Event Schedule
Please note the schedule below is not finalized and subject to updates and changes. Thank you for your patience as we update this info.
Thursday, April 13th
11:00am → 12:30pm EST
Pre-Event Orientation
Howdy Jam and Introductions with Dr. Ron Pen & Doug Naselroad
12:45pm → 1:30pm EST
Intermission
Lunch Break Programming
1:30pm → 2:30pm EST
Workshop (Beginner)
Playing Tips & Essentials with Don Pedi
2:45pm → 3:45pm EST
Workshop
Spirituals Arranged as Solo or as a Medley for the Mountain Dulcimer with Lorinda Jones
This workshop starts with a lesser known spiritual in the Mixolydian mode, arranged as a solo, and then move on to a group of more common spirituals arranged in a medley that takes you on a journey of both dark and uplifting. These tunes are well suited for those with novice to intermediate playing experience as they do utilize chords and varying tempos and rhythms. Come and play or sing!
4:00pm → 5:00pm EST
Lecture
Homecoming with Dulcimer Maker Homer Ledford
This lecture will honor Homer Ledford’s life and legacy, especially as his craft perfected the dulcimer lineage of the Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming from Uncle Ed Thomas to Jethro Amburgey. Included will be conversation and performance with Doug Naselroad, Don Pedi, and Ron Pen. The discussion will culminate in a screening of Instrument Maker: Homer Ledford, a documentary created for KET in 2003 by director Stan Petry.
5:00pm → 7:00pm EST
Intermission
Supper Time!
7:00pm → 8:30pm EST
Concert
Concert with Faculty & Friends
Open to the public at the Mike Mullins Heritage Center.
Friday, April 14th
10:30am → 11:30am EST
Workshop (beginner)
Curiously Scary Modal Tunings with Dulcimore Dan Cox
A not-so-scary method for playing all four commonly used modes by changing the tuning on one string one note to get to the next mode. We can start with the contemporary tuning DAd, retune for the three other modal tunings and then return back to where we started.
11:45am → 12:45pm EST
Workshop (beginner)
An Irish Hymn (plus other tunes) in the scale of E Minor with Lorinda Jones
We will find the scale of E minor on the dulcimer and play an Irish hymn, using chords, no capo, then capo and play a Child Ballad (old English song) and a popular American patriotic march. You will want to be familiar with basic playing techniques and some experience with playing 2 and 3 finger chords for this session.
12:45pm → 1:30pm EST
Intermission
Lunch Break Programming
1:30pm → 2:30pm EST
Workshop (Intermediate)
Approaches to Improvisation with Sarah Kate Morgan
Let’s loosen up and liven up your playing. I’m gonna give you the tools to be able to make up interesting and musical things on the fly. We’ll start with learning two ways I approach improvisation. Then I’ll be teaching a simple tune with lots of room to experiment with, then using these approaches to improvise within the structure of the tune. Knowledge of chords and/or chord shapes will be very helpful for the class. DAD tuning.
2:45pm → 3:45pm EST
Workshop (Intermediate)
Ballads & Songs with Don Pedi
Old love songs and songs from the mountains.
4:00pm → 5:00pm EST
Lecture
Homecoming with Estill Bingham with Dr. Ron Pen and Don Pedi
With a Fountain of Beard and an Avalanche of Tunes, Estill Bingham (1899-1990) of Pineville, Bell County, KY was an exceptional fiddler who possessed a vast repertory of engaging tunes and songs, many of which he learned from his father, Noah. Estill’s music is often quirky, unconstrained by standard forms, and blessed with melodic shapes that are as twisty and crooked as a Harlan County politician. This workshop will celebrate Estill’s musical legacy by learning several of his tunes that fit the dulcimer well, including “Old Aunt Jenny with Her Nightcap On,” “Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor,” “Old Granny Blair,” and “Cookhouse Joe.”
5:00pm → 7:00pm EST
Intermission
Supper Time!
7:00pm → 8:30pm EST
Concert
Concert featuring Sarah Kate Morgan with Faculty & Friends
Open to the public at the Mike Mullins Heritage Center.
Saturday, April 15th
10:30am → 11:30am EST
Workshop (beginner)
Writing Songs like Nobody Cares with Doug Naselroad
Insights and encouragement from the host of the Songwriter’s Circle on how to find enjoyment and varying degrees of fulfillment through the very personal act of songwriting.
11:45am → 12:45pm EST
Workshop (Intermediate)
Practice Drills to Improve Your Skills with Sarah Kate Morgan
Instead of learning tunes, in this workshop I’ll share a variety of drills that you can incorporate into your practice. I’ve designed these 6 drills to help with issues like finger dexterity and choice, flatpicking speed and accuracy, and right and left hand connection. DAD tuning.
12:45pm → 1:30pm EST
Intermission
Lunch Break Programming
1:30pm → 2:30pm EST
Lecture / Demonstration
Dulcimer Journey Lecture with Don Pedi
A lecture/demonstration of first-hand personal observations of the changes in construction and playing of the mountain dulcimer from the 1960s to the present day. Antique and vintage instruments will be utilized for demonstrations.
2:45pm → 3:45pm EST
Workshop (Intermediate)
Learn the Kentucky Tune, Goodbye Honey I’m Gone with Sarah Kate Morgan
This is unique earworm of a tune in the unusual key of Gm, from the playing of Bath County, KY fiddler, George Lee Hawkins. I’ll teach the tune by year, but you’ll have a handout to refer to as needed. Tuning: CGC, Capo needed. You can hear the tune at: https://youtu.be/VOOj4Cnpd2E
4:00pm → 5:00pm EST
Lecture
Across the Great Divide: Fiddle Tunes That Unite Communities with Dr. Ron Pen and Lorinda Jones
Under the aegis of a Kentucky Arts Council Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant (2023) Lorinda Jones and Ron Pen undertook a year of fiddle tune exploration targeting Kentucky traditional music within the context of old world/new world interchange and transformation. We learned various tunes through oral tradition, discussed their source musician biographies, pursued related anecdotes, and addressed facets of musical architecture and articulation. Tunes including “Old Aunt Jenny with Her Nightcap On,” “Cookhouse Joe,” “Golden Chain Tree,” “Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor,” “Moonlight,” “Goodbye, Lover Goodbye,” and “Lovely Jane” were all transcribed by Lorinda and then interpreted with creative instrumentation choices and arrangements, hewing faithfully to the original while imparting sparkling insight. This work was further complemented by a trip to Ireland where Lorinda encountered a unique version of “Bonaparte’s Retreat.” Although this grant is still a work-in-progress, this workshop will report on our current activity and be illustrated by performances of several tunes that reflect our collaborative methodology.
5:00pm → 7:00pm EST
Intermission
Supper Time!
7:00pm → 8:30pm EST
Concert
Free Flying Farewell with Faculty & Friends
Open to the public at the Mike Mullins Heritage Center.
Event Staff
Don is known for developing a playing style for the fretted mountain dulcimer that can match a fiddle, note for note, while maintaining the rhythms and characteristics of traditional music. In 1974, he won first place in the first contest he ever entered, at Fiddler’s Grove, in Union Grove, N.C. In 1979, Don was declared “Master Dulcimer Player” and removed from future competitions at Fiddler’s Grove. Before retiring from competition in 1984, Don had amassed over forty first place ribbons in contests throughout the south east, both in solo competitions and as a key band member.
Over the decades, he’s been recognized and honored for collecting, preserving and performing Traditional Appalachian music. Since 1985 Don has championed folk music as an on air host at NPR affiliate Blue Ridge Public Radio, WCQS 88.1 in Asheville, NC. His weekly show “Close to Home” airs on Saturdays, locally from 8:00-10:00pm (Eastern Time) and simultaneously streams on the web. Don has also appeared in the motion pictures “The Song Catcher” and “The Journey of August King”, as well as a number of documentaries and music specials.
Lorinda has most recently been awarded an apprenticeship grant through the Kentucky Arts Council to study and learn Kentucky fiddle tunes with mentor Ron Pen.
Lorinda is a member of na Skylark, an all female Irish Chamber group specializing in the traditional music of Ireland performed on traditional instruments including harp, fiddle, pipes, voice, flutes and whistles. Their recording, Old Ceol, has been played on numerous radio and podcasts featuring the best of Celtic music.
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