Dulcimer devotee - Pastor'spassion is dulcet - tonedinstruments
As it turns out, the Lawrence County native shouldn't have been discouraged.
"Playing the dulcimer is very, very easy," said Pastor Jeff, who is the new minister at Bennett Memorial United Methodist Church and who has already started sharing his knowledge of dulcimers with students at Riverbend Academy, School for Visual and Performing Arts in downtown Henderson.
"If you can count to seven and pat your foot, you can learn to play," he said.
While at his last ministerial post in Breckinridge County, Lambert founded the Breckinridge County Dulcimer Club, which grew to approximately 30 people who wanted to learn to play the traditional mountain instrument made famous by such Kentuckians as Jean Ritchie and the late Homer Ledford.
The Breckinridge group will be visiting Henderson on Oct. 10 to demonstrate their skills during a 6:30 p.m. concert at Bennett Memorial. "I'm looking forward to them being here," Lambert said.
As a juried member of the Kentucky Craft Marketing Program, Lambert is also the creator of the Jenny Wiley dulcimer, a handmade instrument that he sells at craft shows and shops, on his web site (www.jennywileydulcimers.com) and through recommendations from satisfied customers.
Since he learned dulcimer building from mentor John Carl Ramey about eight years ago, Lambert has made about 800 of the instruments in teardrop, hourglass, student and six-string versions and has sold them all over the world.
"My design is faithful to the traditional dulcimer style," he said. "The simplicity of it is what makes it such a beautiful instrument."
He also sells kits that can be finished by someone with woodworking skill and he has written an instruction book for playing the instrument. He has also recorded a CD of folk/gospel music performed on the dulcimer.
Lambert said that when he learned from his mentor, Ramey told him he wanted him to show others how to play and build the dulcimer. "I have tried to stay true to that promise," he said.
The instrument maker named his dulcimer after heroine Jenny Wiley as an homage to his eastern Kentucky roots and also because a felled piece of walnut that he used to construct one of his first instruments came from the Jenny Wiley Trail.
Lambert says he generally tries to stay away from the heavier woods when building dulcimers, fashioning the back and sides from harder woods and the sound board from a wood that will supply a softer sound, such as cedar or sassafras. "Whatever you have makes the best ones," he quipped. "The truth is, I make student dulcimers out of pine and they sound just great."
Dulcimer building is an ever-present part of life for him and his wife, Sheila, who sometimes helps him with painting designs and other tasks. "If I get in a pinch, she helps me," Lambert said of his Louisa High School sweetheart who's been his wife for 36 years. "I've always got some roughed out and some ready to be sanded. It's a process."
The process takes about 30 hours from start to finish, but it's always an enjoyable experience, he said.
"It's not my living," Lambert said, adding that the income he gets from instrument building allows him to do some things he might not otherwise be able to do, including supporting mission work and charitable work.
"It's a nice thing," he said.
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