What would you do if someone gave you a plucked psaltery as a birthday present? Or serenaded you on a Greek bouzouki? What if the song was about a flop-eared mule when you were expecting the sweet tones of an Appalachian love tune on a dulcimer?

Luthier and old-time musician Ben Seymour will answer these questions and many more on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Tryon Fine Arts Center, when he will explore Appalachian dulcimer traditions in the second of the 2011-2012 “Explore the Arts” series.
Seymour, a North Carolinian by birth, lived all over the Southeast while growing up. His exposure to Appalachian, Celtic and Southern folk music, including nationally known dulcimer player Wayne Seymour, led him to a career as a luthier.
He has been building his own Kudzu Patch designs and other stringed instruments since 1994.
While at the University of Tennessee he met his wife, Becky Cleland, a singer, and with her formed the duo “The Ginger Thistles,” which has been performing since 1980.
The program will be held Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Tryon Fine Arts Center in the Mahler Family Board Room. Tickets will be sold at the door, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
– article submitted
by Karen Dow