Neal Hellman

{{Short description|American folk musician, music teacher, and performer}} '''Neal Hellman''' (born April 13, 1948, in New York, New York) is an American folk musician, music teacher, and performer of the mountain dulcimer. He has been active in performing, writing, teaching and recording acoustic music for the past thirty years throughout the United States and Europe.<ref>''The Daily Courier'' 25 Mar 2001</ref><ref>''The Durant Daily Democrat'', 1 Oct 2000, Page 5a</ref>

In collaboration with Joe Weed, Hellman wrote the score for Princess Furball, a children's video by Weston Woods which won a 1993 American Library Association Commendation.

An original composition, written by Neal and performed by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, is featured on the Ken Burns production "The Story of Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton" which was broadcast on PBS across the United States in the fall of 1999.

He has written books on the Appalachian dulcimer,<ref name="Brend2005">{{cite book|last=Brend|first=Mark|title=Strange sounds: offbeat instruments and sonic experiments in pop|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6KRDxYOp4UC&pg=PT136|accessdate=24 August 2011|date=2005-10-01|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-87930-855-1|pages=136–}}</ref> including ''It's A Dulcimer Life'', ''The Dulcimer Chord Book'', ''The Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method'', ''Beatles Dulcimer Book'' and ''The Music of the Shakers For Mountain Dulcimer'' on Mel Bay Publications.

As founder,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HLRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=poEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1485,608944&dq=neal+hellman&hl=en|title=Recording Industry .Gourd Label Carries On With The Tools...|last=Kava|first=Brad|date=May 17, 2001|work=The Vindicator|accessdate=24 August 2011}}</ref> director and one of the primary artists of the Gourd Music record label, Hellman has produced over thirty albums, including ''Simple Gifts'', ''Tree of Life'', ''The Fairie Round'', ''Tender Shepherd'', ''The World Turned Upside Down'' and ''A Victorian Christmas''.

==Discography==

* ''Oktober County'' (1988) – Gourd Music * ''Dream of the Manatee'' (with Joe Weed) (1989) – Gourd Music * ''Autumn in the Valley'' (1993) – Gourd Music * ''Emma's Waltz'' (2007) – Gourd Music

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Neal Walters & Brian Mansfield (ed.) (1998) ''[http://www.folklib.net/index/discog/bibliog-musichound.shtml#fq MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide, p. 358-359]'', {{ISBN|1-57859-037-X}}

== External links == *[https://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/014.html Podcast episode about Neal Hellman.] *[https://gourd.com/101B.HTML Oktober County - Artist's Biography.] *[http://www.folklib.net/index/discog/labels/gourd2.shtml FolkLib Index - Gourd Music discography]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellman, Neal}} Category:Living people Category:American male musicians Category:Appalachian dulcimer players Category:American folk musicians Category:1948 births