A line drawing of a horse pulling a cart with a person riding inside, followed by a motorized vehicle, all on a simple road

A Dulcimer On The Western Erie Canal

Videos…

Gud morgon här & St. Stephen’s Polska

Here are two 19th c. Swedish Jultide/Christmas melodies played on the fretted dulcimer. Gud Morgon tells a story of children anxious for Juletide morning, but their parents don’t want to get out of bed when it is so early. The children try to wake their parents up three times (same melody) and on the 3rd try they all awake and celebrate w/ St. Stephen’s Polska. St. Stephen’s Day is the day after Jultide when foods, drink, and gifts are to be shared with those people who are less fortunate.

An old black and white sketch of a steamboat with multiple people on board, many wearing hats, appearing to be traveling on a river.

The story of Sam Patch on the Sam Patch Packet Boat

I have had the opportunity to present this work, Diatonisk, 2025-2026, on 19th c. replica Erie Canal packet boats. Several boating companies on the Canal from Syracuse to Lackawanna offer tours w/ music, history lectures, and other onboard entertainment. From Rochester By Water - the Sam Patch, an authentic reproduction of a packet boat honoring 19th c. falls jumper Sam Patch. And then aboard the Seneca Chief from the Buffalo Maritime Center, a full-sized replica of the Erie Canal passenger boat which first crossed the Erie Canal upon its opening in 1825.

Images…

Illustration promoting the Scandinavian Folk Festival in Jamestown, NY, featuring green leaves, a guitar, a red and white striped cloth, and the text "Scandinavian Folk Festival Jamestown, NY".

This is an original poster I painted & produced for the Scandinavian Folk Festival, Jamestown, NY, 2025. This image is a reflection on community fiddlers, “Spelman,” who I have met and corresponded with in WNY and Sweden.

A man sitting in a chair outside on snow, playing a lap steel guitar.

Playing my 8-string “spelmaner in the snow! Four strings are inside the fretboard and produce a sympathetic drone in harmony with the playing strings above, 2010.

Close-up of a traditional stringed musical instrument with a wooden body and a string stretched over the top.

Diatonisk & the Dulcimer book cover, 2007. This is a self produced brief history of the psalmodikon from Sweden and in the U.S. Dennis Dorogi’s psalmodikon & dulcimer collection, included three Swedish psalmodikon found in the area of Jamestown-NY/Erie-PA. How they arrived in that area is a mystery. We do know that when 19th c. immigrant travelers completed their trip down the Erie Canal in now Lackawanna they often then boarded sailboats and eventually steamboats on Lake Erie to travel to Erie, PA, headed south or continued north into the Great Lakes to Chicago.

People dressed in historical costumes gathered around a table with food in a cozy room with a fireplace, candles, and festive decorations.

A Swedish family celebrates Sankta Lucia, a scene w/ psalmodikon music played by Nils R. Caspersson at the Genesee Country Village & Museum, 2022, Mumford, NY. Audience members frequently sang along with the Lucia theme, many singing in Swedish.

Illustration of a tree branch with five lit candles, green leaves, and red berries against a black background. The text reads 'Med ljus i hå' and 'A Julbord of Scandinavian-American musicians'.

Med ljus i hår (With Lights In Her Hair) is an original cd collection of Scandinavian-American Jultide/Christmas music, 2022, collected by request from musicians living in NY and New England, and several other American areas with a few from Sweden & Finland.

A collage of text-heavy images including a description of the Erie Canal from the mid-1850s to 1930s, a list of musical and cultural references, and quotes from various sources. The background has blocks of color and a mixture of fonts.

Med ljus i hår interior pp detailing each musical piece and the performers of each piece. Close inspection reveals Scandinavian Jultide musical traditions throughout the recording areas including psalmodikon and dulcimer.

Five elderly people sitting in a circle in a lobby, some holding guitars, with an elevator in the background.

I have taught numerous music students how to play the fretted dulcimer. This small group was in Rochester, NY. My most recent was teaching two dulcimer playing workshops @ American Scandinavia House, New York City in early May, 2026. What a wonderful experience.

An elderly man sitting in a chair playing a guitar while two young children, a girl and a boy, stand nearby, one with a hand on the guitar neck and the other reaching for a gift box.

Two young tomtes approached me at a Scandinavian Heritage Society, Rochester, NY, lutefisk dinner, 2025, and listened to me playing. They were cousins and loved music. I offered my guitar pick and the girl took it and strummed the dulcimer immediately…making music for the very first time!