"Harris Picking" was David's first submission to Dulcimer Players News.* It appeared in 1979, and he was twenty-six years old. Allow me...

When I started the Pluck Blog, I envisioned putting up posts that followed the chronology of Pluck, but I've made an executive decision...

I am struck as I type this how easy it is to fall into the trap of thinking everything is awful after reading the news. How easy it would...

Emmylou Harris and David Schnaufer perform Hank Williams's "May You Never Be Alone".

Why him? Why did David Schnaufer spend years writing to Chet Atkins during the seventies--out of all the important music movers and...

A few days ago, David Beede posted a clip of Cyndi Lauper on Everything Dulcimer. The video is from her 2008 appearance on the Howard...

A story behind the song: During work on Pluck--especially with respect to the years between 1953 and 2006--I would glimpse here and there...

If you're visiting this site to learn about David Schnaufer or the dulcimer for the first time, then I hope this and the two previous...

If the dulcimer and/or its music is new to you, then this post is for you. It is the second of three posts where I will make the case...

There are two main characters in Pluck; one is David Schnaufer, the other is the mountain dulcimer. If the dulcimer or traditional music...

1960: Folk Revival begins. Jean Ritchie introduces Richard Fariña to the dulcimer./Nancy Johnson (later, Nancy Barker) gets her first...

I'm sorry to say this didn't occur to me to include in Pluck prior to publication, but a couple of people suggested I should have...

A brief summation of the Hero's Journey as it relates to the biography, Pluck The Extraordinary Life and Times of David Schnaufer

David Shnaufer in the mid-seventies

High School sophomore David Schnaufer

I've already began writing about some early influences on David's development as a musician starting with Jean Ritchie. Another early...

Three notes I want to tell you about: one came the other day from someone whom has become dear to me through this project; she writes: ...

1. What does it mean to have a “good life," and who should define what a good life entails? In what ways do we making meaning of our own...

The research for David's early dulcimer playing years for Pluck was greatly facilitated by the wonderful Lois Hornbostel. Luckily for me,...

My sister Cindy texted me this photo (below) with the message: "I'm all choked up---this came in the mail yesterday but I just got it."...