Peggy Carter
A teacher and performer and an award-winning hammer dulcimer player, with a background in Music Education and Church Music. She is a composer, arranger and a conductor of vocal and instrumental performing groups, and has taught and performed at venues all across the US and across the Big Pond. This talented musician living in Houston Texas, has produced four CDs and numerous books and arrangements for hammer dulcimer, Mt. dulcimer and acoustic ensembles.
Bing Futch
With roots in both African and Seminole Indian tribes, Bing Futch's window on America is a unique landscape of music, words and imagery. He began playing Appalachian mountain dulcimer at Knott's Berry Farm theme park in 1985, working at a Ghost Town shop.
In 1986, Futch founded Christian techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz, a trio that grew popular in the international underground college radio scene. Beginning his solo career that same year, he has since composed dozens of scores for film, theater, themed attractions and television. Futch left his California hometown of Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue production opportunities in central Florida where he immediately set up a multimedia company called J.O.B. Entertainment Inc.
Six years later, Mohave was born. The award-winning Americana band has performed all around the state of Florida including multiple shows at The House Of Blues at Walt Disney World, Hard Rock Live Orlando, The Bamboo Room, Freebird Live, The Orlando Fringe Festival, The Central Florida Fair and they've also opened for national acts such as Molly Hatchet, Subject To Change and The Crests.
Jeff Furman
Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist (mountain dulcimer, clawhammer banjo, guitar, autoharp, and string bass) who has been playing old-time music since 1980. Primarily a banjo player for many years, Jeff developed a rhythmic and melodic style of playing which has heavily influenced his dulcimer playing. He has an extensive repertoire of old-time fiddle music which crosses over to a strong interest in Celtic music. Jeff has performed individually, along with his wife, Janet, and with several old-time string bands at numerous fiddle festivals, public and private concerts, public schools, and dances throughout the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio.
He has played on multiple recordings including music from Ireland, Scotland, the Appalachian Mountains, and American folk tunes. Jeff has been the Champion Mountain Dulcimer player at the Fiddler’s Grove Festival in Union Grove, NC numerous times and has also won awards on the mountain dulcimer at the prestigious Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, Virginia. Jeff’s playing has been described as fluid and expressive, and, in his hands the mountain dulcimer becomes an instrument capable of creating a wide array of moods, emotions, and feelings.
Marsha Harris
Marsha plays with two civil war reenactment groups, 'The Carteret Grays' and 'The Huckleberry Brothers' on fiddle and sometimes bowed and lap dulcimers. In 'The Bogue Sounds' she plays several instruments; dulcimer, bowed dulcimer, fiddle, tenor banjo and penny whistle.
Marsha has taught at Waterbound Dulcimer workshops and Joe Collins's Mid Winter Workshop.
Marya Katz
In addition to performing with Simple Gifts, Marya has worked with a group of several Blacksburg musicians who are trying to &qotebuild a house with music&qote – all the proceeds from their recordings are donated to Habitat for Humanity. Marya has two self-published books of her tunes, Dulcimations I and II. She is a National Board Certified elementary music teacher, and also directs the adult choir for her church. Along with the Winston-Salem festival and the Swannanoa Gathering, Marya has been a regularly-scheduled workshop leader for the Cranberry Dulcimer Gathering in Binghamton, NY. Her newest CD "Between Sunset and Stars, " features a collage of her compositions.
Ken Kolodner
Viewed by many players as one of the most influential player in the United States, Ken is widely known for an expressive and improvisational style and for creative ensemble playing. has been described as &qotenothing short of astonishing&qote (The Connection), &qoteoutstanding&qote (The New York Times), &qotemarvelous&qote (The Washington Post) and &qotevirtuosic&qote (Audio) and &qotestunning in its musicality&qote (Dulcimer Player News) and &qotenot to be missed&qote (USA TODAY). And Folk Tales Magazine writes, &qote…without a doubt, Ken is one of the hammered dulcimer's top exponents, playing with a dexterity which would stun many a would-be hammerer.&qote His extensive repertoire ranges from traditional music of Ireland, Quebec and Appalachia to music from over 20 countries from around the world. Adding to his recognition as a hammered player, in more recent years, Ken has become very widely regarded as an accomplished Old-time fiddler.
He has been featured in nationally broadcast concerts on NPR, All Things Considered, German National Radio, on the CBC, and on the Voice of America. His credits include 10 recordings with total sales over 100,000 copies, 5 instructional recordings for hammered dulcimer, one instructional recording for old time fiddle, three books, an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special as featured soloist, a 1997 recording with sales of over 50,000 (Walking Stones) which also hit the top of the World Music charts and was a top seller for BMG in their Classical/World Music category, a 2000 recording with Helicon that won an “Indie” for Best Seasonal Recording and a 2005 recording on Maggie's Music called Journey to the Heartland.
Anne Lough
Excellence as a performer, teacher and demonstrator, combined with dedication to the preserving and sharing of our wonderful heritage of traditional music bring a rare and unique quality to every presentation. In addition to being a frequent instructor in mountain and hammered dulcimer at the prestigious John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC., Anne has taught at the Swannanoa Gathering, Western Carolina Dulcimer Week, Augusta Heritage Dulcimer Week and at numerous other festivals and workshops throughout the country.
Jody Marshall
A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Jody grew up in a musical family. Enchanted by the sound and visual appeal of the hammered dulcimer, she developed a passion for the instrument and has been performing and teaching dulcimer since 1988. She was a founding member of the popular folk bands, Ironweed and MoonFire, and currently performs in several bands in the D.C area, including the award-winning Celtic band, Connemara. Her debut solo album, "Cottage in the Glen," was released by the Maggie's Music label in Spring 2005, and her holiday CD, "Carol of the Bells," came out in 2006.
The Washington Post has described Jody's music as "deftly balancing the artful and the playful...lovely, lively, and shimmering." She has been nominated as best folk instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association, and her performance credits include the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, and the White House. As an instructor of the dulcimer, she is known for her clear and easy to follow teaching style. In addition to private lessons, she teaches frequently at festivals and workshops, including the Augusta Heritage Arts workshops in Elkins, West Virginia; the Upper Potomac Dulcimer Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina.
Cindy Ribet
Cindy is a singer, songwriter and musician who plays the hammered dulcimer, fiddle, recorders and guitar. Coming from a childhood steeped in Traditional, Bluegrass and Gospel music, she has been singing and performing most of her life.
Cindy has won numerous awards for her poetry and songs as well as many awards for Hammered Dulcimer competitions. She has been playing the hammered dulcimer since 1987. Her effervescent enthusiasm is evident when she plays and teaches and is highly contagious.
Jeff Sebens
Jeff brings a varied educational background to his dulcimer teaching. From an early training in classical music to experience teaching history and industrial arts, he has melded these experiences into a love and appreciation for both the lap and hammered dulcimers. Jeff is a founding father of the Winston-Salem Dulcimer Festival, and many of us enjoy instruments he has built. He handcrafts a variety of musical instruments, as well as keeping an active schedule with festivals, workshops, and Elderhostels.
Rachel Sprinkle
Rachel’s passion for traditional music was first inspired but the haunting sound of the Irish penny whistle. She began teaching herself to play by ear from recordings and through the guidance of local musicians. Jerry Reed Smith’s early dulcimer recordings created a desire to expand her playing to include the hammered dulcimer. In recent years she has blended the unique sounds of the bowed dulcimer into her music, as well as the fiddle. Although Rachel began with Irish music, she soon expanded her repertoire to include American old time, French Canadian, Scottish, Cape Breton Early American, English Country Dance tunes and the occasional classical piece. Rachel is from Sharon, SC and performs solo and with various groups and ensembles, including the 18th century group, Nonesuch.
Linda Thomas
Linda’s musical career began at age seven when she started playing piano. She eventually earned a degree in music education at Southwest Missouri State University and has taught music at the elementary school level for 35 years. Linda became intrigued by the hammered dulcimer after hearing it played in live performance at the Walnut Valley Festival in the 1980's. &qoteMy formal training consisted of maybe five lessons to learn the tuning and set-up of the dulcimer; however, I consider myself pretty much a self-taught player.&qote She quickly mastered the instrument and has become well known both in the US and in Europe as a performer, recording artist and instructor.
Teamed with guitarist Dan DeLancey since 1980, the duo has recorded twelve albums and Linda has published several instructional books with arrangements for hammered dulcimer. Linda also facilitates workshops for beginner to advanced players and has been a competitor at major dulcimer contests. She took 2nd place in the Southern Regional Hammered Dulcimer Finals at Mountain View, Arkansas in 1994, 1995 and 1996. In 1997 Linda was a finalist in Lone Star State Dulcimer Competition and took first place there in 1999. In August, 2001 she was first place winner in the Scottish Highland Games Hammered Dulcimer Competition at Denver, Colorado.