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Stephen and Melissa Jones are
"THE JONESES"
Although they have been married
for over 30 years, they have only been performing folk music since
1991.
Their love of Celtic and Old Time American
music came from seeing a demonstration of the Appalachian
mountain dulcimer. After purchasing a dulcimer for themselves,
they had difficulty locating printed music for the instrument
in West Texas. While researching old folk ballads, they became
as interested in the history of the music as they were in the
songs themselves and have since included the history in their
programs.
They have performed at state and local
festivals, museums, schools, and coffee shops. Their informal
relaxed attitude on stage encourages the audience to ask questions
and become part of the performance.
Children and adults alike enjoy seeing
the demonstration of many unusual musical instruments and hearing
songs that are fun, heart warming and often heart breaking.
You can see & hear some clips of them here:
Melissa playing mountain dulcimer
Stephen playing mouth bow while Melissa sings (Melissa didn't know he was going to ask her to sing and they didn't have the moth bow tuned down to her range.)
Melissa singing a verse of Angel Gabriel while she plays the dulcimer Sound clip only.
Stephen
was and environmental specialist for the
US Air Force Civil Service, but retired in 2004.
He played bagpipes and was a member of the Texas
Highland Pipes and Drums, but has since decided to learn the banjo and hammered dulcimer. He's not quite ready to perform yet, but hopes to be soon. He also hopes to get a set of small pipes/parlor pipes for indoor playing.
Stephen does the narration and storytelling
for The Joneses and also plays the jaw harp and mouth bow while
Melissa sings or plays other instruments.
He is also learning to quilt and
has helped make 3 so far that were donated to the Lone Star State Dulcimer Society for their yearly festival. .
Melissa
enjoys many kinds of arts and crafts.
She has tried just about every kind of craft, but enjoys drawing, quilting, and
playing her dulcimer the best. She has become very protective
of her fabric stash since Stephen took up quilting.
You can see her work here:
Quilting and misc crafts
Our Fur Babies
Sundance
Sundance is our only furbaby now. We got him in June of 2007 from a no kill rescue center when he was 7 years ago. His former owner was getting married and her fiance told her she had to get rid of 2 of her 4 cats. I have yet to speak to anyone who would have married such a person. Sundance is an absolutely wonderful Maine Coon. He has more personality than all our previous cats combined. He still doesn't care for the RV while it's moving, but once we set up camp he rules the RV.
he weighs in at about 18 1/2 pounds and has a 19" chest. He is average sized for a Maine Coon.
Sadie Belle
Sadie wass a light gray tabby who loved to sing
in the morning and let us know the sun had risen once again. She was our little 'airhead' who lived in her own little world. We never quite knew what to expect from her. We lost her in March of 2008 from hyperthyroidism at age 19. we really miss having her in the RV with us. She was our traveling girl who demanded to go out to RV each afternoon after got home from trips to take naps out there.
Shiloh
Shiloh, was a beautiful dark long haired gray
tabby had the sweetest voice and a wonderful personality. He was a daddy's boy,
but did allow Melissa to hold him when she had the electric blanket. We lost Shiloh Sunday morning, March 6, 2005. He was a little over 17 years old when developed hyperthyroidism. He was a fighter to the end...even caught a mouse a few days before he died. He was barely able to stand, but kept hunting!
Sophie
Sophie was a rotund calico who loved quilts
and fabric. She would actually tremble when she saw the bag of scraps being pulled out. She decided on day one that she was queen and ruler of the household and expected to be treated
as such until her death from a stroke in August 2005 just shortly after we lost Shiloh.
Some of our favorite places
Lone Star State Dulcimer Society
Traditional
Music
Sweet Song String Band
Old
Time Music
Celtic/Traditional
Music
The
Ethnic Musical Instruments Co.
You can find Stephen on Facebook 
You can find Melissa on Facebook
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