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Summer 2025 Dulcimer U Instructors

Larry Conger - Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Dulcimer U Artistic Director
A graduate of The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Larry has been involved with music as a vocation for over 40 years. Besides being a popular performer and instructor at various dulcimer festivals around the country, Larry is involved with distance learning via online lessons.

Larry has served as a Church Music Director for several churches.  He has been involved with the Tennessee Arts Commission's Arts in Education program and the Kentucky Arts Council's Teacher Incentive Program, presenting dulcimer programs in the public schools.

In 1995, Larry won the Southern Regional Mountain Dulcimer Championship at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. In 1996, he teamed with Jim Curley of Kansas City to win the Southern Regional Dulcimer Ensemble Championship at the Folk Center. In 1998, Larry won the prestigious National Mountain Dulcimer Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.

Larry has several dulcimer books and recordings to his credit, including contributions to Great Players of the Mountain Dulcimer, National Champions, and Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer II, compilation CDs featuring many of today's top dulcimer artists. He has also been featured on three Japanese compilation CDs of international acoustic music. The Acoustic Breath CD series has enjoyed widespread acclaim in Japan.

Larry and his wife Elaine are directors of Dulcimer U at Ģ������Ƶ, hosting numerous dulcimer related workshops throughout the year. They are also directors of their own Duet Dulcimer Retreat, Dulcimer Hymnposium, and September on The Mississippi Dulcimer Retreat. 

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Elaine Conger - Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Dulcimer U Artistic Director
Elaine is a native of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a lifelong musician and music educator. After years of teaching and touring, she’s finally settled down in the mountains of East Tennessee for another chapter in her musical journey.  Her current passion is writing and performing worshipful songs that stir the soul and encourage spiritual reflection.

Music has been at her foundation from the beginning.  She began piano lessons at the age of 4½ and started playing in church by age 12.  Singing and playing guitar for church youth groups led to being involved in most every musical offering throughout her school career. She received a music education degree from Tennessee Tech, majoring in piano and minoring in voice and organ. She earned further music education certification in Orff-Schulwerk from the University of Memphis and a Master’s in Elementary Education from Tennessee State University.

After teaching in Nashville for a few years, she decided to join a band and go out on the road.  Her years as a professional musician include playing keyboards and singing back-up vocals for country artist Faith Hill and performing on the General Jackson Showboat. Once the biological clock started ticking, she went back to teaching and had her daughter, Krislen Sherrill, now a 24-year-old actress living in New York.  Elaine’s tenure as the Senior Director of Music at The Renaissance Center had her playing and musically directing numerous music theater productions, including appearing in a few herself.  Her favorite role to date is as Patsy in Always, Patsy Cline.

That experience at a fine arts and technological center led her to meet and marry Larry Conger, a former National Mountain Dulcimer Champion.  She now adds bass dulcimer to the mix, and they’re found quite often out on the road teaching and performing on the dulcimer when they’re not performing around their hometown of Gatlinburg, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

 

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Mark Tindle – Tulsa, Oklahoma – Morning Skills and Afternoon Electives
Mark is a two-time National Mountain Dulcimer Champion, an articulate teacher, master luthier, and recording artist. He is from Tulsa, OK and began playing and building dulcimers in 1980. After taking about 25 years off to raise a family, he is thrilled to have recently returned to his musical passion. Mark plays in the 4-equidistant string style, and through a vast repertoire of old and new tunes, story songs, hymns, choruses, and his own compositions, he clearly expresses the sensitive, personal touch inherent in the dulcimer that connects with many folks of diverse ages and walks of life. His greatest delight is to help others enjoy this beautiful and magically personable instrument, whether they play it or just listen.

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Butch Ross – Chattanooga, Tennessee – Morning Skills & Afternoon Electives
Perhaps the only performer to have co-billed with Homer Ledford, Bill Staines, a classical string quartet, and a death metal band whose name he won't repeat, Butch Ross has been gleefully smashing disparate genres of music together for over twenty years. Treating the mountain dulcimer like a prism, he has used it to conquer everything from Bach to Beethoven to the Beatles to Metallica. Most recently recreating Radiohead's wildly oblique album "Kid A" with a dulcimer, uke & loop pedal.

His restless musical curiosity, virtuosity, and innate ability to break complex concepts into simple ideas have made him an in-demand teacher and performer at many folk and dulcimer festivals in the US and abroad.

He is a live-looper, producer, teacher and remixer; a regular contributor to Dulcimer Players News. He plays bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, electric & acoustic guitars, ukulele, can play banjo (but doesn’t), and the Kazakh dombra, although his first and only love is the mountain dulcimer.

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Jeff Furman - Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
Jeff is an award-winning mountain dulcimer player who is known for his smooth and expressive style.  His gentle, humorous, and effective teaching style has made him a very popular instructor at numerous mountain dulcimer workshops across the country.

Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist who has been playing old-time music since 1980. Primarily a clawhammer banjo player for many years, he developed a rhythmic and melodic style which has heavily influenced his dulcimer playing.  He has an extensive repertoire of old-time fiddle music which  crosses over to a strong interest in Celtic music.  He has a particular fondness for waltzes and Celtic airs on the dulcimer.

He has been performing for more than 35 years, and his technical abilities, quick ear, musical sensitivity, and expression have made Jeff a popular choice for playing on multiple recordings, including music from Ireland, Scotland, the Appalachian Mountains, and American folk tunes. Touching someone’s heart with his music is Jeff’s most rewarding goal.

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Laurie Alsobrook – Melrose, Florida – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
After a full career in elementary education, Laurie Alsobrook has found a perfect blending of her two passions - teaching learners and playing the dulcimer. Laurie has participated in a variety of festivals, online and in-person. Festival credits include QDF, Black Mountain, Nonsuch, Dulcimer U, NGFDA, Dutchland, Dulcimer Daze, CFDF, and DulciMoon.  She also served as co-host/organizer and instructor at Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreats, both digital and in-person events.

Laurie is a regular contributor to the “Send in the Music Virtual Jam,” offering free tab to the participants and serving as a song leader.  Her weekly “No Frills” segment on “Send in the Music” offers fun tips to add to the jam experience and is now a YouTube channel.

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Jim Miller – Hampton, Tennessee – Morning Skills Afternoon Electives & Jam Meister
Jim has been playing and performing traditional music for the past 46 years. An accomplished instrument builder and teacher, he has taught workshops at numerous festivals as well as won many awards for his musicianship, including first place dulcimer at both Galax, VA and Fiddler's Grove, NC. He has played with Celtic, Bluegrass, Swing, Blues and Old Time bands, and has done session work on many recordings. He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, mandocello, bass, steel drum, percussion, hammered and mountain dulcimers as well as his own off-the-wall musical inventions, which are always entertaining. Jim holds a Masters degree in Elementary Education with an endorsement in instrumental music. He is a retired adjunct professor teaching mandolin, ukulele, dulcimer and autoharp in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music program at East Tennessee State University and played mandocello in the ETSU Mandolin Orchestra.

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Carol Crocker – Winston Salem, North Carolina – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
Carol’s first introduction to mountain dulcimer was at a school Heritage Day program. For over 20 years Carol has enjoyed sharing her love of the dulcimer with children, adults, schools, churches and senior homes as an instructor and performer.

She has been an instructor at various dulcimer festivals and events including Dulcimer U, Winston-Salem Dulcimer festival, the Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreat, North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Festival, QuaranTUNE, Mt. Dora, New Mexico, and various other events. She is also a regular song leader on the Saturday Send In the Music Virtual Jam, and has a Send In the Music songbook “Tunes From Zoom”.  Other books include “Songs of the Spirit”, African American spirituals arranged for the mountain dulcimer with a CD and digital download of “Songs of the Spirit”; “Beginner’s Guide to Mountain Dulcimer”, and “Dulcimer in The Schools”. Her website is www.Carolcrockermusic.com 

Carol holds a BS degree in Music Education from Ģ������Ƶ, a MM degree in Music Education from UNC-Greensboro, and Level III certification in Orff-Schulwerk. She is a retired music teacher from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Joe.

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Deby Libby – Seymour, TN – Morning & Afternoon Electives
Deby purchased her first dulcimer in 2002 and after learning 3 chords, was playing in church.  It wasn’t long before she was playing at local festivals and arranging music.  Then, she heard about and joined the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club (KADC), where she met Linda Smith and Ginny Cliett.  Together, they formed the mountain dulcimer trio, TNT, which has been together over 18 years, teaching, performing, producing arrangements and recording.

She has led classes for all levels at KADC and other events since 2006.  Festival credits include the Ohio Valley Gathering, Dulcimerville, the Lee County Gathering, Wilderness Wildlife Week, the Cumberland Gap Dulcimer Gathering, the Smoky Mountain Dulcimer Retreat, and the Mid-Winter Festival.  She was also the organizer of the Smoky Mountain Dulcimer Retreat (KADC) for several years and formed and led KADC’s first ensembles group.

Deby enjoys composing and arranging for the mountain dulcimer and is passionate about lifelong learning.  She was in the first class for Teaching the Mountain Dulcimer offered at Dulcimer U and is currently developing yearly lesson plans for KADC’s beginner and novice players.

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Linda Smith – Knoxville, Tennessee – Afternoon Electives
Linda Smith has been playing the mountain dulcimer for 23 years.   She was introduced to the dulcimer after hearing one played at Dollywood in 2001.   She immediately loved the sound of it and was intrigued by the instrument.   After receiving a dulcimer for Christmas that year, she joined the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club to find other people to play with and learn from.   She remains an active member in this club today and has taught many club meeting workshops for beginners through intermediate/advanced players and is also one of the club’s jam leaders.

Since 2006, Linda has played in a trio called T.N.T. (The Nutty Trio) which also includes Deby Libby and Ginny Cliett.   They have recorded four CDs, have developed many mountain dulcimer tab arrangements featuring parts, and have several original tunes to their credit.      They have taught mountain dulcimer workshops at various dulcimer festivals over the years and at Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, TN for many years.    In 2022, Linda also taught a week-long course in Beginning Mountain Dulcimer at Steve Kaufman’s Kamp in Maryville, TN.

Linda enjoys sharing her love of the mountain dulcimer with others by teaching them how to become better players and helping them along on their musical journey with the instrument.

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Melanie Johnston – Asheville, North Carolina – Morning & Afternoon Electives
Melanie has been playing Mountain Dulcimer since 2001. She and her husband Mack co-founded the Northeast Dulcimer Orchestra and the Connecticut Mountain Dulcimer Gathering. Since moving to Asheville, NC in 2017, they have had extensive teaching and performing experience and have founded the Black Bear Dulcimer Gathering and the Asheville Dulcimer Orchestra. Melanie is a graduate of the Dulcimer University/Ģ������Ƶ certification program for teaching the Mountain Dulcimer. She teaches private students, classes and festival workshops in the New England, New York and North Carolina regions and virtually. In addition to playing and teaching dulcimer, Melanie has written TablEdit for Mountain Dulcimer Arrangers, Dulcimer Jam Training Wheels and Catskill Mountain Waltzes and Airs, available through Folkcraft Instruments.  

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Cheri Miller – Hampton, Tennessee – Dulcimer Emporium Director
Cheri has been playing and performing traditional music as a backup guitar player for many years.  She has performed in swing bands, old time bands, and dance bands.  Cheri enjoys jamming, gardening, traveling, reading, and puttering.

Cheri spent 30 plus years in the educational field teaching elementary students, English to both high school and university students, as a Library Media Specialist, as well as directing and producing musical productions, and teaching guitar to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in an after school string band program.

Cheri holds a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in English, a Master’s Degree in Media Services, and an Educational Specialist degree in School Administration.  Cheri is currently retired and enjoying life traveling and playing music.  She currently plays guitar in a duo with husband, Jim Miller.

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Mike Clemmer - Townsend, Tennessee - Dulcimer Doctor & Afternoon Electives
“If you had a blank check, what would you want to do?” Connie Clemmer asked her husband, Mike. After talking and praying about it, Mike realized what he wanted … his own shop for building and selling his handcrafted mountain dulcimers.

Mike’s long sought dream-come-true has evolved from his life-long love of many types of music, playing, singing and his reputation for repairing, trading and buying instruments. Over thirty years ago, an acquaintance asked Mike to help him catch up on his dulcimer orders in Townsend. Armed with years of experience repairing guitars and basses, Mike accepted the challenge and learned the art of dulcimer building. It has been a labor of love ever since.

Mike will be available throughout the week to make repairs, add frets, strap buttons, etc., to your dulcimer. Be sure to check him out at his vendor booth.