Adrian and I are happy to introduce Puff the Magic Wagon, our new friend, built and decorated by Alan and Karlie from Bowtop Wagons in Canungra, Queensland. Puff was made with love, trust, kindness, care and creativity, and as a long-distance, cooperative effort. What an amazing job they did! Adrian and I gave Alan and Karlie our colour preferences and a bit of guidance with the artwork, and they did an amazing job with putting Puff together, having only a few emails and phone calls to rely on for information about what we wanted! Our clever son-in-law, Kevin, named our cute little gypsy wagon, with a nod to its inevitable future in folk music.
Puff the Magic Wagon is ready for her first road-trip straight to Daylesford, Victoria, Australia, and I can’t wait for her arrival. I’m ready for open borders, freedom to travel, and a healthier world, along with time to play and share more music with friends and family.
Puff the Magic Wagon, built by Bowtop Wagons for Adrian Kosky and Carla Maxwell, 2021Puff the Magic Wagon, built by Bowtop Wagons for Adrian Kosky and Carla Maxwell, 2021Puff the Magic Wagon, built by Bowtop Wagons for Adrian Kosky and Carla Maxwell, 2021
Adrian and I have been enjoying playing live music again! For the past few weeks we have been resident musicians at Radio Springs Hotel in Lyonville, Victoria, Australia. Thursdays are Thai Nights at the hotel, with Chef Bancha Rienkham serving up delicious Bangkok street food in this Regional Victoria, pub. Table Hill has been providing accompaniment and has enjoyed being a duo of lucky recipients of fabulous Thai meals provided at the end of each gig. Thank you Radio Springs Hotel!
Here’s a video clip filmed live by Ken Parfrey, one of the proprietors of Radio Springs Hotel, on March 18, 2021.
Jackie Airey with Table Hill’s delicious Thai meal by Bancha Rienkham at Radio Springs Hotel, Lyonville, Victoria, Australia
During this year of lockdown and isolation and restricted travel conditions due to COVID-19, Adrian and I are staying in Australia until it is safe for us to return to the U.S.A.
We are sorry to say that the Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival has been canceled.
Adrian and I can’t wait to be a part of this new annual event! We are hosting the workshops in our American home in the historic downtown blues precinct in Clarksdale, Mississippi. For more information about the instructors, click on their names below.
Here’s the schedule information:
Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival
Schedule of Workshops
April 16-18, 2020
The Holy Moly
218 Third Street
Clarksdale, Mississippi 38614
Thursday, April 16, 2020
9:00 am – 10:15 am – Under The Influence of the Blues – Robert Force & Staff(Theatre)
10:45 am – noon – Beginning Blues Dulcimer – Bing Futch(Theatre)
10:45 am – noon – 7th Chords and Inversions – Gary Gallier(Dining Room)
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm – The Blue 1/2 Fret – Sam Edelston(Theatre)
Woohoo! Here’s the official Press Release for the Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival – happening in Clarksdale, Mississippi, April 16th, 17th, and 18th, 2020. This first annual event will lead up to and include The Holy Moly’s participation as an official nighttime venue of the Juke Joint Festival! There are different levels of registration, from basic to registration that includes a Juke Joint Festival wristband that allows entry to all JJF nighttime venues. Please share, and if you ever wanted to play the blues on a mountain dulcimer, come on over to Clarksdale the birthplace of the blues!
The official event poster for the Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival has just arrived, hot off the presses. It shows the list of great instructor/performers: Sofie Reed, Bing Futch, Robert Force, Sam Edelston, and Gary Gallier. Adrian Kosky and I are excited to be hosting this event at The Holy Moly, our American home in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
I’m excited to announce that Bing Futch, Adrian Kosky, and I will host the first Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival — April 16th, 17th, 18th, 2020 — in my American home in Clarksdale, Mississippi (affectionately known as The Holy Moly), a historic building in the birthplace of the blues!
Enjoy and learn with blues mountain dulcimer workshops at The Holy Moly (aka Adrian & Carla’s American home), a historic location at the corner of Issaquena Avenue and Third Street in the heart of downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues!
There will be classes for all mountain dulcimer skill levels, focusing on early blues/roots music.
The event will last three days and be a related event to Clarksdale’s Juke Joint Festival, giving revival registrants an opportunity to enjoy a taste of the Mississippi Delta’s cuisine, learn about the region, and to explore up-close-and-personal this historic city’s music! Mississippi is known as the birthplace of American Music and Clarksdale is part of the Americana Music Triangle!
The Delta Blues Dulcimer Revival is for mountain dulcimer blues fans who are looking for a fun immersive learning experience that can’t be found anywhere else in the world!
Adrian and I have been in Australia and have been playing a bit of music and doing a little road-tripping. We went to New South Wales, on our most recent road-trip. What fun we have had with our dulcimer-world friends!
This is a beautiful time of year to travel north from Daylesford, Victoria. We spent nearly three weeks visiting with dear friends and making new, genuine, friendships and real-life connections with people, as well as sight-seeing and enjoying Australia’s wildlife. I’m feeling very blessed by wonderful relationships and experiences.
Adrian and Carla – September 2018 (Photo by Anne Bowman)
Carla and Adrian playing cardboard dulcimers (Photo and dulcimers by Richard Troughear)
We played music with Richard Troughear, strumming cardboard dulcimers that he made out of Ikea packing materials (cardboard!). Because he is an expert luthier, specialising in sound quality, these funny instruments sounded fantastic!
Richard Troughear playing the Ikea cardboard dulcimer that he created.
Richard’s wife, Delphine, offered familiarly-Southern but delightfully-Australian hospitality to us (including our little Miss Jelly Bean) at the beach and in a beautiful Brogo AirBnB cottage (it was dog friendly!). Wombats and wallabies were everywhere! Take a look at my video below:
Adrian and I also enjoyed visiting with our friend, Terry Hennessy, a luthier who built Richard Fariña’s dulcimer. Here’s a video of Richard Fariña playing the dulcimer built by Terry Hennessy:
Terry is a fascinating friend, an outstanding artist, a great storyteller, and a very nice person to know.
Carla Maxwell, Terry Hennessy, and Adrian Kosky, with Miss Jelly Bean in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia, September 2018
https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js Terry performed for us, playing two of his bizarre, hand-crafted, instruments. Terry Hennessy is an artistic luthier, to say the least. Each of his instruments have a beautiful look, feel, and sound, along with a bit of eccentricity!
In the Blue Mountains, Adrian and I had a visit and played music with a facebook friend who we had not previously met: Anne Bowman. Anne is an extremely talented artist/illustrator, a great musician, and a wonderful tour guide. She is also an active participant in social media related to the dulcimer. She is definitely a dulcimer enthusiast, like my hubby and me! Here’s a little selfie-video of the three of us playing together during our jam.
We are all good friends who enjoy jamming, walking in the rain forest, and having high tea together now!
Carla Maxwell, Adrian Kosky, and Anne Bowman in Leura, New South Wales, Australia, September 2018
Richard’s wife, Delphine, offered familiarly-Southern but delightfully-Australian hospitality to us (including our little Miss Jelly Bean) at the beach and in a beautiful Brogo AirBnB cottage (it was dog friendly!). Wombats and wallabies were everywhere! Take a look at my video below:
Memphis-Dulcimer 
