Dave Haas Second Saturday Clinic
May 19, 2023
Good Morning, Y'all!
I have an apology to make. Last week's newsletter mentioned how DulcimerDownloads.com had overtaken Folkcraft.com in sales. I should have been clear that the "overtaking" was for one day only. We sell dulcimers, books, and accessories at Folkcraft, while DulcimerDownloads has strictly books (though not as many of them and at a lower price point). The swap in sales dominance was for just the one day (which was a mediocre day for Folkcraft and an amazingly strong day for DulcimerDownloads). I'm sorry that I didn't make that clear in last week's newsletter!
Dave Haas Comes to Town
Last weekend we were lucky to host Dave Haas in our concert hall. Dave led one of our monthly jam/clinic/concert days. Thirty people attended - from two countries and half-a-dozen U.S. states. We call these monthly jam/clinic/concert days our Second Saturday Clinic Series. Next month we're hosting Carol Walker as our clinician.
Photo of the pre-clinic jam at Dave Haas's Secondary Saturday Clinic (Dave's behind the bass player!)
Last week, I surveyed our readers about "which artists do we NOT have at DulcimerDownloads.com, but you wish we did." Eleven artists were recommended and I'm working on adding their books. The leader in requests was Dave Haas (of course!) with just over 50 percent of the responses naming Dave as the top choice. Thanks to all of you who took the time to let me know your wishes!
Dulcimer Doctor - On the Road
I'll be the official "dulcimer doctor" at Kentucky Music Week next month. With 300+ musicians on site, and just one repair person this year (me), I won't be able to take in all the work that people want to have done. I have a schedule here on my desk and I'm making reservations for my time to do repair and setup jobs at KMW. So, if you want me to do something for you while I'm at KMW, let me know sooner, rather than later. I suspect I'll arrive on the first day of the festival and have a fully-booked calendar before we even get started with the fun.
My other festivals for doing repairs on-site? Two left for 2023: ODPC Funfest in Evart, Michigan, and Black Mountain Music Fest in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Dates and details can be found on our upcoming events page.
In Other News...
Folkcraft hired a "new guy" a couple of months ago. His name is Dominic and he's doing great! In another month or two, he'll be helping us knock out the backlog of dulcimer orders (making parts, sanding, etc.). Dominic has a background in guitar repair, so he knows some of what he needs to know, but the dulcimer certainly has a lot of unique quirks. Here's a photo of Dominic (with Wendy Songe, whom I can't imagine any of you don't recognize):
Just to be clear, Dominic is on the left...
Lots of little tidbits in today's newsletter? Yep! Just like my workbench this week. Lots of odd jobs - trying to get some projects finished and off of my to-do list.
Thanks for reading, Y'all - Have a great dulcimer-filled weekend!
Richard Ash - luthier-who's-considering-a-name-change-from-Richard-to-Luther-just-to-confuse-people