The Instrument Builder's House: A Song History
"The Instrument Builder's House" is one of the pieces in Butch Ross's A Long Way From Shady Grove, a Fingers Of Steel book of sheet music and tablature transcribed from his CD of the same name, and the listing sets it for mountain dulcimer in DAD tuning.[1] That listing credits some other pieces in the book, such as "Baskets" and "Birdwatching," to Ross, but names no writer for this one.[1] On the album, which its Bandcamp page dates to 9 May 2009, it is the sixth of fourteen tracks and runs 2:46.[2] Ross's website describes that CD as entirely instrumental, combining traditional pieces with original ones.[3] The sources consulted here do not say which kind this piece is, or which instrument builder, if any, the title refers to.[1][2][3]
Lyre Guitar, spruce, cedar, ebony, brass, ivory, early 19th century. Shown for the instrument maker's craft; it has no connection to the piece.
Ross, a Chattanooga musician, was a touring singer-songwriter when he received a mountain dulcimer as a birthday gift, and it soon became his main instrument; his press biography credits a chance meeting with the musician and producer Robert Force with leading to his 2005 album The Moonshiner's Atlas.[4] His DulcimerDownloads biography presents him as a player who stretches the dulcimer across genres from Bach to Radiohead, and as a teacher and performer at folk and dulcimer festivals at home and abroad.[5]
Sources
- Fingers Of Steel: "Butch Ross, A Long Way From Shady Grove".
- Butch Ross (Bandcamp): "A Long Way From Shady Grove".
- Butch Ross: "Stuff to hear, buy and learn with".
- Butch Ross: "Info and images for the press".
- DulcimerDownloads: "Butch Ross".
- Image: Lyre Guitar, spruce, cedar, ebony, brass, ivory, early 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.