Dulcimer Links

Everything Dulcimer
As the name suggests....everything dulcimer!
Song of the Wood
Jerry Read Smith is a great dulcimer builder, and really good guy. Song of the Wood is his company.
Rick Thum
Another great dulcimer builder, who is also a fantastic player and teacher. Rick has an infectious energy that any dulcimer player can glean from.

Festivals

Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival
A very enjoyable dulcimer festival just Southwest of Chicago in Morris Illinois.
Walnut Valley Festival
The mothership of folk music festivals, held late September in Winfield, KS. It will change your life.
Kentucky Music Week
A great festival for the dulcimer player who is itching to learn. Lot's of workshops, wonderful people, and loads of fun.
ODPC Funfest
This well established festival is affectionately known as Evart, for the town in Michigan where it occurs. Great workshops, performances, and jamming.

Musicians & Friends

andiandi
Darn-tootin' good Singer/Songwriter stuff from this husband & wife duo. They happen to be really good friends of mine, and neighbors as well. Check them out as soon as you can.
Swing Gitan
Another great friend of mine, Alfonso Ponticelli, heads up this fine Chicago-based Gypsy Jazz ensemble. See them live at the Green Mill, or any number of other jazz venues.
Steve Gibons
Steve is a fabulous Violinst who plays Jazz Manouche with Swing Gitan, as well Traditional Gypsy music, Klezmer, and many other styles..
Donnybrook
I've been a member of this traditional Irish band since 2000. Come check us out at any number of local Chicago Pubs or Irish festivals.
Don Pedi
Don is a wonderful mountain dulcimer player from North Carolina. A wellspring of tunes, songs and stories.
Rudi Zapf
A mighty fine hackbrett player from Germany. Paul Goelz first turned me on to Rudi's recordings. He has stretched beyond the traditions of Bavaria exploring Jazz and Classical styles.
Marius Preda
This guy is an amazing cymbalom player from Romania. Check out the videos of him on this page. (movies #29-32)
Giani Lincan
When I heard these recordings of Giani Lincan I knew I had to start learning Gypsy Jazz on the dulcimer. Great stuff!!
Jace K. Seavers
Jace is a blast from my past. I played drums on a recording with him years back. He's a mean bass player and lyricist.

Music Software

Transcribe!
Really great software that will slow down any recording without changing the pitch. Makes learning tunes much easier. You can also select and loop a section of a tune, alter the pitch to you instrument, and much more.
ABC Music Notation
A fabulous music notation system that uses text to transcribe tunes and also play them in MIDI. There are hundreds of traditional Irish (as well as Scottish, Welsh, French and other) tunes available in ABC format on the web.
Band-in-a-Box
Software that provides back-up music for you to practice along to. You plug in the chords and it does the rest. Pretty impressive for a MIDI-based application.