From The Hills To The Sea: A Song History
"From The Hills To The Sea" appears in Bing Futch's tablature collection All Over The Map, where the DulcimerDownloads listing sets it in DAA tuning and credits the composition to Futch.[1] Published by J.O.B. Entertainment, the book is described in the listing as a mix of Futch originals and folk classics, and the download comes with an MP3 recording of each tune.[1]
William Merritt Chase, The Old Road to the Sea, oil on canvas, c. 1893. Shown for its road running down to the sea; it has no connection to the tune.
Futch's own site calls All Over The Map his first mountain dulcimer book, presents it as a companion to his first mountain dulcimer album, Dulcimerica: Volume 1, and names this tune among the pieces it says the album featured.[2] The album's sixteen-track listing on Apple Music, however, has no track by this name, so the sources consulted here differ on whether it appears on that album.[3] The sources consulted here do not say when or why he wrote the piece, or what its title refers to.[1][2][3]
Futch, who makes his home in Orlando, Florida, plays Americana on mountain dulcimer, Native American flute and ukulele, with a repertoire that takes in his own blues and roots-rock songs as well as Disney and The Rocky Horror Picture Show covers.[4] His DulcimerDownloads biography says he co-founded the band Mohave on dulcimer in 1999, went out as a solo act in 2006, and has headlined events such as the Walnut Valley Festival and the Florida Folk Festival.[4] At the 2016 International Blues Challenge in Memphis he reached the finals and took the Solo/Duo "Best Guitarist" award while playing only mountain dulcimer.[4]
Sources
- Bing Futch: "All Over The Map".
- Bing Futch: "All Over The Map: Dulcimerica Volume 1".
- Apple Music: "Dulcimerica: Volume 1" (Bing Futch).
- DulcimerDownloads: "Bing Futch".
- Image: William Merritt Chase, The Old Road to the Sea, oil on canvas, c. 1893. The Cleveland Museum of Art.