Patrice LeBlanc, Nederland. Since 2018, it seems the Bonnie Carol Dulcimer Company can’t get through a year without one of its dulcimers joining a major museum collection.

In 2020, Bonnie Carol dulcimer #480, designed and built by Bonnie and her partner Max Krimmel, was put on exhibit in the Appalachian Musical Instruments display at the Museum of Musical Instruments (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona. The MIM exhibits musical instruments played in more than 200 countries and has been rated one of the 20 top museums of any subject in the USA. (www.MIM.org). The dulcimer itself was part of a video about their newly renovated Appalachian Instruments narrated by the Curator Rich Walters: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1MSNpvk6ls.

In 2018, an earlier Bonnie Carol dulcimer, #103, was added to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. This instrument was part of an Ohio dulcimer aficionado’s lifetime collection of dulcimers which she donated to the museum upon her death. The dulcimer’s vitals are listed by the Smithsonian here: americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1819371.

Also in 2018, a Bonnie Carol dulcimer and a Max Krimmel guitar were part of a temporary exhibit featuring Colorado Luthiers produced by the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at their exhibit Space in the Trading Post at Red Rocks Park.

During the Covid pandemic, Bonnie recorded her sixth CD of vocal and dulcimer music, with grammy winning engineer, Tom Wasinger of Sugarloaf, and early 2021 saw “The Moon Tree” released.

Bonnie was interviewed recently by The Mountain-Ear podcast Everybody’s Listening, Episode 9 hosted by Cynthia Davis and Art DeVitalis. https://themtnear.com/2021/03/mountain-ear-podcast-episode-9-dulcimerist-bonnie-carol-lydia-sprouts-of-pioneer-mother-and-woody-boyd-of-the-electro-mod-garage/ Bonnie explained that the mountain or Appalachian dulcimer has ancestors in Europe and its traditional American version is made out of US hardwoods such as cherry, maple and walnut. The name “dulcimer” means “sweet song.” The dulcimer has strings like a guitar and sounds something like a guitar with drone strings or possibly the drone of a bagpipe.

Bonnie explained that the hammered dulcimer is an entirely different instrument from the Appalachian or mountain dulcimer. Although they share a name their historical and functional origins are different. She stated that both dulcimers are easy instruments to approach, but they both offer opportunity for complexity and expertise.

Music was something of a trend in Bonnie’s life long before encountering guitar maker and builder, Max Krimmel: starting at age four she played piano with her mother and began piano lessons. Through her school years up until high school graduation she participated in classical piano contests, accompanied the Austin, Texas, community theater’s musicals, and accompanied her junior and senior high school choruses. From high school in central Texas Bonnie went to college at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where she learned to study hard, ski, and play the guitar, all ample preparation for finding a place like Nederland home with it’s active music scene and nearby Eldora Ski Resort.

Bonnie Carol and Max Krimmel began their lifetime partnership in 1971 at a Boulder music store where the two twenty-somethings connected over a guitar built by Max. Now in 2021 they celebrate 50 years together during which time they have built 169 guitars, 500 dulcimers and a house, shop and music studio. This structure on Ridge Road near Nederland has sheltered their lives and all the tools to produce high quality instruments as well as many band rehearsals for 30 years so far.

At the time of the music store meeting back in 1971, Bonnie had been working for various social service providers in her degreed field, psychology. When she lost a job due to funding cutbacks, Max offered to teach her to build dulcimers for a living. She was already intrigued by the instrument as Max had made her one the previous Christmas.

Max and Bonnie then began 30 years of a shared shop with Max building guitars played by the likes of Stephen Stills, Willis Alan Ramsey,  Jerry Jeff Walker, David Bromberg, Al Dimeolo, Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio, and the group Supertramp as well as Colorado favorites Carla Sciaky, Mary Flower, and the late Chuck Pyle. From l973 to 2000, Bonnie built approximately 300 dulcimers that made a name for themselves through Bonnie’s performing on them at festivals throughout the US. 

During this time, Bonnie taught dulcimer workshops and lessons, wrote books about the dulcimer, and won or placed in most of the nation’s dulcimer contests including the National Hammered and Mountain Dulcimer Contests held in Winfield, Kansas, every fall. Besides her half dozen solo album projects, she played on a couple dozen studio albums by other artists. Bonnie was part of the legendary 20-member, all-female group, The Motherfolkers. In its 25 year history the group performed a trio of sold out shows every April in Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, and was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2019. She currently plays with the concert and contra dance band, Prairie Dog Picnic. The band plays for dances along the Front Range including at the Avalon Ballroom in Boulder.

By 2000, between Bonnie’s teaching, performing and touring, recording and writing, she had little time at home for the shop work. At this time, natural-born homebody and shop wizard Max joined the staff of the Bonnie Carol Dulcimer Company and took over the shop part of the dulcimer business. Since then he has built another 200 dulcimers. 

Bonnie and Max are now in their mid-70s and don’t intend to buy more dulcimer wood, so when the wood for about 20 more instruments is gone, they plan to retire from the business.

You can learn more about Bonnie Carol and Max Krimmel at their websites, www.BonnieCarol.com and www.MaxKrimmel.com.

(Originally published in the March 11, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)