Madeline MacNeil - About Madeline MacNeil

About Madeline MacNeil

Welcome to Roots and Branches Music

It's been said that Madeline MacNeil's audiences hold their collective breath as the last notes of her songs drift into the tableau of stages large and small. Since 1972, when she began performing in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, Madeline's goal has always been to bring listeners into the song. Her interest in stories first brought the mountain and hammered dulcimers to her attention, for they are part of this country's musical history and the heritage of other countries before they arrived here. This is part of Madeline's treasure as a performer: she sings and tells the stories with her beautiful voice and exceptional dulcimer skills.

Beginnings and Beginnings

Very early into my teaching career at Warren County High School in Front Royal, Virginia, I decided that being a folksinger might be a better option for life’s work. Fortunately, soon after that stunning decision I was hired to perform six nights a week in the Mountain Room at Skyland Lodge in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. I stayed there for six years, from 1972 through 1978, and the adventures and opportunities were many. Via the trails and friendships with the Park’s naturalists I learned to recognize wild flowers (including the tucked-away rare ones) and became acquainted with the stories of the mountain folk who called those hills their home.

I began my days there playing the guitar as an accompaniment to my singing, and most of my songs came from the repertoires of Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. I knew there was a dulcimer in the folk world, having heard some recordings, but had never seen or heard one in person. That changed in 1974 when I met Ralph Lee Smith. What a simple statement that is to write! Meeting Ralph literally changed my life. He insisted that I add the dulcimer to my music—and I did. Through Ralph I became more interested in Southern Appalachian folks and their music. Also in those Skyland years I met the hammered dulcimer and the Dulcimer Players News became part of my life.