John Huron learned to build mountain dulcimers by working with legendary dulcimer maker Robert Mize in the early 1990s. His procedures and patterns remain very close to those used by Mr. Mize and in most cases are identical. Robert Mize was the featured dulcimer builder in the book, Foxfire 3.

John has been sharing his knowledge of the construction of traditional Appalachian instruments with students since 1995 at the John C. Campbell Folk School where in addition to the mountain dulcimer, he also teaches the building of the Stanley Hick’s pattern fretless mountain banjo, also found in Foxfire 3. Additionally, for the past ten years, he has taught the dulcimer building class at Western Carolina University’s Dulcimer Week.

Since completing his first fretless banjo in 1990, John’s various instruments have come to reside in well over a thousand homes throughout the world as well as in the collections of the Smithsonian Institute, Tennessee and North Carolina State Museums, and Colonial Williamsburg, Old Salem and Rocky Mount Living History Museums. He is also a contributor to the book Foxfire 12 and you may see a complete overview of his work at www.noteworthyjohn.com.

In the mid 1990s, John pieced together an educational music program that incorporates many of the historical reproduction instruments that he produces. Since that time, his Appalachian Music Sampler (AMS) program has been presented at numerous national and state parks, museums, schools and festivals throughout the southeastern United States. His CD, “Pig in a Poke”, is a compilation of much of the material from his AMS program.