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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Name Change
I’ve been saying “mountain dulcimer” for many years, and occasionally “Appalachian dulcimer.” But those terms reinforce the historical association with things like backwoods hillbillies. These instruments belong in modern, mainstream music, too.
Beginning with the introduction of this new website in November 2024, I will retrain myself to call them FRETTED dulcimers.
Songwriter Showcase
On December 1, 2024, I’ll be a featured performer at the ISSA Boston/Northeast Songwriter Showcase in Worcester, MA. I’ll perform "in the round" along with fellow songwriters Joanna Katzen, Peter L’Esperance, and Tom Maynard.
This showcase will be held in Worcester, MA, in The Shiproom at the Hotel Vernon – my first time ever performing in Massachusetts. Though I’m best known for my “cover song” arrangements, I’ve also written a ton of songs, and in recent years I’ve started performing some of them on dulcimer. Even my MAKING WAVES album of mostly classic rock and pop hits includes two originals.
21st Annual Nutmeg Dulcimer Festival
On November 8-9, 2024, we had the 21st annual Nutmeg Dulcimer Festival in Milford, CT, which I’m the chair of. Featured artists were recent National Champions Kara Barnard on fretted dulcimer and Nate Pultorak on hammered dulcimer. Special guests, cimbalom masters Daniel Skála and MatÄ›j ÄŒíp (shown), performed also. (The cimbalom is an Eastern European cousin of the hammered dulcimer. It’s a conservatory instrument over there.) There were more than 40 workshops for players, taught by the above artists plus a dozen others, including me. We also had a special guest appearance Saturday by the New York Dulcimer Orchestra – joined by a couple of members of the virtual First National Dulcimer Orchestra. An incredible time was had by all.
Stay tuned for news about 2025.
My first album!
I recently released my first album, MAKING WAVES, by Edelston & Dulcimer, and it’s truly groundbreaking. It’s me on fretted dulcimer, fronting a rock band, playing mostly covers of classic rock and pop songs. The mission of this album is to show the world that dulcimers deserve to be widely used in rock music. We covered the spectrum, from gentle ballads like "Wild Horses" and "She’s Always a Woman," to anthems like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," to pedal-to-the-metal takes on "Ace of Spades" and "Born to Run." There’s even Brandi Carlile’s Grammy-nominated “You and Me on the Rock,” which was actually written on a dulcimer. You’ve never heard another album like this, because in my 40+ years on the dulcimer scene, I’ve never heard of a dulcimer album like it.
Dulcimers have occasionally appeared on hit records but, as far as I know, never like this. So I feel like I’m introducing the broader world to a new instrument. For that reason (and because it sounds fantastic!), this is my favorite album of all time.
It's “Edelston & Dulcimer,” rather than my name, because the dulcimer is the star of the album. It even “sings” lead on about half of the songs.
A Day at the Museum
On April 30, 2024, I finally got to visit the renowned Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, which features thousands of instruments of all types, from around the world. I went there to find myself.
At every exhibit, they have a video loop where you can hear examples of the instruments being played, and in their dulcimer exhibit, their video loop includes my video of Neil Diamond's song, "Sweet Caroline." How big is it to have been selected for this? Well, the only other fretted dulcimer artist in the video loop is the legendary Jean Ritchie singing to Pete Seeger. During the pandemic, MIM posted a video about their Zither & Dulcimer exhibit, where a curator mentioned my video and then showed it for half a minute. WATCH HERE
I had contacted the museum in advance, and so was honored and delighted when the curator from the pandemic video, Rich Walter, came out, showed me around the exhibits, and posed with me for photos at the dulcimer display. I was tremendously impressed with the effort and the love that he puts into assembling and updating the collection. Whenever possible, there’s a story behind the instrument and why it’s significant. If you’re going anywhere near Phoenix, check it out! LEARN MORE
