Bill Bosler Solo CD

Solo hammered dulcimer at its best with a beautiful mix of original and a few familiar traditional tunes. This CD contains up beat, toe tapping fiddle tunes, wonderfully melodic ballads, a waltz, a set of celtic jigs, and even a medley of Christmas tunes. There is a song for your every mood. A must have for those that love the sound of the hammered dulcimer, and Bill Bosler has mastered its performance with this recording. The CD contains the following:

1. Autumn Stroll – 2:07 (Bill Bosler) Written in the fall of 2000, it reminds me of walking along a river bank in October, admiring all the colors on the trees.

2. When She Smiles – 3:15 (Bill Bosler) Written late one summer evening, in 2001, thinking about relationships and how so much can be said with just a smile.

3. Guardian Angel – 2:24 (Bill Bosler) Written in the winter of 2001. It seems like there are times when we all have a Guardian Angel and this was one of those times.

4. June Apple – solo – 3:16 (traditional) One of my favorite old time fiddle tunes! This is the arrangement that I used for the National Hammered Dulcimer competition in September 2001.

5. On Your Own – 3:00 (Bill Bosler) Written May 2002 during my Naval Reserve annual training when I was away from my family for two weeks. I guess I was missing the kids. This is my first composition to have lyrics and they came very easily while sitting on an airplane. I still have the bag where it was written.

6. Across the Ocean – 3:00 (Bill Bosler) I wrote this song in the spring of 2002, after remembering the times when I was in the Navy, standing on the bridge wing during the midnight watch. Peaceful, warm, and yet the mysteries of the oceans ever present.

7. Break in the Heat/Seneca Square Dance – 3:05 (Bill Bosler/traditional) The first song is an original tune I wrote in the style of and old time fiddle tune, written in early August 1998 after we had experience about 30 days of very high temperatures. That day, the temperature was only in the 80s and it just made you happy to be alive. The second is a dance tune that was popular during the Civil War.

8. New Year's Waltz – 3:17 (Bill Bosler) This was written January 1, 1998, late at night, after the football games ended and the guests had gone home. I have had some requests for this song written in standard notation. So the following link is provided: New Year's Waltz sheet music.

9. Princess Melody – 3:58 (Bill Bosler) Written March 2001, for princess Anna, my daughter.

10. Uncertain Times – 2:20 (Bill Bosler) Written autumn 2001 after the September 11 tragedy and the threats of Anthrax were on everyone’s mind.

11. Crested Hens – 3:07 (traditional) I first heard this song played by Solas, a traditional Irish band. They play it as a duet between violin and flute. Immediately struck by its beauty, I figured out an arrangement for my dulcimer. This is the arrangement that I used for the National Hammered Dulcimer
competition in September 2001.

12. Distant Hearts – 3:11 (Bill Bosler) I wrote this song early 2000 on one of my trips away from home.

13. Yellow Rose of Texas – 3:15 (traditional) I’ve always liked this song and kept playing around with different arrangements, having more and more fun playing it. As a matter of fact, I never played this arrangement for anyone before recording it!

14. Indy Jig/Morrison’s Jig/Irish Washerwoman – 3:45 (Bill Bosler/traditional/ traditional) The first jig was written in a hotel room in Indianapolis, Indiana. I sat down with the intention of writing a jig and before the evening was over, this is what was left. The others are two of my favorite traditional jigs for the dulcimer. Click here for the melody for Indy Jig.

15. Christmas Medley – 5:03 (traditional) This arrangement of three Christmas tunes: The Holly and the Ivy, Good King Wenceslas, and Angels We Have Heard on High, evolved during the fall and early winter of 1998.