The cimbalom, cimbal or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in Budapest, based on his modifications to the existing Hammered dulcimer instruments which were already present in Central and Eastern Europe.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which has historically been the most common configuration to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
"A Case of You" is a song by Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album Blue.
"Carey" is a song from the 1971 Joni Mitchell album Blue. It was inspired by her time spent with Cary Raditz, living with a cave-dwelling hippie community at Matala, on the Greek island of Crete.
Jean Ruth Ritchie was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way, many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries old British and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads. In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences, as well as writing some of her own songs using traditional foundations.
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be living citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Each year, fellowships are presented to between nine and fifteen artists or groups at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles, the African music and blues of early African Americans, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
(Julie) Loraine Wyman was an American soprano, noted for her concert performances of folk songs, some of which she collected from traditional singers in field work. Paul J. Stamler has called Wyman "the first real practitioner of the urban folk revival."
David Massengill is an American folk singer-songwriter, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer player. Massengill considers Dave Van Ronk his mentor, and is fond of quoting Van Ronk's tribute "he takes the dull out of dulcimer" in performance and as the title of his frequent workshops on the instrument. Massengill owns and plays dulcimers carved by Edsel Martin (1927–1999) from North Carolina. Massengill's best-known songs include: "On The Road to Fairfax County", recorded by The Roches and by Joan Baez; "The Great American Dream," performed with Joan Baez and others at a tribute to Mike Porco, former owner of the famed Greenwich Village club Gerde's Folk City; and "My Name Joe", about an illegal immigrant restaurant worker. For some years after he began recording, Massengill maintained a day job as a restaurant dishwasher. He also contributed his poignant dulcimer-centered version of "The Crucifixion" to 2001's multi-artist double-disc tribute to Phil Ochs, What's That I Hear.
Neal Hellman is an American folk musician, music teacher, and performer of the mountain dulcimer. He has been active in performing, writing, teaching and recording acoustic music for the past thirty years throughout the United States and Europe.
David Schnaufer was an American folk musician. He is widely credited with restoring the popularity of the Appalachian dulcimer.
Homer C. Ledford was an instrument maker and bluegrass musician from Kentucky who specialized in making dulcimers.
John Bailey (1931–2011) was a British luthier who made and repaired guitars and other stringed instruments during the 1960s revival of English folk music and beyond. Bailey lived in London until 1972 when he moved to Dartmouth in Devon.
Celebration at Big Sur is a film of the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival in Big Sur, California, featuring Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and others.
The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional German stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither. It falls into the category of drone zithers.
Bing Futch is a musician whose primary instrument is the mountain dulcimer. In 1986 he co-founded Christian techno-punk trio Crazed Bunnyz along with Marc "Gadget" Plainguet and Sean "Shaka" Harrison. He relocated to Orlando, Florida in 1993 and also plays the Native American flute, ukulele, and drums.
"California" is a song written by Joni Mitchell that first appeared on her 1971 album Blue. It was also released as the second single from the album, as a follow-up to "Carey".
None but One is a studio album released by American singer Jean Ritchie in 1977 on Sire LP record SA-7530. The album was a stylistic departure for Ritchie in that it featured "modern" instruments and production values. It resulted in significant critical acclaim, but the album suffered serious distribution problems. A song from the album, "Now is the Cool of the Day" became an anthem for environmentalists opposed to mountaintop removal.
