DK & the Joy Machine

Mid-East Mountain Dulcimer champion, “DK“ also won first place on “The Joy Machine” in the Great Trails Dulcimer contest in her 20s. As a young teen, she made her first dulcimer out of cardboard, from a kit, with fret wires out of bent nails. Once she got her hands on her first wood dulcimer), she gave up guitar to focus exclusively on the instrument that stole her heart. “The dulcimer is both sweet and mournful, full of some deep dark longing, and unique in the West (other than the hurdy gurdy) as a drone instrument. So many song writers play guitar---I was drawn to something different. I still am.” For eight years, while living in Dublin, Ireland, she adopted Irish tunes for dulcimer, playing in trad sessions, and also performing traditional American material on the stage, including with Hank Halfhead and the Rambling Turkeys. After returning to the US and winning first place in several dulcimer contests, she went on hiatus for nearly 20 years. During this time, she completed a PhD in cultural studies, worked as a freelance writer and union organizer, (publishing in Sojourner, The Sun magazine, and Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review, among others) and also wrote poetry and award-winning fiction, with her work appearing in Lesbian Short Fiction, F/M (Ireland), and the Cleis Press anthology, Dykes Dream Home. She also co-wrote a non-fiction book and authored a graphic novel of vignettes, Urban Empathy, illustrated by comic book artist Mark Badger. After being told by her cat that she should sing more and a statue of five Ganeshas miraculously appeared in her home via an Indian holy man---each playing an instrument, DK took this (and other signs, such as breaking up with her girlfriend and seeing Amy Ray live in concert for the first time) as divine intervention and began singing and playing again. Since then, she has been a featured performer at venues and arts centers in Brooklyn, NYC, cities across the US and in Europe. Somewhere between Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams, DK and the Joy rocks out on dulcimer--plucking, strumming & bowing---with music to move your soul