INTRO: Liz Conway now living in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, used to be one of the northernmost dulcimer players in England, based in the Northumbrian Pennines at Allendale. As mountain dulcimer lead for Nonsuch Dulcimer Club she launched the annual Allendale Spring Fling in 2010 and taught MD at folk festivals and at the Sage Music Centre in Gateshead. Liz played live and recorded with a number of line-ups including The Lucky Bags, Midsummer Blue, and with her partner Terry Conway. We have much to talk about! STEVE: The mountain dulcimer was, and still is, a fairly rare instrument in the North of England. How did you first get interested in playing it? LIZ: Like many others, I saw John Pearse on "Music Room" on ITV in the early '70s. He showed how to make a version of a dulcimer (a stick dulcimer?). On a visit to a friend in Wales I tried the one her boyfriend had made for her. I was playing guitar, not very well at the time and thought, "I think I could get away with
I only know Dennis, virtually, through Geoff Black’s Nova Scotia Zoom sessions and, when I saw and heard him, was immediately fascinated by his choice of material and his song arrangements. I began this conversation by asking him for a bit of background: DENNIS: I’m 73, living with my wife and a steady stream of nephews, currently a 10 year old. (I have been) folk musically inclined since high school during the “Great Folk Scare.” My parents acquired a wretched Kay guitar for a generic gift, that my three brothers didn’t want. I played “This Land is Your Land” once in the high school choir on it. I have made a rather substantial collection of lp’s (300±), audiotapes, many of radio shows and live performers, and cd’s (1000?), and songbooks of folk music. And glean for songs and musical ideas that satisfy my tastes, with an eye out for things I can play that are unusual and sustain my interest. I rather admire Martin Simpson, Tom Rush, Steve Baughman, Robbin Bulloch, Neal Hellman, Ka