|
24 Aug 06 - 01:09 PM (#1818003) Subject: Obit: David Schnaufer From: Kim C Story here. |
|
24 Aug 06 - 02:44 PM (#1818066) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: Joe Offer Here's the article, abn Associated Press story printed in the Houston Chronicle: Aug. 24, 2006, 10:43AM Schnaufer, dulcimer guru from La Marque, dies at 53Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — David Schnaufer, a session musician widely credited with restoring the popularity of the dulcimer who recorded with Johnny Cash and Chet Atkins, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 53. Schnaufer died Wednesday after recently entering hospice care, according to Vanderbilt University, where he was an adjunct associate professor of the instrument at Blair School of Music. He was born in Hearne, Texas, and grew up in La Marque, Texas. He bought his first dulcimer in Austin, Texas, for $40. The dulcimer evolved from zithers brought into North America by German immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries and was common in Appalachian folk music. After winning several dulcimer contests and sending out recordings to country labels and artists, he moved to Nashville in the 1980s, according to a release from Vanderbilt. "Nashville turned out to be the perfect place for David to be able to take the dulcimer to its greatest heights," acclaimed fiddle player Mark O'Connor told The Tennessean. "He took that old-time dulcimer to so many different settings. What a shame, what a tragedy to lose him so young." Besides Cash and Atkins, Schnaufer's recorded with The Judds, June Carter Cash, Kathy Mattea, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris and many others. "Anybody can make beautiful music in five minutes of playing the dulcimer," Schnaufer often said. "It's the simplest of all the stringed instruments, but can be as complex as anything else." O'Connor said he was visiting a cafe when first heard Schnaufer play and was charmed by his dulcimer rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." "I put it in my mind right there that if I ever got a chance, I was going to record that piece with David," O'Connor said. Their instrumental version of "Both Sides Now" was included on O'Connor's 1988 "Elysian Forest" album. Schnaufer recorded solo albums, including "Delcimore" and "Dulcimer Deluxe." Survivors include his brother, the Rev. Eric Schnaufer of Greenville, S.C.. Services are planned Saturday at Dyer Observatory in Nashville. |
|
24 Aug 06 - 02:47 PM (#1818070) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer From: Arkie David certainly increased the visibility of the mountain dulcimer by taking it into the Nashville setting, putting it on mainstream recordings and getting his video played on cable TV around the country. His influence on modern players was immense and will continue through the gifted players who learned from him. |
|
01 Sep 06 - 11:45 AM (#1824646) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: GUEST,Dale Remembering David Schnaufer (from Butch Baldassari) I first started hearing about David Schnaufer, the dulcimer artist who passed away on August 23rd, when he was a Cactus Brother. He and the rest of the group used to "pick the splinters" out of "Fisher's Hornpipe" and other assorted alt-country tunes. A few years later, after we'd become acquainted, he said that he'd seen me playing with Bill Monroe and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble at one of the Country Music Foundation 's New Artists Christmas parties—David was a New Artist, we were the hired help. The first tune we ever sat down together and played was "Wild Rose of the Mountain" a beautiful "crooked" old gem from West Virginia. I don't know why, but for some reason I had thought David actually was from West Virginia. He had the look, talked the talk, wore the clothes and had the musical lick—he was the living, breathing tradition! So when he told me that he grew up a "surfer" down on the Texas Gulf Coast, I just had to tell him that I used to be a professional ski instructor and had also worked the dice tables in Las Vegas. We laughed long and hard at each other—"so much for past lives." By then, we were more about dealing with the here and now and the future. A couple of 50+ year-old dreamers, we were going to make a record, a CD of Appalachian music—just dulcimer and mandolin. Unfortunately, Appalachian Mandolin and Dulcimer turned out to be David's last CD, though not his last recordings. Earlier this year he recorded with Linda Rondstadt and Faith Hill, and I recall David commenting on how nice they were to him. Those women were sharp enough to know that they were in the presence of real musical greatness. David lost his parents when he was a teenager, which got me to wondering about the way he always wanted to play Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." When he did, time stood still, and people listened. He seemed to be lonesome, and kind of all alone in The Music City. Zada Law told me that he'd run off two or three girlfriends over the years; I guess David knew what was best for David. At some point The Grand Old Dulcimer Club and the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet became his family, and Zada Law and Sandy Conatser became his closest friends, personal assistants—confidantes in all things David. Schnaufer, as he used to refer to himself, also had pockets of friends back in the day at The Villager, and more recently at his Wednesday night hangout, the Sportsman's Grill. One day last fall, David popped in while I was cooking up some red beets—he loved red beets—and brown rice. I served him up a nice-sized bowl, but all he could eat was 2 or 3 bites. That's when I started to realize how diabetes dominated his health, ravaging his fragile frame for the last 10+ years. Nashville lost some real music royalty when David Schnaufer left this earth. I wish we'd done more together; maybe I should have listened to him as early as last Christmas Eve, when he was telling me to get cracking on that Appalachian Christmas CD that he wanted us to do. Maybe he knew deep down that he just didn't have much time left. I miss the hell out of my pal. David Schnaufer won't be forgotten—not if I can help it. BUTCH BALDASSARI |
|
01 Sep 06 - 01:06 PM (#1824716) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: Lin in Kansas David Schnaufer played some beautiful music. He totally amazed me that he could create such sounds on such a simple instrument, and frankly, when I was first starting to learn dulcimer, he both inspired and intimidated the hell out of me! Another sweet voice that will be missed. Lin |
|
01 Sep 06 - 01:58 PM (#1824768) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: harpmolly Oh no!!! I am so sorry to hear this. I have enjoyed listening to his music, and I watched his instructional DVD recently (since I'm always recommending it to people). How sad this is. Molly (He co-designed an absolutely gorgeous model with McSpadden Dulcimers, too...) |
|
01 Sep 06 - 06:13 PM (#1824988) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: Kaleea I used to always enjoy the annual Schnaufer Dulcimer Workshops at the Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, Kansas. There, over the years, we heard songs , techniques, & instruments, old & new. DulciCatters, let's get our Dulcimers out now & sing the Parting Glass----all together now, . . . |
|
01 Sep 06 - 07:09 PM (#1825024) Subject: RE: Obit: David Schnaufer-dulcimer expert -Aug 06 From: harpmolly Done and done. :) I also sang "So Here's To You" and "Into the West" (which is one of the most beautiful parting songs I've ever heard: INTO THE WEST (Howard Shore/Annie Lennox) Lay down your sweet and weary head; Night is falling, you have come to journey's end. Sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before, They are calling from across a distant shore. Why do you weep? What are these tears upon your face? Soon you will see, all of your fears will pass away Safe in my arms...you're only sleeping... What can you see on the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea, a pale moon rises, The ships have come to carry you home... And all will turn to silver glass, A light on the water, all souls pass... Hope fades into the world of night Through shadows falling out of memory and time; Don't say we have come now to the end, White shores are calling--you and I will meet again. And you'll be here in my arms, just sleeping... What can you see on the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea, a pale moon rises, The ships have come to carry you home... And all will turn to silver glass, A light on the water, grey ships pass into the West. *** *sniffle* It's pretty easy to play on the dulcimer, too. :) Molly |