Walnut River String Band

Gaye Young

The first year I went to the Walnut Valley Festival, I worked the Silver Ticket Trailer (back when it was really silver) saw Hot Rize on Stage I and went home. The second year I worked at the ticket trailer, saw Hot Rize and Colcannon on Stage I and as I was leaving the grandstand to go home, I just happened to wander past Stage III while the hammer dulcimer contest was in progress. I had never seen or heard anything like that in my life! A couple of years later, I finally talked myself into buying a Harvey Prinz 12/11 hammer dulcimer. A few years later I bought a Tack Chromatic Model I, and last year I bought a Tack Pro II. Thanks, Bob and Mary, for a couple of great instruments!

When I bought my first dulcimer, I swore I would never play in public, only in the safety of my own home. I kept that promise for about three years before venturing out to play with other people. What a great trip it's been since then. I would never have believed that getting together with others simply to play music could be so much fun. I never get tired of learning new songs, nor of playing the old ones.

A friend of mine once said I was a woman of contradictions because of the wide variety of my hobbies. I have pieced and hand quilted several wall hangings, and am currently working on a full size quilt. I like to tat, which is the craft of making lace, and I love to hunt Whether it is hunting deer in my backyard, or elk hunting in the mountains of Colorado, turkey hunting along a meandering creek, or calling coyotes from a ground blind, I love being in the great outdoors and seeing what Mother Nature has to offer. My dream hunt would be for a bear in the back country of Canada or Alaska and I would probably take my tatting along to keep myself busy when not hunting