Homer C. Ledford (September 26, 1927 – December 11, 2006) was an instrument maker and bluegrass

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

who specialized in making

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

s. Born in

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, he started building instruments at an early age. When he was 18, Ledford was given a scholarship to attend the

John C. Campbell Folk School The John C. Campbell Folk School, also referred to as "The Folk School", is located in Brasstown, North Carolina, along the Cherokee County and Clay line. It is a non-profit adult educational organization based on non-competitive learning. Origin ...

in Brasstown,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He later attended

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...

, where he met his wife Colista. Ledford eventually transferred and graduated from what is now the

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online un ...

in 1954. Ledford worked as a high school

industrial arts Industrial arts is an educational program that features the fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial Arts are commonly referred to as Technology Education. It may include small engine rep ...

teacher at George Rogers Clark High School in

Winchester, Kentucky Winchester is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 18,368 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winchester is located ro ...

before becoming a full-time instrument maker. Musicians from all over the world have sought after his dulcimers,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

s. Some of his works are on display in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. According to his website, he made over 5,776 dulcimers and over 475 banjos in his lifetime. He is also the inventor of the

dulcitar The dulcitar is a variant of the Appalachian dulcimer, which retains the dulcimer's diatonic fret layout yet features a long neck that is intended to be played upright in the guitar style rather than flat across the lap. Luthier Homer Ledford coi ...

, and also made dulcijos and dulcibros. He was also an original inductee in the Kentucky Stars, alongside

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

Bobbie Ann Mason Bobbie Ann Mason (born May 1, 1940) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky. Her memoir was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Early life and education A child of Wilburn and Christina Mason, Bobb ...

, and

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

. A sidewalk plaque honoring him is in front of the Kentucky Theatre on Main Street in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. He devoted his career to instrument-making and to playing with the Cabin Creek Band. He also published a book of autobiographical stories and poems, entitled ''See Ya Further Up the Creek''. Ledford died from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

at the age of 79 in

. He was survived by his widow, Colista; they had four children. His great nephews Jason Eubanks, Phillip Eubanks, and Jonathan Armak are currently in the

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

group Unstable, and use many of the instruments he made on their records. Their mother, Melissa Armak (born Melissa Fraley) was the bass player in the Cabin Creek Band during the late 1970s. He was posthumously given an honorary Doctorate of Humanities at the Fall 2006 commencement ceremonies at

, December 16, 2006, and deemed one of Kentucky's "Heroes, Saints and Legends" by Wesley Retirement Community in recognition of his contributions to music.

References

Sources

* Alvey, R. Gerald, ''Dulcimer Maker, The Craft of Homer Ledford'', University Press of Kentucky, 1984
''The Mudcat Café'' Obituary

External links

Homer Ledford Papers, 1952-2011
2.39 cubic feet (processed) Compiled by Margaret Foote
Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections and Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledford, Homer 1927 births 2006 deaths Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Berea College alumni Eastern Kentucky University alumni American folk musicians People from Kentucky People from Overton County, Tennessee 20th-century American musicians Folk musicians from Kentucky Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Kentucky