Lorraine Hammond

The traditional sounds of New England are resurrected through the playing of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Lorraine (Lee) Hammond. A self-trained dulcimer player, Hammond was called "the Jimi Hendrix of the Appalachian Dulcimer" by the Harvard Crimson, while the German music magazine Musikblatt referred to her as "the finest of all Appalachian dulcimer players." An old-timey-style banjo player, Hammond placed third in a fiddle and banjo contest in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1994. Hammond is equally skilled at the Celtic harp, which she has studied during extensive trips to Scotland. Hammond's musical approach was crafted during her childhood when she was befriended by neighbor Oscar Degrenia, a world-renowned folklorist. Another neighbor, Ed Canby, guided her towards the folk music of influential mountain dulcimer player Jean Ritchie. After encouraging a roommate at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont to mail-order a dulcimer, Hammond taught herself to play. Her musical knowledge was expanded when she was exposed to bluegrass and traditional folk music while working for the Peace Action Center in Washington, D.C. A turning point in Hammond's musical growth came in 1962 when she organized the Yelping Hills Folk Festival in Connecticut. During the weekend-long event, she met several Boston-area musicians including banjo player and keyboardist Rick Lee, whom she fell in love with and married a year later. Hammond continued to grow as a musician. Working at a day care center in 1969, she was inspired to return to Goddard College to study early childhood. When an adviser suggested that she pursue an education in music instead, she convinced a music professor, Dennis Murphy, to accept her as an apprentice. One of her first projects was to design and build a dulcimer...