Pickin' Porch

Next Saturday (July 3) I will be teaching workshops and performing at the Pickin' Porch at Woods-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop in Townsend, TN.

Here is a list of the classes I will be teaching and the times. They are five dollars each. If you are interested, contact Woods-N-Strings to to sign up for classes.

10:30 - 11:30 - Fiddle Tune Variations: Learn a few cool variations that you can use for almost every fiddle tune.

1:15 - 2:15 - You are Capo-Able: This is a class that is good if you have not really done much with your capo. Learn how to use it (without a "Capo tab") and good way to think about it. Please bring capo!

2:30 - 3:30 - Left Hand Only: We are going to look at using only hammer-ons and pull-offs to play a song to help get them ingrained in you mind and your muscle memory.

3:45 - 4:45 - Reuben's Train: Learn a great song to ad to your repertoire. Also learning new techniques and the use of all fingers. Please bring your capo!

My concert will be a 7:00 in the evening

Hope to see you there!

-Nathaniel

Congratulations Nathaniel - Mid-Eastern Mountain Dulcimer Champion

Nathaniel and I (dad) traveled to Ohio this weekend for Coshocton Dulcimer Days, which includes the Mid-Eastern Regional Mountain Dulcimer Championship. Nathaniel competed and took first prize, a portion of which is a paid entry into the national championship in Winfield, Kansas in September.

Another highlight of the trip for Nathaniel was getting to meet Hunter Walker, another young dulcimer player and winner of the same competition in 2009. Nathaniel and Hunter spent some time jamming together at Wildwood Music, a fabulous music shop in Coshocton.

Nathaniel and I are both appreciative of all the festival volunteers, sponsors and vendors.

Busy Month!

Today I'm looking forward to a busy dulcimer month. Right now I don't know whether I am going to a dulcimer festival this weekend or not! Here is a list of what I know I will be doing.

July 3 - I am going to do a concert and teach classes at the Pickin' Porch at Mike Clemmer's dulcimer shop in Townsend, Tennessee. If you would like to take classes, please contact the shop. I will have the schedule posted here soon.

July 16 - I will be doing a few songs to open up the concert at the Summer Strumin' with Joe Collins event at Unicoi State Park.

July 18-23 - I will be at Western Carolina University Dulcimer Week in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

July 31 - I will be doing a solo concert at Unicoi State Park as part of the weekend-long Folk Life Traditions festival. It will be from 11:00 to 12:00.

Hope to see you some place down the road!

-Nathaniel

Wonderful Weekend!

All week I was looking forward to Jeff Hames' Kicking of the Summer event - and it turned out to be even better than I anticipated.

I got to learn a lot with Jeff, play a few songs to open up his concert, play two songs with him during the concert and have fun jamming with Jeff in his music room, where he keeps all his dulcimers.

But the most fun part was when we were sitting in his music room. I was trying a Schnaufer Model he had just put strings on. And after one song he said that if I wanted it, I could have it........ I wanted it! It is a beautiful Schnaufer model - built to the specifications of David Schnaufer, who almost everybody thinks was the best dulcimer player ever. He was Jeff's teacher. The dulcimer was built by Larry McSppaden in July, 2006.

Thank you to Jeff Hames for all the new techniques, the time invested and the wonderful new dulcimer!

-Nathaniel