I don't think we've ever been able to say that we knew a Cover Girl - but now we can. Our talented best-selling author friend Sharyn McCrumb is gracing the cover of Dulcimer Players News, where the article details how much Sharyn merges music and folk tales into her Ballad Series.
www.sharynmccrumb.com

We've been her House Band whenever she comes to the region around Ohio. She gives book talks regularly, but occasionally she does her Words and Music presentations - she does the words and we do the music. When Sharyn appears in other places, she also asks Betty Smith or Jack Hinshelwood to do the honors. Between us, we're the only musicians who back up an author. Who knew it could be that much fun!!!

You can check out the article on Sharyn at:
www.dpnews.com

And for the accompanying article on Sweetwater, here it is!


Sometimes unexpected doors open, and it’s exciting to walk through and see what happens. Scene: Ohio, 1998 - Sweetwater (Shari Wolf, Cindy Funk and Shelley Stevens) was playing background music at a university reception for an author. The strains of our dulcimers, guitar and autoharp wafted amongst the crowd and was a fitting backdrop for conversation about the author’s body of work set in the Appalachian region.

The author was Sharyn McCrumb…NY Times Best-Selling author. While we knew of her work, and the way she wove music through her novels, we did not know how important music was in the mechanism of her writing process, and her life. When we launched into a quiet a capella song, suddenly we had her full attention. A new musical challenge, and a new friendship was born.

Due to the fact that in Sharyn’s novels, music sets the scene and often plays a big part in the progression of the plot, it seemed a natural thing to include music in the book talks she gives at venues all over the country. She has several artists that she calls on – Betty Smith, Jack Hinshelwood and Sweetwater.

Whether the musical selection is the traditional Fennario (for the novel “If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O”), or a more contemporary tune like Long Black Veil (“She Walks These Hills”), the music acts as a sound track for the books, giving a wider experience to the reader. The audiences at these “Words and Music” events really seem to love the concept. In fact, both Hinshelwood and Sweetwater have released cds with much of the music used in the Ballad Series novels.

One ballad, while traditional in feeling and scope, is really quite new – “The Rowan Stave” was penned by Sharyn McCrumb herself, with music by Shelley Stevens, and is the hinchpin for the novel “The Songcatcher”.

Sweetwater enjoys being the Back-up Band for an author. Sharyn’s a wonderful lady, smart as a whip, and music means a lot to her. While she uses words to tell her stories, music tells stories to her, and is an elemental tool and partner in her work. We like that…

November 5, 2005, will be Sweetwater’s 20th anniversary of playing music, acting a fool, and generally having a good time. We told ourselves when we began, that we would only do it as long as it’s fun…..and it still is!

Over the years there is a long list of the things we have accomplished, and the list is punctuated by hundreds of faces of the friends we’ve made with this music.

Just being around for 20 years is a feat in itself, and we’re very proud of that. We’ve been together longer than a lot of marriages last these days. We have given birth a few times – by bringing out a number of recordings – and by bringing our dream of having our own dulcimer camp to fruition. This July will be the ninth year for Shady Grove Appalachian Dulcimer Camp – held at Urbana University in Ohio. We have also helped Louise Ziegler with the long-running Buckeye Dulcimer Festival, now in it’s 15th year.

One of our most recent projects is to start an all-dulcimer music radio station on the internet….it’s called Sweetwater Folk. (www.live365.com/stations/sweetwaterfolk) It starts with us, and includes the whole dulcimer world!

This music has taken us on many roads that we didn’t expect, and with every journey, we have learned a lot and shared a song and a good laugh with those we’ve met.

Twenty years? Heck, we’re just getting started!!!


Sweetwater Recordings:
The Ballads…from Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad Novels
Rowan Stave
Now & Then
Sing No Evil
Common Threads
Remember When the Music
Full Circle

Songs of Live, Love and Laughter – Shelley Stevens