In the summer of 2015, I was sitting on the edge of Diablo Lake. My first assignment of my residency program was to write a poem titled “Where I’m From.” While my cohort talked about this mountain range, or that river valley, mine was completely devoid of any physical place. I mentioned the music I grew up with, my family, and the things I had done. But I didn’t think of myself having a connection to the land.
That poem started my search into what it means to be Appalachian. In trying to reconnect with my heritage, I found the only instrument “born from these hills”: the mountain dulcimer. So in the summer of 2020, while the world was on lockdown, I bought a cheap one and started to play. Worst case scenario I spent $80 on something to hang on my wall. Fast forward to last month where I spent a week playing the dulcimer with others and learning about the deep history of this instrument.
