Our Blue Ridge Mountain Dulcimer Players Celebrate, Appalachian Style!
At our July 18 jam Dinah Ansley led our fantastic hosts Merrifield Music Makers from Ruckersville, Viginia, and Joyful Noise from Bridgewater, Virginia, through our deepest roots of song at the Bridgewater Retirement Community Studio.
We kicked off our musical journey with “The Water is Wide,” a 400-year-old folk tune that has been beautifully transformed into modern Christian hymns over the centuries.
From there, we dove into “Shenandoah,” a Revolutionary War-era classic with legend placing it in West Virginia, Virginia, and even the local community of Shenandoah. Dinah and the group demonstrated how rich the music can sound when a group of dulcimer players layer backup chords, a rolling bass line, and the haunting melody of a Native American flute.
Next, we picked up the tempo with “Goin’ to Boston.” Historically, this final tune is a dance tune, but the local youth found a clever way to have fun by calling their gatherings a “play-party” to get around strict mountain folks’ religious rules against dancing. We also had fun, as Dinah taught us to play the tune and sing it by ear.
The DulciCats of Charlottesville followed by strumming and singing some favorite tunes from the Civil Rights era and our current time. They began with a heartfelt rendition of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “If I Had a Hammer,” written by Pete Seeger, and concluded with “Country Road,” which has become the theme song of the US Men’s Soccer Team in the World Cup this summer.
To top it all off, Dinah and Phyllis Gaskins, our “grande dame” of Galax dulcimer, reminisced about dulcimer makers and players they have known, offering their signature flavors to our dulcimer local history.
Lori Lineweaver brought out the Dave Haas jam book, as we tried a few well-known and some trickier tabs to create a joyful noise and conclude our musical tour of American dulcimer history.
Our next gathering is our Annual Picnic on September 12, at 10 AM (NOTE: this is earlier than our usual 1:30!) where we’ll celebrate our new and retiring officers and make even more music together. Come around 10 to set-up and ready to play at 10:30 AM until lunch at noon. Stay and play afterward, too. A list of jam tunes will follow. Bring your instruments and your appetite!