As soon as I opened a package with four V-Picks in it, I immediately rushed into my room to get my dulcimer to test them, and I really like them. I have been wanting a little thicker pick than I currently use, and this feels really good. They make two thicknesses of Bing picks, and I think I might like the thinner of the two better.Here's a video of my little brother Asher who turned five in October. I've been teaching him dulcimer. This is his second song: Mary had a Little Lamb!
Nathaniel
Nathaniel jams with Bradley Ellis, with Bradley on the washtub bass and Nathaniel playing a McSpadden Ginger from Joe Collins' booth. Bradley and Nathaniel are roughly the same age, and both have been playing dulcimers for about 2 1/2 years. Nathaniel looks forward to seeing Bradley at many future festivals.
Lots of informal jamming, a fabulous evening concert and a couple of classes for Nathaniel today. Much more of the same tomorrow!
Seeing the big white sign in the window of the local music shop saying that it was going out of business was shocking and sad. Having bought lots of strings and other stuff I was really disappointed to see that they were going. It was really nice to have a local music store supporting the dulcimer community, and I will miss having a good store so close.
Last night's Open Stage (see video above) at the Sautee-Nacoochee Center, near Helen, Ga, began a full fall season of dulcimer playing for Nathaniel. Here's a look at what's ahead:
-Oct. 16 - Georgia State Dulcimer Championship - The competition is part the Georgia State Fiddlers' Convention and is held at the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee.
-Oct. 20 - Lion's Club - Nathaniel and his dad will do an evening program for the monthly club meeting.
-Nov. 1 - Central Alliance Church - Nathaniel will play special music during the morning service at his home church and then he and his dad will play a few songs immediately after the service to kick off a Fall Festival.
-Nov. 1 - Christmas Open House, Homestead House - After church Nathaniel and his dad will scurry over to the Homestead House, which will be decorated for Christmas, and will strum together on the front porch, mixing Christmas songs with fiddle tunes and hymns. Nathaniel's sister, Sarah, will also be at Homestead House with her cornhusk dolls.
-Nov. 13 - Northeast Georgia Arts Tour - Georgia Heritage Center for the Art -Nathaniel will play music and Sarah will demonstrate pressed flower art from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
-Nov. 15 - South Carolina Church Service - Nathaniel and a banjo- and guitar-playing friend, Calvin Coyne, will provide special music for a church service in Cross, SC
-Nov. 21 - Harvest Festival, John Kollock's studio - Nathaniel will spend most of the day playing dulcimer music during an art show featuring the work of John Kollock and of Nathaniel's sister, Sarah Samsel.
-Nov. 21 - Fall Festival, Unicoi State Park - Nathaniel will play during the Open Stage at the North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Association's Fall Festival on Saturday afternoon.
-Dec. 5 - Traveler's Rest - Nathaniel, his dad and Calvin will play together during the Christmas celebration as Traveler's Rest State Historic Site, and Sarah will be demonstrating knitting.
Nathaniel and his siblings recently put on a backyard concert for their parents to help celebrate their dad's birthday. Pictured with Nathaniel are his sister, Sarah, and brother, Asher. Siblings not pictured are Autumn and Eli.
Steve Seifert during Saturday Concert
Trying out a Papaw's Dulcimer
Chromatic dulcimer class
Friday Night Jam
The jam that capped off Day 1 of the Memphis Dulcimer Gathering & Folk Festival was one of Nathaniel's favorite jams he's ever taken part in. Lots of great songs played in fun ways with a variety of instruments. Sitting next to Jeff Hames, who was next to Steve Seifert, didn't hurt either! Nathaniel took classes with Steve Seifert all day and also enjoyed spending time playing several Papaw's Dulcimers, which he really liked the feel and the sound of.
Nathaniel recently competed in the talent show at the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair in North Georgia with his version of "Black Mountain Rag" and won first place in the 12 and under category. He was the only dulcimer player in the competition, which was dominated by vocal acts. Congratulations, Nathaniel!
Here's Nathaniel's version of "Black Mountain Rag," peformed during the Open Stage at the Swannanoa Gathering.
Nathaniel is halfway through Dulcimer Week at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. The Gathering consists of an entire week of classes, jams and concerts on a mountain farm college campus, with an abundance of delightful spots for practicing and jamming. Nathaniel, who has gotten to attend through a Youth Scholarship, is taking all of his classes from 2006 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion, Jeff Hames, and the morning "experienced skills" class only has one other student. Tonight, Nathaniel will play "Black Mountain Rag" during the Open Stage performance.
To many, Nathaniel's brand new dulcimer (which he saved for and bought on his own) might just look like one more dulcimer. But for Nathaniel it opens brand new opportunities because of the notes he can hit with the 1 1/2 and 8 1/2 frets that were added to this spruce and cherry McSpadden. Nathaniel ordered his new dulcimer from Jeff Hames, who Nathaniel will be learning from all week at the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, NC.
Nathaniel just got home from a family trip to Michigan, where he enjoyed a few opportunities to play his dulcimer. First, he and his family visited North & South Mountain Dulcimers, a wonderful home-based dulcimer shop in rural western Michigan that carries a fabulous selection of McSpadden dulcimers. Nathaniel and his dad spent a bit of time jamming on the back porch with Ray Spyker, who, along with his wife Mary Ellen, owns North & South Mountain Dulcimers. Nathaniel got to play a beautiful Schnaufer 6. The business is called North & South Mountain Dulcimers, by the way, because the Spykers spend half their year in Michigan and half in Florida.
Nathaniel and his dad strummed old-time tunes while Nathaniel's sister Sarah worked on a corn-husk doll as part of a living history day put on by the 1860s Civilian Society of Georgia at Hazel Grove Elementary School. Both of the school's 4th Grade classes sat together to watch the combined program, which also included a bit of dulcimer history and discussion about corn-husk doll making. Nathaniel's dad was surprised and encouraged by the a large number of questions from the class. The mother of one of the students commented that she thinks the boys especially enjoyed having a part of the program come from a boy who was about their age. Photo by Denise Weimer.Here's Nathaniel's version of John Stinson, played at the Cumberland Gap Dulcimer Gathering (which, by the way, is a very fun gathering). The arrangement certainly was influenced by the Grand Finale of the final night concert at last year's fall festival at Unicoi, but it is played the way Nathaniel likes it best.
Nathaniel and his dad just returned from the Dulcimer Jamboree in Mountain View, AR. The Jamboree, which takes place at the Ozark Folk Center, draws mountain and hammered dulcimer players from all over the nation and includes three days of outstanding workshops and concerts and the South Regional Dulcimer Championship. Nathaniel competed for the first time during this year's jamboree and placed third in competition, which is sponsored by the Dulcimer Shoppe and McSpadden Dulcimers in Mountain View. He played "Black Mountain Rag" and "How Great Thou Art" in the first round and "Spanish Fandango" and "Wayfaring Stranger" in the final round. 
Nathaniel, his dad and a friend, Calvin, spent Friday playing old-time music on the porch of an 18th century cabin on the side of Black Mountain as part of a living history day at the Foxfire Museum. Nathaniel and his dad played dulcimers and a birdhouse banjo. Calvin played his guitar and banjo. The cabin, one of several historic buildings on the Foxfire property, was relocated from the North Carolina mountains, presumably from the banks of Shooting Creek.
While visiting his Grandma over Easter weekend, Nathaniel got to visit Warren A. May's dulcimer shop in Berea, Kentucky. Nathaniel enjoyed playing several fiddle tunes and hymns with Mr. May, who has been building dulcimers for more than 30 years and who also makes beautiful furniture. 
Friday was a big dulcimer day for Nathaniel. Early in the day, he and his dad were filmed explaining and demonstrating basic dulcimer playing techniques. The video segment, which will be added to this blog after it is edited, is part of a series of videos about various arts that is being produced by the Georgia Heritage Arts Center. Nathaniel's sister, Sarah, also did a segment about pressed flower art. Later in the day, Nathaniel's family traveled to Red Top Mountain State Park to attend one day of a weekend dulcimer festival. At the festival, called Spring Thing, Nathaniel enjoyed some fine jamming time and played two songs during the Open Mic time.
Nathaniel was recently afforded the wonderful opportunity to play a four-song set at First United Methodist Church of Canton prior to Joe Collins, the 2007 Mountain Dulcimer National Champion, taking the stage. The concert followed a day of Joe Collins-led workshops at the church. The event was hosted by the Hilltop Strummers. Nathaniel led off with "I'll Fly Away."
Nathaniel and his dad just returned from the Southern Strings Dulcimer Festival in Hattiesburg, MS - a weekend that was full of surprises and excitement for Nathaniel. The biggest surprise came after the Friday morning jam when Jeff Hames handed Nathaniel a spruce and walnut McSpadden Dulcimer. Jeff, who is the 2006 National Dulcimer Champion and Nathaniel's favorite musician, had hand picked the instrument for its tone from the Dulcimer Shoppe in Mountain View, Arkansas, where McSpadden Dulcimers are made. Immediately after, Nathaniel got to sit with Jeff and work on songs. Another surprise came Saturday night, when Jeff performed for more than 250 festival attendees. When he introduced Black Mountain Rag, Nathaniel's favorite song to play, Jeff said that it was for Nathaniel. After the concert, he invited Nathaniel and his dad back to his camper to jam a while before heading back toward Georgia. The festival included good workshops and ple
nty of jamming time.
This week, Nathaniel and his dad had the opportunity to perform for the seniors group at Level Grove Baptist Church. They dressed in their old-time clothes and played a mix of mostly old hymns and fiddle tunes, sharing a bit of dulcimer history between songs. Nathaniel played four solos: Victory in Jesus, Wayfaring Stranger, How Great Thou Art and Black Mountain Rag.
