Bill Spence (musician)
Bill Spence | |
---|---|
Born | Iowa City, Iowa, United States | August 12, 1940
Died | February 7, 2019 Albany, New York, United States | (aged 78)
Occupation(s) | Instrumentalist |
Instrument(s) | Hammered dulcimer |
Website | billspencemusic |
Bill Spence (August 12, 1940 - February 7, 2019) was a hammered dulcimer player from New York.[1]
Music
Spence began playing the hammered dulcimer after hearing Howie Mitchell at the 1969 Fox Hollow Festival in Petersburgh, New York. He made his first dulcimer following a plan in Mitchell's book. The only hammered dulcimer recordings available at the time were by Mitchell and another player, Chet Parker on the Folkways label. Spence developed his own style, working out tunes he heard on recordings of other instruments.
In 1970, Spence helped form Fennig's All-Stars, which featured his hammered dulcimer as the lead instrument. The group made its first recording, The Hammered Dulcimer in 1973, using a
The Hammered Dulcimer marked the beginning of Spence's own record label, Front Hall Records. In addition to several further albums by Spence and Fennig's All-Stars, the label released albums by other folk performers, including
Biography
Born in
Discography
- The Hammered Dulcimer, Front Hall Records FHR-01, 1973
- Saturday Night In The Provinces, Front Hall Records FHR-05, 1975
- The Hammered Dulcimer Strikes Again, Front Hall Records FHR-010, 1977
- Fennigmania, Front Hall Records FHR-024, 1981
- The Hammered Dulcimer Returns!, Front Hall Records FHR041CD, 1992
- The Hammered Dulcimer, Front Hall Records FHR-302CD (compilation of FHR-01 and FHR-05), 1990
- The Hammered Dulcimer Strikes Again & Fennigmania, Front Hall Records FHR-303CD (compilation of FHR-010 and FHR-024), 2000
References
- ISBN 978-0-690-01159-3. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ "Bill Spence, hammered dulcimer master, dies at 78". Times Union. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
External links