Joyce and Steve Vann are
Shady Grove.
We have long enjoyed making music together.
In 2005 Steve began making mountain dulcimers and we began learning many Appalachian tunes that work so well on this instrument. In 2008 we learned about a group of people who gather at the Red River Meeting House near Adairville, KY to learn and teach about, and to re-enact the roots of the "Second Great Awakening".
Since our attendance at our first gathering with these folks, October 2008, we began learning to play hymns appropriate to that time and people. A little later we began to figure out which tunes we already played were old enough to reach back to 1800. We began to search out and learn additional airs and dance tunes of the time. We continued to learn more about the sacred music of the time, and more about the religious revival and how it was tied so closely to the founding and development of this great nation of ours. We began to search out and learn ballads and other songs of the period and we continue to grow our repertoire. Joyce has made most of our re-enactment clothing, and Steve has made much of our camp furniture and equipment and taken on the persona of a carpenter on the rapidly settling frontier of Middle Tennessee circa 1800.
The dulcimer is a folk instrument and, as such, the clearly documented history only reaches back to the early 20th century, but that documentation, oral history, artifacts, and some conjecture take it back at least to the early 19th century. There is speculation that something that would rightly be called a mountain dulcimer dates back before 1800, but we wished to be as authentic as practicable, so Steve began to learn about how to make an instrument that is the predecessor to the mountain dulcimer - the zitter, often called in the modern era a scheitholt (page about dulcimer history, and the history of the name "scheitholt", and why we tend to call it a "zitter" has finally begun to take shape) this instrument was documented in KY at this time period (much earlier in PA)
Joyce and Steve perform the music mentioned above both on dulcimers and zitters. We often provide the hymn music for events at the Red River Meeting House.
In 2005 Steve began making mountain dulcimers and we began learning many Appalachian tunes that work so well on this instrument. In 2008 we learned about a group of people who gather at the Red River Meeting House near Adairville, KY to learn and teach about, and to re-enact the roots of the "Second Great Awakening".
Since our attendance at our first gathering with these folks, October 2008, we began learning to play hymns appropriate to that time and people. A little later we began to figure out which tunes we already played were old enough to reach back to 1800. We began to search out and learn additional airs and dance tunes of the time. We continued to learn more about the sacred music of the time, and more about the religious revival and how it was tied so closely to the founding and development of this great nation of ours. We began to search out and learn ballads and other songs of the period and we continue to grow our repertoire. Joyce has made most of our re-enactment clothing, and Steve has made much of our camp furniture and equipment and taken on the persona of a carpenter on the rapidly settling frontier of Middle Tennessee circa 1800.
The dulcimer is a folk instrument and, as such, the clearly documented history only reaches back to the early 20th century, but that documentation, oral history, artifacts, and some conjecture take it back at least to the early 19th century. There is speculation that something that would rightly be called a mountain dulcimer dates back before 1800, but we wished to be as authentic as practicable, so Steve began to learn about how to make an instrument that is the predecessor to the mountain dulcimer - the zitter, often called in the modern era a scheitholt (page about dulcimer history, and the history of the name "scheitholt", and why we tend to call it a "zitter" has finally begun to take shape) this instrument was documented in KY at this time period (much earlier in PA)
Joyce and Steve perform the music mentioned above both on dulcimers and zitters. We often provide the hymn music for events at the Red River Meeting House.