Dulcimers connect us strongly to certain musical traditions, and at the same time, they can take us to places incredibly far beyond. Bing Futch's new "Dulcimer Rock" CD takes you on a journey through both his roots and some exciting, rarely explored territory. In the first cut, the hypnotic opening notes and percussion draw you into a special musical place. As it emerges, the piece, titled "Raga 111806", develops into an impressive 3-string imitation of an Indian sitar raga. In the next two cuts, Bing pays homage to his own roots. Cut #2 is a haunting, addictive and very learnable instrumental titled "Seminole Solstice", with an appropriate Native American feel. Next, Bing visits his African roots with a traditional slave stomp, "Run On", (more powerful than Johnny Cash's version). As the music grows in intensity, it transforms, and suddenly there's a distortion effect on both the slide dulcimer and the chords. You have reached "Dulcimer Rock." To the casual listener, most of the next several cuts will sound like a rock band with a drummer, bass, tight vocal harmonies, and electric guitars that do some screaming solos. But there are no guitars on this CD - Bing does it with solid-body electric and reprocessed acoustic mountain dulcimers. Original songs like "Crazy Feels Like", "Monsters", and "Time Bomb" would be very comfortable on any alternative rock radio station. This part of the CD also features a funky, electric version of Robert Force's "Wellyn." Finally, the journey closes with a heartfelt arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne", which includes a special voice from Bing's own past at the tail end. Except for a bass track on one song, Bing plays all the instruments on this album - sometimes overdubbing as many as four dulcimer parts or four vocals - yet his performance is so comfortable that it sounds like a real band playing together. Buy two copies of this CD. Keep one, and give the other to a friend who hasn't started playing dulcimer...yet. - Sam Edelston