Dulcimer.com , copied and reposted here on 4/11/2009]

Fellow dulcimer players:

We will meet again on Sunday afternoon, October 5 from 3 – 5 pm at Carla’s house. At our September club meeting we enjoyed playing some tunes in DAC and in a couple of other tunings. We might try that again at this meeting.

I have two tunes: Wayfaring Stranger and Balm in Gilead that Gail wanted us to play and thus far we have yet to get to them. I hope to do so at this upcoming meeting.

So….., see you there!

And, I also hope to see you at The Memphis Gathering & Folk Festival coming up this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 26 & 27). There will be some fantastic musicians there to share their musical talent with us.

For more specific information go to:

www.leecagledulcimers.com

Bob

Memphis Music 2008

[originally posted in September 2008 on www.Memphis-Dulcimer.com , copied and reposted here on 4/11/2009]The Shell at Overton Park….remember the concerts held there years ago?

There’s been a project underway to restore the shell and bring back that spirit of community through Memphis music…and, I’m happy to share this video that I came across today on Youtube:

Perhaps we’ll see dulcimers in the park…..

Still Strummin’

Carla Maxwell

More Pictures to Post

More traveling means more pictures….

Did a walking tour of Lexington, Kentucky.  I was in the downtown area, on my way to the Old Kentucky Theater, and snapped pics from my cell phone along the way.  Pretty random scenes.  Looking through the pictures, I think you’ll get a taste of the town and a feeling of Kentucky everyday life.

Then I drove to Bardstown, KY, and played my dulcimer in the Stephen Foster State Park.  It’s a beautiful place to strum!  A tour group was touring as I was playing My Old Kentucky Home and You Are My Sunshine.  For years and years as I have driven up and down the Bluegrass Parkway, I’ve been intending to stop at the park and play….finally did that yesterday….and it felt right…it felt peaceful and good.  Enjoy the pictures.

On the road again,

Carla

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, September 2008

I have more to share!  To me, this is an unbelievably beautiful site to see….

Artful things being stirred up in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky!  This is a former church building which the Montgomery County Arts Council has transformed into a performance venue for music and plays and such.  It’s FANTASTIC to see this right in the middle of town.  Does my heart goooooooooooood to see what is to be.  

There’s an art gallery nearby, where artists exhibit and demonstrate.  Right now there is a remarkable collection of flowers made from painted drywall and crystals.  With each piece the artist described the process of creation and the history of crystals in healing the body and mind.  

Right now, I’m sitting in the Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, library.  I’m blogging here, because I am allowed to use my personal lap top computer at a comfy-enough library table/chair near a window.  Through the window I see the gingerbread-siding on the old blue two-story-two-chimney 100+ year old house that reminds me of times I walked through this neighborhood and marveled at the magnificent architecture…before I even knew what “architecture” was.  This town feels really good….the old bits and the new parts.  Though it doesn’t have a Starbucks….it has this wonderful attitude that provides the community…and repeat-visitors like me…with FREE wireless internet access!!!!  

I’m stopping now…to post pics in the photo gallery.  Thousands of words, via my pictures…..it will save ya some time!

Carla

p.s.

Here’s the picture view through the library window..

Berea, Kentucky, September 2008

Yesterday I visited the craft community of Berea, Kentucky.  Many folks have found a home for their art and souls there in Berea, which is about a 30 minute drive south from Winchester, Kentucky….which is about a 15 minute drive west from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, where my grandmother lived when I was a kid.

My trip to Berea was taken on a need-to-know basis, I reckon….as I needed to see this place I have heard about all my life and learned about through Jean Ritchie stories.  I’ve got family in the area, so I’m exploring my roots, along with music.  

Appropriately enough for me I guess, being in Berea, KY, I got sidetracked from the arts and crafts gift shops and walked right into the wrong place at the right time….and I enjoyed meeting some folks and an old Gibson guitar in the Music Makers, Inc., shop on North Broadway Street in Berea.  More about that later…

I’m sharing some of the town’s sculptures in my photo gallery.  Here’s a sample.  I’m seeing a theme that I’m liking in towns as I travel around!  These community sculptures that depict the essence of the place.  In G’town we have painted horses.  In San Francisco I busked near a big painted heart.  Here in Kentucky, Berea’s hand-crafty city is marked with these beautiful hands.  I’m liking this artsy trend.  I hope you like these pics.  

I need to go back to this place again.  I hear there is jammin’ on Thursday nights….and I spent so much time in the music shop that I didn’t get to explore the college area much.  

I did enjoy popping in to Warren May’s Dulcimer Shop.  I had a nice visit with Mr. May, and he let me play a couple of tunes on his beautiful sweet sounding, tempered scale dulcimer, as he explained what I needed to know about tempered scales vs. mathematical scales.  Interesting stuff.  I’ll write about that more later…and, of course, there are pictures involved!

Blogyal8r,

Carla

September 7, 2008 Club Meeting

[originally posted in September 2008 on www.Memphis-Dulcimer.com , copied and reposted here on 4/11/2009]

Today’s meeting was inspiring!

Gail shared an article written by Lorraine Lee Hammond and published in a 1987 issue of the Dulcimer Players News. With the article came tab for two tunes for us to try today! Thank you, Gail!

The first tune “When Jesus Wept,” composed by William Billings (1746-1800) and arranged by Lorraine Lee Hammond, was a short piece written in B minior, with 3/2 timing (which was a bit of a surprise to see in our dulci-tab!), to be played in DAD tuning. The tune was arranged to be played as a two or four part round.

We had fun playing this simple, soothing, sweet, song, and practicing our skills of paying attention and such! We all know how to sing rounds…..you know: Row, row, row, your boat, gently down the stream…[Row, row, row, etc., etc.,]…but the multi-tasking of learning a new song, remembering to pay attention to timing, applying what we know of hammering-on, sliding up and down, bar-chording, and all that jaz, keeps the mind cluttered a bit, and I have to admit….occasionally….we are challenged as a group sight-reading a song….but it’s a GOOD challenge! I mean it’s really good for us to give it a go and hear ourselves make music together. Pretty sweeeeeet.

The second tune was an American folk song, “Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn.” This tune was arranged for the tuning of DGC, had a droning chord harmony option for duet playing, and included lyrics about the man who wouldn’t hoe corn, had to sigh when his grass got high, and wanted to wed but couldn’t make cornbread. It was a catchy tune, and I enjoyed hearing our club president sing along as we played. Good job, Bob!

I appreciate our club members coming to my house today, and I look forward to seeing and playing with you next time. Also, I thank you all for agreeing to let me make an infomercial (video) about our club meetings. That should be fun! Looking forward to that!!

Strummin’ in Memphis,

Carla