Tuesday, July 7

I can remember as a small boy I had a lot of ambition to make music on a french harp or juice harp. I reckon the reason we called it a juice harp was because it was played in your mouth (I guess the tobacco juice must have run down the corners to have produced such tones as they did). I beleive the French Harp is coming back because I heard a long tall lanky boy, none other than Tommy Sizemore from 16 Mile way, play one a few weeks ago. He said he was in town to play on the George Davis Show at the Virginia Theater on WKIC. Folks, if you remember such pieces as "Ground Hog," "Sour-Wood Moutain," and many others. He gave a good demonstration to a crowd before he went on the show.

Another instrument that always kept me spell-bound was the dulcimer, as I understand is one of the old time musical instruments that was favored by our mountain people. Yes, it is so popular that Jean Ritchie, one of our mountain girls from up around Viper-way, is teaching this and other folklore of our mountains in New York. Ritchie has made a name for herself on Radio and TV.

I am interested in getting hold of a dulcimer and understand that there are some around our area. No folks, I don't want to learn to play the thing, I just want to be sure to keep one of the old original types in my collection. Boys, don't bring the price along with it. 1958

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