This is Homer and a gal named Deb Carbone, pickin' and grinnin' in Louisville.
Salute - Homer!
Here is an excerpt from mdonahoe.com, The MUSIC of MY FAMILY, a little blurb on Homer:
"Homer Leadford still performs today; he played at almost all of the festivals I remember over the past 30 years. Homer makes acoustical wooden instruments as his living and is one of the finest in the world. He makes such instruments as mandolins, guitars, banjos, dulcimers, fiddles (violin if you’re from anywhere else) and is an expert in playing all of them. Homer is more than just a musician; he was something of a performance artist and story teller as well. Every year he plays the same act and I never get tired of it. When I hear that he’s performing I light up like a little kid with anticipation. He would begin his act with playing a comedic style song with a guitar. He would then claim that he wanted to play a song with his brand new fiddle. Then he’d open up his case and have really puzzled look on his face, out would come the bow, and then with the other hand, a wood saw. He’d play on the act of what a terrible mistake he’d made, and then figure he wouldn’t be defeated and then strike the bow across the wood saw and begin to play “My Old Kentucky Home” The wood saw when played this way (if played correctly) has a high whining sound. It makes a similar sound to someone rubbing there finger around a wine glass and producing a high pitched note with a deeper harmonic from the vibration of the crystal glass. The does the same thing, only the note can be changed by bending the saw and thus changing the frequency of the vibration of the saw. Homer could hit every single note with perfection and it would sound almost extra-terrestrial with great beauty. He would then pull out a wooden puppet that rested at the end of stick and would rest on its feet on a small board that sat under his leg. As Homer would pick the banjo and tap his foot, the wooden doll, duly named “Dancing Jack”, would tap dance and swing its arms and Homer played fast tempos and complex chord progressions on his banjo."
Here is a link to the entire article, check out the dulcimer in above pic.jamesneunder39070.4367476852
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