Remembering Jean Ritchie (December 8, 1922 – June 1, 2015). She was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way (orally, from her family and community), many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries old British and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads. In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences, as well as writing some of her own son

12K views · 785 reactions | First saw Jean Ritchie playing the dulcimer at the Philadelphia folk festival in the 60’s and then JoniMitchellcom made such beautiful music with it. What a sweet way to start the morning JO #AppalachianDulcimer | John Oates | Facebook