Uncle Carl's Dulcimer Club

Hammered Dulcimers

Uncle Carl's Dulcimer Club is a group of amateur musicians who gather together for the enjoyment of traditional folk music. We welcome any non-electrical stringed instrument, such as hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, or banjo. Meetings are held on the second Saturday of every month (September through May) at the Spring Arbor Senior Center, 122 Star, Spring Arbor, MI 49283. Doors open at 12:30pm, Slow Jam (Club Tunes) 12:45-1:30pm, Business Meeting 1:30-1:45pm, Workshop 2:00-2:45pm, Regular Jam (Club Tunes) 2:45-3:45pm, Open Jam 3:45-4:30. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Membership is $15.00 per year. Music books are available. The Club is also available for performance. Please note there will be no club meetings during June, July, or August.

For more information, please visit www.unclecarls.org or email unclecarls@gmail.com

Carl Hakes was a musician all his life and had his own band. He was an excellent fiddle player and he had been building hammered dulcimers since 1973. It was members of his family and friends who on May 22, 1982, held the first meeting of "Uncle Carl’s Tri County Dulcimer Club". For the first meeting there were 26 people: 11 hammered dulcimers, one guitar, one harmonica, a mountain dulcimer and an auto harp. After an afternoon of music, it was decided to have a second meeting and a 2nd newsletter was sent out, along with music to the songs that were decided to be learned. Golden Slippers was at the top of the list, followed by Oh, Susanna, Red River Valley, You are My Sunshine, Red Wing, Amazing Grace, and I Saw The Light.

On August 4, 1984, it was voted that the club sponsor a festival which came to be known as the Southern Michigan Dulcimer Festival. It was to be held in historic Marshall, Michigan, at the Calhoun County Fair Grounds. This festival lasted for 20 years and was also held in Hastings and Parma, Michigan. It was also voted at this time to drop the Tri County from the club name since it had members from nine different counties.

On March 12,1988, the club made their first recording, and in 1989 the first installments of the History of the Hammered Dulcimer as compiled by Dean Borton were published. On October 11, 1998, a second recording was completed. In 2002, for the club’s 20th anniversary, a book was put together celebrating "20 Years of Making Music".

Today, the club has 100 tunes in its repertoire and continues to meet monthly. Along with playing for others, the club strives to keep the wonderful music of the hammered dulcimer alive and well.

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