Lapidus On Dulcimer

Joellen Lapidus - Dulcimer and Klezmer Musician, Songwriter, Builder, Teacher, and Author - PURCHASE

When I visited Stephen Seifert and family in Nashville last month, he had a book called "Lapidus On Dulcimer" that completely blew my mind. Published in 1978 by Joellen Lapidus, who introduced Joni Mitchell to the mountain dulcimer, it's a fabulously exhaustive guide to the both the instrument and how to approach it as a player. My covet machine was in full roar by the time I got home and sought out a copy on Ebay.

It didn't take long to arrive (it popped magically into the mailbox yesterday) and today will be spent soaking in the very descriptive text and illustrations. While flipping through it at Steve's place, I recall thinking and saying "this is the wheel, no need to re-invent it", in reference to my current plans towards a mountain dulcimer method book. Steve made a good point about it being out-of-print and therefore hard to find (Lapidus offers used copies on her website for $65), plus - my approach to the instrument is different, and a divergent book would emerge as a result.

Still - it's a pretty hard act to follow.

Today's The Day



Dulcimer Players News - Podcasts

It's official today - I'll be producing audio and video podcasts for Dulcimer Players News and the first episodes are out of the bag and on the website!

Weekend Show Canceled

This weekend's workshops and concert at The Bluegrass Shop in St. Petersburg, Florida have been canceled due to the shop's untimely closing. Of course, it's disappointing to have a gig canceled - but it's really a drag that Florida has lost another fantastic small shop owned by really terrific people. It's an alarm call that we need to support the independents more, especially in these times of recession, or we'll all be buying our dulcimers from Wal-Mart.

Note To Mother Nature

Can you tell Winter that check-out time was last month?