NEW ALBUM!
EDELSTON & DULCIMER is Sam Edelston and his 3-string Fretted Dulcimer (along with drums/percussion, bass, some vocals, and more). Making Waves is their paradigm-shifting new album of Classic Rock and Pop hits on electric and acoustic dulcimer - plus a couple of original songs for good measure. Dulcimers belong in The People's music, and this album puts them right there. TAKING ORDERS NOW.
1. Looking at the Waves
2. Wild Horses
3. She’s Always a Woman
4. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
5. Sweet Caroline
6. Colour My World (Feat. Teddy Parker)
7. Please, Please Me
8. Call Me
9. If I Can't Get to You
10. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Feat. Chesney Snow)
11. Ace of Spades
12. Bohemian Rhapsody
13. Born to Run
14. You and Me on the Rock (Feat. Teddy Parker)
15. Looking at the Waves (Reprise)
Release date: August 21, 2024.
RESERVE YOUR CD OR DIGITAL COPY NOW AT THIS LINK.
See below for...
Album personnel & credits
Review by Steve Eulberg, dulcimer performer & instructor
Review by Roia Rafieyan, singer-songwriter
Album personnel:
Sam Edelston: Fretted dulcimer ... Vocals ... Hammered dulcimer
Teddy Parker: Vocals ... Violin
Kevin Kelly: Bass
Chris Howard: Percussion
Shawn Murray: Drums
Chesney Snow: Beatboxing
Dulcimers made by Bear Meadow, Folkcraft, George Haggerty, Rod Matheson, and McSpadden. Hammered dulcimer made by Lee Spears. Except for the end of track 14 and track 15, you hear only one fretted dulcimer at a time.
Produced by Sam Edelston
Co-produced, engineered & mixed by Kevin Kelly
Recorded & mixed at The Workshoppe East, Huntington, NY
Mastered at Rogue Planet Mastering
Package design: Robin Edelston
Photography: Mickey Deneher
Booking: Sam@SamTheMusicMan.com
Manufactured by Disc Makers, made in the USA
Review by Steve Eulberg, July 2024
"I love this recording!"
Connecticut’s Sam Edelston is known for his creative and well-played covers of popular music from well-known rock bands, arranged for and played on the less-known 3-string mountain dulcimer. A fan of the expected electric sounds for many of these songs, he has successfully wrangled a whole pedal board full of tools that help to shape the sound, but all the strings are played by him!
Making Waves is a multi-decade jukebox of well-thought-out arrangements, skillfully played by Sam and his cast of supporting musicians that never fail to delight, surprise and tickle my fancy. As soon as I’ve reached the final track, I’m ready to start all over again!
“3 Strings High Voltage” is the logo inside Sam’s new recording and it is not wrong (there’s a lot of dulcimer power here!) Yet, this isn’t a complete description, either.
From the ballad arrangement of Wild Horses (Rolling Stones) to the lullaby introduction of "Please, Please Me" (Beatles), and Chicago’s "Colour My World" (the sole hammered dulcimer track) Sam finds the sensitivity needed to lull one into a state of relaxation.
But look out! Here come some sing-a-longs with Billy Joel ("She’s Always a Woman") and Neil Diamond ("Sweet Caroline"), Freddie Mercury and Queen ("Bohemian Rhapsody").
Then he revs it up with Bruce Springsteen ("Born to Run"), Motörhead ("Ace of Spades"), Blondie ("Call Me"), Paul Simon ("Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"), the Beatles ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"), before coming to a conclusion with Brandie Carlile’s hit, "You and Me on the Rock. "
And, as if that is not enough, he includes two originals that fit right in with this hit parade, "Looking at the Waves" and "If I Can’t Get to You."
If your tastes are eclectic and pop-radio based (like mine) and you also love dulcimers and the surprising versatility that they offer in playing all kinds of popular music, then Making Waves is going to be a collection that will be on frequent rotation (yep, I still count “spins”) in your musical universe. And riding those waves is going to bring you safely to shore.
Steve Eulberg is a nationally popular performer and instructor on mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer and author of "First 50 Songs to Play on Your Mountain Dulcimer"
(Hal Leonard, 2022).
Roia Rafieyan, singer/songwriter
"A loving tribute to a vastly underappreciated instrument"
I was able to listen to the entirety of your new album, and it is excellent! Aside from the fact of your technical brilliance on an instrument I’m used to hearing played in a rather strummy way (not that I’ve ever heard *you* play in a strummy way), I enjoyed the ways you interpreted each of the songs. The accompanying instruments enhanced but never overwhelmed the dulcimer, or your voice, and there wasn’t that dreadful excessive use of reverb which I hear on so (so!) many independent CDs.
One of my favorites - particularly because I think it’s such a gorgeous song to begin with - is your rendition of She’s Always a Woman, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds really rocks! It was also great to hear Teddy chiming in with their wonderful voice as well. It must have been a hell of a kick to be in a studio using equipment with such a rich history!
Personally, I’m always happy to hear a well-played bass line (and just bought myself a bass to learn to play exactly that), and Kevin added such a nice fullness along with the backbeat. And, oh my God, the gong at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody — which, frankly, is a triumph in and of itself — is absolutely the cherry on top!
I think what really struck me as I listened is that, in someone else’s interpretation or…production, this could have easily been “that quirky dulcimer album where the guy plays all these unexpected songs on a dulcimer.” Instead what you created is, as you set out to do, a loving tribute to a vastly underappreciated instrument, the playing of which you’ve elevated to something of an art form. Bravo, Sam!!
Well, congratulations again, and thanks for providing me with some wonderful music to blast!
Roia Rafieyan is a New Jersey-based singer, songwriter, and music therapist.