Neal Hellman (born April 13, 1948, in New York, New York) is an American folk musician, music teacher, and performer of the mountain dulcimer. He has been active in performing, writing, teaching and recording

acoustic music Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the a ...

for the past thirty years throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In collaboration with Joe Weed, Hellman wrote the score for Princess Furball, a children's video by Weston Woods which won a 1993

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Commendation. An original composition, written by Neal and performed by

Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s ...

and Molly Mason, is featured on the Ken Burns production "The Story of

Susan B Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to so ...

and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...

" which was broadcast on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

across the United States in the fall of 1999. He has written books on the

Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...

, including ''It's A Dulcimer Life'', ''The Dulcimer Chord Book'', ''The Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method'', ''Beatles Dulcimer Book'' and ''The Music of the Shakers For Mountain Dulcimer'' on Mel Bay Publications. As founder, director and one of the primary artists of the Gourd Music

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, Hellman has produced over thirty albums, including ''Simple Gifts'', ''Tree of Life'', ''The Fairie Round'', ''Tender Shepherd'', ''The World Turned Upside Down'' and ''A Victorian Christmas''.

Discography

* ''Oktober County'' (1988) – Gourd Music * ''Dream of the Manatee'' (with Joe Weed) (1989) – Gourd Music * ''Autumn in the Valley'' (1993) – Gourd Music * ''Emma's Waltz'' (2007) – Gourd Music

References

External links

Oktober County - Artist's Biography.FolkLib Index - Gourd Music discography
Living people American male musicians Appalachian dulcimer players American folk musicians 1948 births {{US-musician-stub

Discography

References

Further reading

External links