Bing Futch
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Bing Futch

Orlando, Florida, United States | SELF

Orlando, Florida, United States | SELF
Solo Americana Singer/Songwriter

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"What's In A Name?"

"As a founding member of Christian techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz, singer/songwriter Bing Futch emerged on the college radio scene during the summer of 1986 with the album "Achtung: Musik Klirrfaktor" and has been recording and performing ever since. Over the years he has made a name for himself as a high-energy solo performer and frontman in other bands such as Johnny Quest and Mohave.

"He's created music for film, video, live theater, performance art and themed attractions. Voted "2006 Songwriter of the Year" by the Songwriters Showcases Of America, Bing's theatrical framings toe the line between tribal, roots, rock, pop and musical theater. Mainly, it's his love affair with the Appalachian mountain dulcimer that has brought forth an exciting wealth of music that showcases the timeless and traditional beauty of the instrument as well as taking it into extreme states of electric and electronic experimentation." -- Dean Rezzen, Music Connection - Music Connection


"Try It, You'll Like It"

Everyone take a little time to tour www.youtube.com, specifically Bing Futch. He is an awesome MD player/performer and is nice enough to post his Dulcimerica video series on line so everyone can enjoy them. You won't regret spending hours in front of the computer screen as he performs just for you in the comfort of your own home. Watch and be mesmerized as he plays so fluently and with such heart. You'll be amazed at the volume of videos available on his site, and others as you search through the youtube world of cyberspace. - Red River Valley Dulcimer Club


"Try It, You'll Like It"

Everyone take a little time to tour www.youtube.com, specifically Bing Futch. He is an awesome MD player/performer and is nice enough to post his Dulcimerica video series on line so everyone can enjoy them. You won't regret spending hours in front of the computer screen as he performs just for you in the comfort of your own home. Watch and be mesmerized as he plays so fluently and with such heart. You'll be amazed at the volume of videos available on his site, and others as you search through the youtube world of cyberspace. - Red River Valley Dulcimer Club


"Dulcimer workshop teaches art of playing loose, from the heart"

COSHOCTON - There were dozens of dulcimer workshops Friday during the Heritage Craft & Dulcimer Music Festival, but one taught by Bing Futch wasn't about structured technique.
Advertisement

"We're going to be boisterous and we're going to stir up the peace in this workshop," Futch told the group of participants.

He started his Primal Mountain Dulcimer workshop with some breathing and stretching exercises.

"The more loose you are the more you get the tension out of the way - the better you're able to get the music out," he said.

He encouraged participants to dream up a picture of a misty morning on a Scottish island with the warm sun on their shoulders.

"Take that picture and feeling with you," he said.

He then led them through some exercises that should help them express themselves individually when playing with a group, such as in a jam session setting.

"You can mix it up in groups and still sound good," he said. "Believe the music coming from you is pure and true and what it's supposed to be."

Shannon Baughman plays guitar and hammered dulcimer, and now the entertainer wants to learn how to play the mountain dulcimer.

The mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer are not related, though they share the same last name. The hammered dulcimer dates back to Biblical times, and has 50 to 150 strings that are hit with small hammers, not plucked.

The mountain dulcimer is an American instrument developed in the Appalachian mountains. Its three to five strings are plucked or strummed.

Baughman's mountain dulcimer was a Christmas gift from Mark Wade, the 1998 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion with whom Baughman has recorded some music.

"Now I have to learn to play it," she said.

Hunter Walker, 14, from Beckley, W.Va., has been playing the mountain dulcimer about the same six months, too.

He first picked up the instrument at the Tamarack in Beckley.

"I pretty much haven't put it down since," he said.

He's excited about being in Roscoe Village for his first dulcimer festival, and looks forward to the Mid-East Regional Mountain and Hammered Dulcimer Championships today.

Both competitions will be held at the Triple Locks Center, with the mountain dulcimers at 1:30 p.m. and the hammered dulcimers at 3 p.m.

Winners go on to the nationals in Winfield, Kan., in September.

Events in Roscoe today include a street festival, which means there are craft vendors, demonstrations, antique tractor displays, a petting zoo and, of course, music on the Main Stage and throughout the village.

Futch is a featured performer along with Rick Thum at 6 p.m. tonight at the Roscoe United Methodist Church.

Futch, who now lives in Orlando, Fla., first picked up a dulcimer in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1985.

"It's a lovely instrument, and once you start, you're hooked," he said.

kdickerson@nncogannett.com
740-295-3442
- Coshocton Tribune


"Dulcimer workshop teaches art of playing loose, from the heart"

COSHOCTON - There were dozens of dulcimer workshops Friday during the Heritage Craft & Dulcimer Music Festival, but one taught by Bing Futch wasn't about structured technique.
Advertisement

"We're going to be boisterous and we're going to stir up the peace in this workshop," Futch told the group of participants.

He started his Primal Mountain Dulcimer workshop with some breathing and stretching exercises.

"The more loose you are the more you get the tension out of the way - the better you're able to get the music out," he said.

He encouraged participants to dream up a picture of a misty morning on a Scottish island with the warm sun on their shoulders.

"Take that picture and feeling with you," he said.

He then led them through some exercises that should help them express themselves individually when playing with a group, such as in a jam session setting.

"You can mix it up in groups and still sound good," he said. "Believe the music coming from you is pure and true and what it's supposed to be."

Shannon Baughman plays guitar and hammered dulcimer, and now the entertainer wants to learn how to play the mountain dulcimer.

The mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer are not related, though they share the same last name. The hammered dulcimer dates back to Biblical times, and has 50 to 150 strings that are hit with small hammers, not plucked.

The mountain dulcimer is an American instrument developed in the Appalachian mountains. Its three to five strings are plucked or strummed.

Baughman's mountain dulcimer was a Christmas gift from Mark Wade, the 1998 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion with whom Baughman has recorded some music.

"Now I have to learn to play it," she said.

Hunter Walker, 14, from Beckley, W.Va., has been playing the mountain dulcimer about the same six months, too.

He first picked up the instrument at the Tamarack in Beckley.

"I pretty much haven't put it down since," he said.

He's excited about being in Roscoe Village for his first dulcimer festival, and looks forward to the Mid-East Regional Mountain and Hammered Dulcimer Championships today.

Both competitions will be held at the Triple Locks Center, with the mountain dulcimers at 1:30 p.m. and the hammered dulcimers at 3 p.m.

Winners go on to the nationals in Winfield, Kan., in September.

Events in Roscoe today include a street festival, which means there are craft vendors, demonstrations, antique tractor displays, a petting zoo and, of course, music on the Main Stage and throughout the village.

Futch is a featured performer along with Rick Thum at 6 p.m. tonight at the Roscoe United Methodist Church.

Futch, who now lives in Orlando, Fla., first picked up a dulcimer in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1985.

"It's a lovely instrument, and once you start, you're hooked," he said.

kdickerson@nncogannett.com
740-295-3442
- Coshocton Tribune


"Back To Music's Roots"

Back to music's roots
By Heidi Terry-Litchfield - hlitchfield@morrisdailyherald.com


Musicians and music lovers alike were thrilled with the weather this weekend, after a brief shower Saturday morning threatened the Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival, only to clear up to bright sunny skies.

"It's been beautiful weather in a beautiful park," Diane Ippel said. "We've had a good turn out."

She said when they moved the festival up a month several years ago because it conflicted with NASCAR weekend in Joliet, they lost some of their festival goers. Since then, however, the numbers have increased and a lot of old faces, coupled with new ones, are making their way to Morris for the festival.

Musicians come from all over the United States to participate in and teach workshops at the Dulcimer Festival held in Gebhard Woods State Park each year.

Bing Futch performed this year at this festival for the second time.

From Florida, Futch said he travels all over the United States to participate in dulcimer festivals.

"This is a beautiful setting next to the canal and ponds and among the trees," he said. "The people in Morris are also very friendly."

Futch said he travels to the festivals for the love of music.

After performing as a guest last time, he was a featured performer this year. He taught three workshops and held a couple of concerts.

He said playing in Gebhard Woods reminds him of "where the music comes from."

"This is the only festival I participate in that is predominantly all outdoors," he said. "You don't forget the roots of the music out here and being in nature you can lift the music up."

Tents scattered throughout the park kept the sun off as the musicians performed original music, as well as music borrowed and made their own.

Performers didn't require a tent to enjoy playing.

Along the path leading to the Illinois & Michigan Canal, Monte Klein and his wife, Monica Robinson-Klein performed with Jill Stargardt and Charlie Stewart to an audience of whomever stopped by and listened.

Still others picnicked around the lakes, while the music floated in the air around them.

"We come here to listen to the music we enjoy so much," Carol Hamilton said. "We drive down from Chicago because this isn't something you can go hear any day of the week."

She said she grew up visiting her grandmother down south and remembers listening to the steel guitar and banjos play.

"This festival takes me back to that time, a simpler time when I was a child and it makes me happy," she said. - Morris Daily Herald


"Back To Music's Roots"

Back to music's roots
By Heidi Terry-Litchfield - hlitchfield@morrisdailyherald.com


Musicians and music lovers alike were thrilled with the weather this weekend, after a brief shower Saturday morning threatened the Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival, only to clear up to bright sunny skies.

"It's been beautiful weather in a beautiful park," Diane Ippel said. "We've had a good turn out."

She said when they moved the festival up a month several years ago because it conflicted with NASCAR weekend in Joliet, they lost some of their festival goers. Since then, however, the numbers have increased and a lot of old faces, coupled with new ones, are making their way to Morris for the festival.

Musicians come from all over the United States to participate in and teach workshops at the Dulcimer Festival held in Gebhard Woods State Park each year.

Bing Futch performed this year at this festival for the second time.

From Florida, Futch said he travels all over the United States to participate in dulcimer festivals.

"This is a beautiful setting next to the canal and ponds and among the trees," he said. "The people in Morris are also very friendly."

Futch said he travels to the festivals for the love of music.

After performing as a guest last time, he was a featured performer this year. He taught three workshops and held a couple of concerts.

He said playing in Gebhard Woods reminds him of "where the music comes from."

"This is the only festival I participate in that is predominantly all outdoors," he said. "You don't forget the roots of the music out here and being in nature you can lift the music up."

Tents scattered throughout the park kept the sun off as the musicians performed original music, as well as music borrowed and made their own.

Performers didn't require a tent to enjoy playing.

Along the path leading to the Illinois & Michigan Canal, Monte Klein and his wife, Monica Robinson-Klein performed with Jill Stargardt and Charlie Stewart to an audience of whomever stopped by and listened.

Still others picnicked around the lakes, while the music floated in the air around them.

"We come here to listen to the music we enjoy so much," Carol Hamilton said. "We drive down from Chicago because this isn't something you can go hear any day of the week."

She said she grew up visiting her grandmother down south and remembers listening to the steel guitar and banjos play.

"This festival takes me back to that time, a simpler time when I was a child and it makes me happy," she said. - Morris Daily Herald


"So Much More Than 'Bob Marley with a Dulcimer'"

Futch: So much more than ‘Bob Marley with a dulcimer’

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

Bing Futch doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype of a rocking chair-sitting, overalls-clad mountain man, strumming a dulcimer on the porch of some backwoods cabin.

In fact, when the dreadlocked African-American from Orlando, Fla., hauls out his instrument on Saturday night at “The Pickin’ Porch” in Townsend, it’s apt to cause a little head-scratching. He’s come to expect it, however — as well as the satisfied smiles that follow when he starts to play.

“I get plenty of looks, even without a dulcimer in my hands,” Futch told The Daily Times this week. “People don’t know what to expect when I start playing. They’re thinking, ‘What’s going to happen? It’s Bob Marley with a dulcimer.’ But except for maybe one or two tunes that are Caribbean, I’ll open up with something really Old time, because that lets them know I really respect the roots of the music and the instrument.

“I’ll do ‘Flowers on the Wall’ by the Statler Brothers, some Johnny Cash and my originals, which are not too far from the base, because I love Americana and folk music.”

Futch hails from California, where he was working at Knotts Berry Farm theme park in 1985, a year out of high school, when he first discovered the dulcimer. At that point, he was already a musician — but playing keyboards left him feeling less than satisfied.

“Nothing was really speaking to me until I was walking through Ghost Town, on my break from parking patrol, and I heard someone playing this instrument,” Futch said. “What grabbed me immediately was how ethereal-sounding it was. It was so organic, and it spoke to me — I was instantly captivated. I asked the lady who was playing it what it was, and she told me that it was a dulcimer.”

Within five minutes, she had coaxed him into giving it a try; a week later, he spent his paycheck on a dulcimer of his own — a Cripple Creek teardrop flywood. Shortly thereafter, he was playing full-time, and since then, he’s never looked back. In 1986, he founded the Christian techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz, a trio that found popularity in the international underground college radio scene. Around the same time, he started a solo career that would eventually lead to success as a composer of music for film, television, theater and various commercial and theme-park attractions.

In 1993, he left California for Florida. Eventually, he formed the Americana band Mohave, which traveled across Florida performing at such venues as the Walt Disney World House of Blues, Hard Rock Cafe Orlando and more, opening for acts like Molly Hatchet, Subject to Change and The Crests. In 1994, he named his first dulcimer — Jolene, after the Dolly Parton song — and, ever since, he’s christened them all.

“I don’t know why I named her that; I guess I thought she was a bad influence on me because I was spending all my time with that instrument,” he said with a chuckle. “So I went back and named all the ones I had bought before. Mostly, they’re all girls, although I have named a couple of them after guys because of their characteristics.”

Helen is the name of the dulcimer that brings him to Townsend. It’s a product of dulcimer maker Mike Clemmer, whose family owns Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop in Townsend, and an instrument of which Futch is quite fond.

“A couple of ladies in my dulcimer group in Orlando had some of his instruments, and I saw they had a very interesting design,” he said. “I’m constantly switching tunings, so I wanted one with two fretboards, and somebody told me that Mike could make me one. So I went to his Web site, talked to him about customizing one for me. It gives me the ability to play in two different keys simultaneously without stopping the show, and it’s just a beautiful instrument with a fantastic sound.

“Mike gave it to me at the Unicoi Festival in Helen, Ga., so that’s why I named her Helen. No matter where I go, she gets stares.”

When the Clemmer family started booking acts for this year’s “Pickin’ Porch” — a Saturday night concert series showcasing dulcimer and Old Time artists — Futch immediately jumped at the chance to play one of the shows. It gives him the opportunity to “see where Helen was ‘born,’” he said, as well as to share his talent with appreciative fans.

“I like to give them a little tour of what the instrument can do,” he said. “I’m play some old chestnuts that people will be familiar with, living in the Appalachian region, and I’ll play some covers, and I’ll be doing some of my original tunes, which range from being kind of rhythmic and groovy to doing some straight-up country and bluegrass tunes I’ve written.

“It’s just a little tour around what the dulcimer can do — blues and Irish music and lots of the soft stuff, too, because I like playing sweet and low, where it sounds really great. It’ll run the gamut.”

Originally published: May 16. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: May 15. 2008 2:4 - The Daily News


"So Much More Than 'Bob Marley with a Dulcimer'"

Futch: So much more than ‘Bob Marley with a dulcimer’

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

Bing Futch doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype of a rocking chair-sitting, overalls-clad mountain man, strumming a dulcimer on the porch of some backwoods cabin.

In fact, when the dreadlocked African-American from Orlando, Fla., hauls out his instrument on Saturday night at “The Pickin’ Porch” in Townsend, it’s apt to cause a little head-scratching. He’s come to expect it, however — as well as the satisfied smiles that follow when he starts to play.

“I get plenty of looks, even without a dulcimer in my hands,” Futch told The Daily Times this week. “People don’t know what to expect when I start playing. They’re thinking, ‘What’s going to happen? It’s Bob Marley with a dulcimer.’ But except for maybe one or two tunes that are Caribbean, I’ll open up with something really Old time, because that lets them know I really respect the roots of the music and the instrument.

“I’ll do ‘Flowers on the Wall’ by the Statler Brothers, some Johnny Cash and my originals, which are not too far from the base, because I love Americana and folk music.”

Futch hails from California, where he was working at Knotts Berry Farm theme park in 1985, a year out of high school, when he first discovered the dulcimer. At that point, he was already a musician — but playing keyboards left him feeling less than satisfied.

“Nothing was really speaking to me until I was walking through Ghost Town, on my break from parking patrol, and I heard someone playing this instrument,” Futch said. “What grabbed me immediately was how ethereal-sounding it was. It was so organic, and it spoke to me — I was instantly captivated. I asked the lady who was playing it what it was, and she told me that it was a dulcimer.”

Within five minutes, she had coaxed him into giving it a try; a week later, he spent his paycheck on a dulcimer of his own — a Cripple Creek teardrop flywood. Shortly thereafter, he was playing full-time, and since then, he’s never looked back. In 1986, he founded the Christian techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz, a trio that found popularity in the international underground college radio scene. Around the same time, he started a solo career that would eventually lead to success as a composer of music for film, television, theater and various commercial and theme-park attractions.

In 1993, he left California for Florida. Eventually, he formed the Americana band Mohave, which traveled across Florida performing at such venues as the Walt Disney World House of Blues, Hard Rock Cafe Orlando and more, opening for acts like Molly Hatchet, Subject to Change and The Crests. In 1994, he named his first dulcimer — Jolene, after the Dolly Parton song — and, ever since, he’s christened them all.

“I don’t know why I named her that; I guess I thought she was a bad influence on me because I was spending all my time with that instrument,” he said with a chuckle. “So I went back and named all the ones I had bought before. Mostly, they’re all girls, although I have named a couple of them after guys because of their characteristics.”

Helen is the name of the dulcimer that brings him to Townsend. It’s a product of dulcimer maker Mike Clemmer, whose family owns Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop in Townsend, and an instrument of which Futch is quite fond.

“A couple of ladies in my dulcimer group in Orlando had some of his instruments, and I saw they had a very interesting design,” he said. “I’m constantly switching tunings, so I wanted one with two fretboards, and somebody told me that Mike could make me one. So I went to his Web site, talked to him about customizing one for me. It gives me the ability to play in two different keys simultaneously without stopping the show, and it’s just a beautiful instrument with a fantastic sound.

“Mike gave it to me at the Unicoi Festival in Helen, Ga., so that’s why I named her Helen. No matter where I go, she gets stares.”

When the Clemmer family started booking acts for this year’s “Pickin’ Porch” — a Saturday night concert series showcasing dulcimer and Old Time artists — Futch immediately jumped at the chance to play one of the shows. It gives him the opportunity to “see where Helen was ‘born,’” he said, as well as to share his talent with appreciative fans.

“I like to give them a little tour of what the instrument can do,” he said. “I’m play some old chestnuts that people will be familiar with, living in the Appalachian region, and I’ll play some covers, and I’ll be doing some of my original tunes, which range from being kind of rhythmic and groovy to doing some straight-up country and bluegrass tunes I’ve written.

“It’s just a little tour around what the dulcimer can do — blues and Irish music and lots of the soft stuff, too, because I like playing sweet and low, where it sounds really great. It’ll run the gamut.”

Originally published: May 16. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: May 15. 2008 2:4 - The Daily News


Discography

Dive! (2013)
Live At Old Songs! (2012)
Blues Method For Mountain Dulcimer 101 (2012)
Storm's Sigh (2011)
Dulcimerica: Volume 2 (2010)
Mountain Dulcimer In The Band: Book 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (2009-10)
Christmas Each Day (2008)
Kokopelli Rising (2008)
In The Garden Of The Gods (2008) w/ Manitou
Dulcimer Rock (2007)
Dulcimerica: Volume 1 (2006)
Clear Blue Trickling (2005) w/ Mohave
Voyage (2004)
70mm (1994)
Fantasy Amidst The Storm (1989)
Blutgasse (1988) w/ Crazed Bunnyz
21 (1987)
Achtung: Musik Klirrfaktor (1986) w/ Crazed Bunnyz

Check out the latest downloads at http://www.BingFutch.com

Photos

Bio

With roots in both African and Seminole Indian tribes, Bing Futch's window on America is a unique landscape of music, words and imagery. He began playing Appalachian mountain dulcimer at Knott's Berry Farm theme park in 1986, working at a Ghost Town shop for Bud & Donna Ford.

That same year, Futch founded techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz with synth-bassist Marc "Gadget" Plainguet and vocalist Sean "Shaka" Harrison. The trio grew popular in the international underground CCM college radio scene and have remained a fan favorite long after disbanding in 1988. Since then, Futch has enjoyed a diverse and prolific career spanning music, theater and video.

After working closely with producers of the hit NBC series "Quantum Leap" while shooting a documentary in 1992, Futch left his California hometown of Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue production opportunities in central Florida where he set up a multimedia company called J.O.B. Entertainment Inc. Some of his early projects include the eight-part travelogue "Disney Overload", the 1994 reality series "Toastin'", serving as musical director and composing an original score for the Stage Left Theater production of "The Jungle Book: A Musical Adaptation" and writing/performing portions of the soundtrack for The Castle of Miracles at Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida.

In 1999, Mohave was born. The award-winning Americana band has performed in a variety of venues including multiple shows at The House Of Blues at Walt Disney World, Hard Rock Live Orlando at Universal Resort, The Bamboo Room, Freebird Live, The Orlando Fringe Festival, The Central Florida Fair and they've also opened for national acts Molly Hatchet, Subject To Change, St. Somewhere and The Crests.

Bing Futch appeared on the national folk music scene in 2006 and has become a popular touring solo performer, headlining at the Florida Folk Festival, Old Songs Festival, The Big Muddy Folk Festival, Common Ground On The Hill, Kentucky Music Weekend and other venues across the country. Futch's shows are always engaging affairs as he connects right away with an audience and then takes them on a musical theme park ride through a variety of sounds, styles and showpieces.

Sometimes purely acoustic and other times surrounded with an astonishing array of technology, Futch takes listeners on an unforgettable ride through both traditional and modern music. Voice, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Native American flute and ukulele form the foundation for these oft-times marathon concerts with supporting percussion brought in for special performances. It's a wild, funny, moving journey in music that comes from the heart.

In just the past several years that Futch has appeared on the folk scene here in the states, he's opened for Grammy-award nominated artists Sam & Ruby, bluesman Scott Ainslie, singer/songwriter Larry Mangum, shared the stage with Zydeco king Chubby Carrier, Tom Constanten (The Grateful Dead), national fingerstyle guitar champion Michael Chapdelaine and Grammy-award nominated act The Dixie-Beeliners among others. He's also produced numerous recordings and has published several songbooks. Alongside his performing career, Futch has become a popular instructor of the mountain dulcimer and Native American flute. His video podcast, Dulcimerica, has been viewed by over a million people worldwide and is currently in its seventh season.

He and his wife Jae live in Orlando, so close to Walt Disney World that you can see the fireworks from their interstate exit.