Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder (hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery, guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, tin whistle, low whistle, recorder, piano, synth, melodica, concertina, marimbula, electric bass) is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Scott had been performing professionally on other instruments for over a decade when, by chance, he bought a Joemy Wilson cassette tape in the early 1990s featuring something called a hammered dulcimer. He had no idea how the beautiful sounds were produced. Buying numerous dulcimer recordings through the subsequent decade, it was only after he saw Kim McKee actually play a hammered dulcimer at an Albuquerque concert in 2003 that he purchased his own instrument. He couldn’t believe what a wondrous dance the hammers made across the strings.
With a live radio orchestra conductor, Texas A&M music professor, St. Louis opera star, New York city Episcopal cathedral organist, career night club singer, concert pianist, and professional Missouri string band musician in the family tree, it was no surprise Scott began playing music at age 4, performing on pipe organ throughout his youth. He started exploring jazz in his early teens, performing on piano and guitar. Scott was singing before grade school, studied voice for 15 years as an adult, and has performed as a tenor soloist. He has performed in numerous bands, ensembles and choirs. Scott led weekly church music for 35 years with his wife and music partner, Irma, and performs with her DBA Music for All Seasons. Their musical interests have led them through countless genres. They have performed at innumerable churches, hotels, club houses, libraries, hospitals, nursing homes, memory care units, Alzheimer’s units, terminal care units, weddings, funerals, and private parties, as well as music festivals and cowboy gatherings. With Irma, they won the 2016 Southern Regional Ensemble Championship (Ozark Folk Center, Mountain View, AR).
On their duet Christmas album, Midwinter’s Promise (2019), Scott and Irma play a multitude of instruments including both dulcimer types, plus vocals. Scott is featured on a few tracks on Irma’s two solo albums Lady Mary (2018) and Possibilities (2020) which spotlight Irma’s vocals and mountain dulcimers. Competing in the New Mexico Music Awards, their three albums were finalists in categories of Best Instrumental Performance (Irma solo and Scott & Irma duet), Best Vocal Performance (Scott & Irma), Best Packaging Design, the Norman Petty Producer’s Award (production consistency and quality of the total music product), and Best Mastering Engineer (Lee Padilla, Sanctuary Sounds). In a state that largely ignores dulcimers, this is a real accomplishment. These albums have been reviewed in Dulcimer Players News and have been enjoyed in 88 countries on 6 continents to date.
Scott has taught acoustic and electric guitar, electric bass, hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery and tin whistle, loving to help students grow. He has also taught instrument amplification and sound system design and operation. He is a past Board member of the Albuquerque Folk Festival, Board member/co-founder of the New Mexico Dulcimer Festival, manages/teaches workshops at these festivals, and has taught at the Red River (Red River, NM), Colorado State (Fort Collins, CO) and Lone Star State (Glen Rose, TX) Dulcimer Festivals, the Winter Festival of Acoustic Music (Irving, TX) and the QuarenTune festival. He also teaches music privately (in-person and via webcam) and through the University of New Mexico Continuing Education. He has scheduled musicians for various events in Albuquerque including the music stage at Weem’s International Artfest.