While exploring Glen Rose Texas the other day with a dear friend we stumbled upon the Lone Star State Dulcimer Society Festival, which was just getting started at the historic, Oakdale Park, a well known camp ground, RV park and cabin rental facility in the Heart of Glen Rose, and located directly across the street from the Paluxy River.

Oakdale Park not only features one of the oldest concrete swimming pools in Texas, it’s home to many long running music festivals, primarily bluegrass music. My friend and I had never been to a Dulcimer Festival before so it was pretty cool to experience some of the opening day at the annual, 3-day event, as well as meet some nice folks who appreciate and support that kind of sound and music.

The Dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument originated in the Middle East and was adopted in Europe in the Middle Ages. It is a wooden box with strings stretched over it that are struck with small mallets. The number of strings may vary.  It’s known in varying forms, in Turkey, Iran, China (including Tibet), and other parts of Asia, and N. Africa. The popularity of the dulcimer continued in Western Europe until the 17th cent., when it sharply declined, though a German, Pantaleon Hebenstreit, enlarged it to make an instrument called the pantaleon in the early 18th century. It is still much used in Eastern Europe in Gypsy bands. In Appalachia, a plucked dulcimer, very similar to the zither, is very popular. It has an elongated hourglass shape and is held on the player’s lap. 

(the Wright Family warming up before taking the stage)