Invitation to Advent Dulcimer Devotions

Here is an Invitation for you!

I have put together some Advent Dulcimer Devotions, delivered weekly to your email inbox for the 4 weeks of Advent.  

These are instrumental recordings of Advent hymns, played on various ensembles of mountain and hammered dulcimers, sometimes with additional accompaniment.  

They can be just what your centering practice desires for the hectic days and weeks before Christmas actually arrives:

You can sign up here:  http://eepurl.com/bFCEhD

or go to my website and sign up in the middle of the page:  http://owlmountainmusic.com

Cheers!

Steve Eulberg

PS I will also be giving a Concert Window Concert of Advent Tunes on Monday, Nov 30 at 5:30 pm PST, 6:30 pm MST, 7:30 pm CST, 8:30 pm EST

www.concertwindow.com/steveeulberg

Patreon Campaign Progress

www.patreon.com/steveeulberg

Since beginning this project in January to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Owl Mountain Music, Inc. I am now (drumroll please!) 

76% of the way to reaching my goal of 30 patrons in my first year!

This has resulted in our reaching 3 Milestone Goals and being only $8 a month away from reaching the 4th Milestone Goal.  
(Each goal results in additional special rewards for Patrons).

Now here is the real deal, or why I started this project:

9 Projects Completed:

1. Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude arr. for Mountain Dulcimer

2. Colorado Collection Vol 1 digitized

3. Colorado Collection Vol 2 digitized

4. Another Jig Will Do digitized

5. Dulcimer-Friendly Worship Vol II digitized book and CD

6. Soaring SongBook created, digitized

7. a piece of it all Chord Chart Book created, digitized

8. Playing Blues on the Mountain Dulcimer Book/CD Created

9. First Snow for Mixed Dulcimer Quartet Video

New Work Created/Begun:

Aeolus’ Gentle Breeze (DAC)

Slack Key on the Sand (DGd)

Traded My Thyroid In (Guitar Tablature)

2 New (unnamed) hammered dulcimer compositions

Progress on 3 new Dulcimer Orchestra Arrangements

The strongest impact for me, however, has been to have this community of support (whose presence challenges me to keep focused!)

(After the) Concert Window Show

Now THAT was a lot of fun!

Pre-Show set up

I had done a Concert Window Show with my trio, S.E.A (Erin Mae Lewis and Amber Rogers) last month, but this week was the first one I did as a solo, and it was a blast.

Lots of folks tuned in from several different time zones and were very active in posting while I played and sang Gratitude-Themed songs and tunes.

Pre-Show Selfie

While preparing for the show was very much like any other concert, choosing the tunes, designing the Set List, deciding which instrument would play which tune, doing the publicity and reminders about the show, making postcards for my local classes and friends; the real difference is after the show.  Connecting with the people joined in, those who had comments during the show or who left comments afterwards.  Those who chose tips which need rewards sent to them.

All of this is the connection that is sometimes missing after a live concert when I have to pack up my gear and drive back home.

Some of my friends ask if I think the 70/30% split with Concert Window is a fair one.  My answer:  yes.

Not only is the interface and the publicity and the accounting and the follow-up quite intuitive, the quality of the video and sound is higher than some other platforms, AND there is a highlight video created immediately, AND I am able to save an archival copy of the show, provided I make no commercial use of it.   Furthermore, this is a better percentage in favor of the artist that other platforms that I've used in the past.  Finally, your tips and tickets and support was deposited into my bank within 4 days.

Here is the highlight video from the concert:



Ungrateful to These Teachers is the first concert performance of this tune, inspired by a poem by Kahlil Gibran.

I will be giving other Concert Window Shows.  If you want to follow me on Concert Window  here is My Channel.

The next one will be an ADVENT-themed show with tunes from my first all-instrumental recording, Hark, the Glad Sound!  so mark your calendar!

Monday, November 30, 5:30 pm PST, 6:30 pm MST, 7:30 pm CST, 8:30 pm EST

Working with a Team

Aunt Mabel, who lived next door to us as I grew up, used to say, "Many hands make light the work."

Shellie Baxter Photography

Perhaps because I am primarily a solo touring and performing artist, I have been kerwacked in the best possible way with the awesome joy and power of working together with other partners in a creative venture.

My trio, S*E*A (folkgrass) just completed our 4th tour of the year with a 14-day tour of the middle of the California Coast.  Erin Mae Lewis and Amber Rogers arrived on the 30th Anniversary of my Ordination and we played a Bell Tower Show at St. Philip Episcopal Church in Scotts Valley (near Santa Cruz) to launch the tour.

Band on BART: Amber Rogers Selfie

We had stops in Palo Alto, San Mateo, the beach in Half Moon Bay, Erin and Amber joined Wayne Jiang and Patricia Delich for some Pacifica and San Francisco adventures; we headed as far north as Roseville and returned to San Mateo for an amazing Seasons of Blessing Concert to raise funds for the survivors of the Lake County California fires and give the best-ever Concert Window show.

Then we packed up to enjoy the FarWest Folk Alliance in Oakland for the weekend.  We drew the first slot for the Open Mic at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse on Wednesday night.

There we jammed at every possible opportunity, played for showcases and represented another part of our team, Local 1000 AFM, in the Networking Center, and volunteered for a total of 24 hours to support the conference.

Jeanette Lundgren (Mother Hen Promotions)

I took part in a Panel Workshop on Crowdfunding to talk about another part of my team:  Patreon.

We then gave a workshop called:  Organizing:  The Nuts and Bolts of Touring.

But the best was when we arrived back in my home on Sunday night and Erin exclaimed:  "Let's have a FarWest FollowUp Party tomorrow!"

That sounds a whole lot better than w*o*r*k to me, and you know what, it WAS!

FarWest Photo

And it made me recall how many people's support and commitment helps me to continue making my way in this world as a musician and creative artist.

So Aunt Mabel's words have proven true in my experience, and I just want to say,

Thank-You to ALL OF YOU!

The Nursery for New Dulcimers at Dusty Strings!

This was my joy in the lobby of Dusty Strings when I first met my new BUNDLE of joy (the largest hammered dulcimer they produce!)

They had it all set up with hammers for me to play it and it was ready to come home with me!

With all those notes in the lower register that I've been hungering for...look out!

And you know what, as soon as I took it out for a spin, I began playing an improvised piece in Bm (with two lower octaves of B than I've ever had) and I played with vigor and passion that left me standing there panting!

I believe that is a first for me.

Daughter, Kaitlin, Playing Joni Mitchell Tunes!

I then played it in my sets at Luther's Table  in Renton, WA that night, and at Our Saviour's Lutheran in Bremerton, WA on Sunday Morning, and then up in Port Townsend for a Labor Day jam with my good friend, Robert Force in the best ever room for a house concert that over looks the Puget Sound!

Then back down for a house concert at Anderson Island, sponsored by the Community Center.

I got to have the first spot on the Anderson Island Ferry on the way to the island, which was a treat on this beautiful September afternoon!

The Space Needle and Mt. Ranier.  Wow. Just Wow.

Following the rest of the visit with our daughter, I headed south through Oregon and the smoky wilds of Northern California to bring this baby home!

The Amazingness of MailBox Money

by Steve Eulberg

I can't remember the first time I heard the phrase "Mailbox Money" but it has become a surprisingly encouraging experience.

Many years ago (in the mid 1990s), when I was a pastor and shepherding my youth for a week at the Mid-Missouri Bible Camp in the Ozarks, I had taken some pieces of mail with me from C.C.L.I. (Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc.)

These were contracts offered to help worship music composers (like me) to receive income from the communities and congregations who would choose to use my music all over the United States and Canada.

I couldn't imagine how this could work and part of me assumed that this might be some kind of scam, but it was long before I had any real connection to the internet, and besides, no one was using it very much anyway.  Fax machines were the rage, and neither I, nor my small inner-city church, had one.

I patiently (and laboriously) read through every word and paragraph of every page of the contracts, mostly understanding the legalese (although Greek or Hebrew might have been easier!), and chose, in the end, to affix my signature.

I remember showing these contracts to my friends and colleagues who were there with me who were encouragingly impressed.

I was the musician for the week and they were pretty encouraging, but I was preparing to send these documents off in "faith" or what might more accurately be described as a pipe dream.

I mailed the signed and initialed documents in.

Later I received contracts for agreements that covered other countries (South Africa, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia & New Zealand.)

Finally, I started to receive semi-annual reports...that INCLUDED CHECKS!  The surprise of mailbox money was producing joy in my life!

So this week was the week that I received the semi-annual report and payment and once again I am touched by this gentle "surprise" in compensation.

But what truly gives me pause and a sense of awe, are the reports that people have used music that I have composed and published, in their worship services in:  England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and all across the United States of America.  And even more impressive is that the annual licenses they purchased to support the composers, and their careful reporting actually sent compensation to me, which means that I receive more mailbox money to help me to continue to create and share music.

"American Pharoah" The Triple Crown of Dulcimer Festivals

After the marvelous summer I have had touring, I feel like I should be called American Pharoah, because I, too, am a Triple Crown Winner!

My first tour of the season took me to Memphis for a day of workshops and a clinic on jamming together at the home of Betty Dawson in Memphis, TN.  Then a house concert and Nancy and Tom Adams', a workshop at Gilda's Club in Louisville and a house concert at Teri and Larry West's in the south part of town.

Then to Kentucky Music Week, where the copies of my new Playing Blues on the Mountain Dulcimer book had arrived and were waiting for me to have a wedding by adding the Demo CDs.

And what a week it was!  Jean Ritchie Tribute, organized and led by her son, Jon Pickow; stellar concert performances, a week-long class on Resonator Dulcimer, Blues on Hammered Dulcimer, a Noter Style Mountain Dulcimer class and a Dulcimer Orchestra class were highlights.

Captain's Cabin Concert S.E.a

Playing a Backporch concert to the crickets' chirp on a temperate evening in the middle of the week with my bandmates Erin Mae Lewis and Amber Rogers in our trio, S.E.A was memorable and amazing in a completely restored log cabin (Captain's Cabin) that now serves as a B and B!  Then I joined them for their concert set singing our trio arrangement of Hold On.

Steve, Karen Mueller & Heidi Muller in front of
Chief Joseph & Lake Wallowa

I am grateful to the non-playing spouse of a festival participant who gave me an on-time ride to the Louisville airport for my flight home.

The glow had not even worn off in my two-day turn-around at home before I received a "warm welcome" when I landed on the tarmac in Lewiston, ID (where it was 120°) en route to an even better Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas in Joseph, OR.  The relaxed pace and supportive community atmosphere was balm for my weary soul and the magical faculty concert with Karen Mueller, Bob Webb and Heidi Muller remains fixed in the recesses of my memory.

I had amazing classes, the Open Mic revealed talent, commitment, celebration, and laughter that left our sides aching with joy.  (There is a life goal, to be aching with joy!)

My Beginning class in their yurt classroom in Wallowa

Having had two such amazing weeks of musical and educational experiences I was a little nervous about heading east for the final festival of my summer season.

I took a red-eye from San Francisco to Charlotte, NC, had lunch with a friend, then reunited with the parents of my godchildren in Chesapeake, VA, before driving to another Soup and Song House Concert with Charlie and Marilyn Bernhardt in Maryland.

Charlie & Marilyn, Soup and Song House Concerts (10 years!)

Following a short night's sleep, I had a dawn sabbath drive through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and through the northeast corner of Tennessee and down through the Smoky Mountains for a late afternoon arrival at Dulcimer U in Cullowhee, NC.  There is was revealed that my anxiety had nowhere to lay its head!  Larry and Elaine Conger run a fantastic festival in this verdant setting, I was very excited to be invited to return to teach here.  And my time with my classes and two different mountain dulcimer ensembles were marvelous celebrations of people playing beyond their fears to experience the delight that comes when they relax and do this together!

My classes this week were as enthusiastic, attentive and adventurous as the others had been.  The fun and mischief that arises when people create a Brigadoon-like community together bubbled with joy.

Soundcheck view, through Lorinda Jones' harp

I have been part of many faculty concerts which can be a crazy quilt of performances, but this time something of the veil between the worlds of the mundane and the spectacular opened up and everyone's tune choices, transitional stories and the overall flow of both sets let us have a little taste of heaven...and it was a tasty nectar, too.

So..I believe I won the triple crown this summer and am glad to wear the name American Pharoah!

Dulcimers on high in the Wallowas!