Album Notes

Robert and Janita Baker have been performing together for over 30 years, and are known for their excellence in performance and musicianship. Their collective taste in music runs from blues to traditional to country and original compositions and they perform on a variety of instruments including guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer and autoharp. Robert is an accomplished guitarist of both the fingerpicking and flatpicking style, and is known as an excellent vocalist as well. Janita has appeared at festivals and workshops across the U.S. as a featured mountain dulcimer performer and teacher; including Augusta Heritage Center's Spring Dulcimer Week, Appalachian State University's Dulcimer Week, Kentucky Music Week, Great Plains Folk Music Festival, the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, NC. and the John C. Campbell Folk School. She is the author of several dulcimer books, the latest one being Fingerpicking Dulcimer, published by Mel Bay Publications. She has released two solo dulcimer recordings, "Fingerpicking Dulcimer"and "Solace"; her latest recording, "Blues and Ragtime" includes Robert on vocal and guitar accompaniment and has been recognized as a landmark work in the evolution of contemporary mountain dulcimer performance. The Bakers have been featured performers at acoustic music venues throughout California including the Summer Solstice Folk Music festival and have opened for such notable musicians as Doc Watson and the New Grass Revival. The couple live on the central coast of California, where they manufacture Blue Lion guitars and dulcimers. Their instruments are regarded as some of the finest hand-made acoustic instruments available today, and are played by such well-known musicians as Leo Kottke, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Hornsby, Steve Martin, Sally Rogers and Jean Ritchie.