Spring Dulcimer Week
Guest Master Artist
Ralph Lee Smith

Ralph Lee Smith plays traditional music on the Appalachian dulcimer, and is widely regarded as the foremost authority on the dulcimer's history and its music. In addition, he makes people fall in love with the instrument!

Ralph lived in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and participated in the Folk Revival. In the Village, he heard the traditional Kentucky dulcimer player, Jean Ritchie, perform. At that time, the dulcimer was a rare instrument. Excited by the dulcimer and its music, Ralph bought one, taught himself to play, and played at Village gatherings where young people were rediscovering old-time Appalachian music.

In the 1970s, Ralph became increasingly interested in the dulcimer's history. He made many Appalachian field trips, meeting old-time dulcimer makers and players in Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. He also acquired a number of antique and traditional dulcimers, which he uses in demonstrations and displays.

Ralph has given performances/demonstrations at the White House, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, the Mountain Heritage Center, and colleges, folk festivals, civic groups, and historic sites and re-enactments.