By Ashley Ernst
The tradition continues through a program that gets instruments to children who want to learn to play mountain dulcimer
Debbie Porter remembers the exact moment she met David Schnaufer.
It was 1984 on a curb on Greenville Avenue in front of Poor David’s Pub in Dallas.
“There was this kind of scrawny little fella standing on the curb with a little square cardboard box by him, selling his EP. He had just opened the box up, and I walked into Poor David’s Pub and I bought one, and he said, ‘You’re the first person to buy my record.’”
He even autographed it.
She had no idea who he was.
In the next four years, Porter discovered the mountain dulcimer and made the trek to Mountain View, Ark., for a dulcimer workshop.
“There was a long-haired, kind of scrawny guy who was the teacher at the workshop in Mountain View. He started playing ‘Viper Moon,’ and I said, ‘I know a guy who plays that song. I bought his record.’ ”
“He said, ‘That was me.’ ”
That chance meeting was the start of a lifelong friendship between Porter and Schnaufer.
“He was an extremely sensitive, caring person, and he could spot people who needed his attention and his time and would benefit through the gift of music from this user-friendly instrument,” she said.
Schnaufer died in 2006 from cancer at the age of 53.
Porter flew to Nashville. “I was on a plane, and I was flying above the clouds, and I was about to land in Nashville. I knew it would be emotional to see all my friends when David would not be there,” she remembered. “You just feel helpless when you lose someone like that.
“I had this flash, like the old Mickey Rooney Judy Garland movies: ‘Let’s put on a show!’ We’ll make a CD and get instruments to kids. David wanted the tradition of the dulcimer to continue.”
And just like that, Porter started Dulcimers for David, a program that gives mountain dulcimers to children who want to learn how to play.
Schnaufer’s friends donated tracks, and the first CD, “Dulcimers for David … Tradition Continues,” was made. Sales from the CD fund Dulcimers for David.
The first CD was so successful she released a second CD, “Dulcimers for David, Too.”
Thanks to Porter and her program, mountain dulcimers have gone to children all over the world.
She asks that children write to her explaining why they want a mountain dulcimer. If she feels they would benefit from playing the mountain dulcimer, she ships them one.
She has a lot of stories about the children who’ve received instruments through the Dulcimers for David program. One is of a young man working on his PhD in physics and found the dulcimer was a release from the pressure of the PhD program. She’s heard from children who were 11 or 12 in 2007 and now are licensed music therapists. Twelve cardboard dulcimers and Porter’s beginning dulcimer DVD traveled to a Syrian refugee camp in Albania, where a Red Cross volunteer taught them to play and sing “Old Joe Clark.”
Porter has given away cardboard dulcimers, and she’s worked with McSpadden, which produces a special Ginger model for the program, as does builder Terry McCafferty. She also receives donated dulcimers.
“I do not let a dulcimer go to someone if it’s not playable,” she said. “We want people to enjoy” the instrument “and get the immediate thrill we all got from playing the dulcimer.”
When Porter was contemplating a third CD, she was approached by Dave Haas about releasing a DVD instead.
Years ago, Haas attended a concert that Schnaufer gave in 1999. Haas caught the entire performance on VHS. With the help of Tull Glazener, Bob Webb and Porter, the video was remastered and is available for sale. Proceeds from the DVD also go to Dulcimers for David.
“In the DVD you actually get to hear those wonderful stories of why David did a certain song, and you get to watch his fingers and see him play. There had been a storm, and the PA was knocked out in the church, and David had to play acoustically. … It was just perfect.”
How you can help
Valuable, Collectible Mountain Dulcimers
Occasionally Porter receives valuable, collectible mountain dulcimers. She has decided to sell or auction those instruments and use the money to buy high-quality beginner instruments. She currently has three.
Two are Bob Mize dulcimers. One is a Bill Taylor with a carved strum hollow. If you are interested in these instruments, contact Debbie Porter at debbieportermusic.com.
Purchase the CDs and DVD
Find the Dulcimers for David CDs and Schnaufer’s concert DVD and “Wax” at tullglazener.com The concert DVD is also available at davehaasmusic.com, or contact Debbie Porter at debbieportermusic.com.
This article was first published in Vol. 48 No. 3 (August 2022). It has been updated and edited for online publication.