Sairey, Laura, and Allison of the Hired Hands perform at a recent concert. They will be guests at the Dec. 10 meeting of Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians. (Submitted photo)

SALEM — Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians will host The Hired Hands at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Meeting Room of the Dale Shaffer Research Library of the Salem Historical Society, 239 S. Lundy Ave. Parking is available in the municipal lot across Lundy. The building is handicapped accessible. Admission is $10 with an additional $5 covering all children in a family with a responsible adult.

The Hired Hands are sisters from small-town Ohio who all began their musical careers with Suzuki Piano lessons…when given the opportunity, they began to diversify into many different instruments.

Allison and Sairey discovered the Scottish lever harp and fell in love with the instrument and its music. They have since studied under some of the masters of Scottish and Irish traditional music, pursued post graduate studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland, and have taught extensively both in the US and in the UK. They have performed at many private venues, community concerts, and festivals, including Ontario’s Celtic Roots Festival, the Ohio Scottish Games, and the Dulci-More Festival. Both sisters have competed extensively, and between 2008 and 2012 have each won and held the title of National Scottish Harp Champion of America.

Laura picked up the fiddle and has taken masterclasses and workshops under Andre Brunet of Quebec, Anna Wendy Stevenson and Mike Vass of Scotland, and Ed Pearlman of Maine. She has also competed at the Ohio Scottish Games, the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania, and the 2010 National Fiddle Competition.

Their repertoire includes, but is not limited to: Scottish, Irish, and Welsh traditional music, classical selections, and religious hymns, as well as selections from the pop and jazz genres.

The first concert Dulci-More held at the Meeting Room of the newly built Dale Shaffer Research Library of the Salem Historical Society was in December of 2012 featuring the Hired Hands. In thinking about that, they were brought back for a 10-year anniversary of that concert. The Hired Hands are the Miller sisters from Lisbon. At the time of that first concert in this venue, the Hired Hands were already Dulci-More favorites since they had been presenting concerts and doing workshops at our Dulci-More Festivals since 2009 (and they went on to present at our festivals every year from then on). Although only three sisters are still local, Micah played Anglo concertina and Maggie specialized in whistles of various sizes at previous appearances.

Since its founding in January of 1993, Dulci-More has met twice a month to enjoy playing and singing. The group occasionally performs for festivals, fairs, schools, churches, clubs, nursing homes and others. The group also presented its Dulci-More Festival for 25 years featuring national, international, regional and local musicians. The group has also presented its Concert Series since 2000 and has used the Dale Shaffer Research Library as its venue since December 2012 shortly after the building opened. Dulci-More will present its 30th Anniversary Concert on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023 at 2 p.m. and is planning its Spring Concert season. Dulci-More’s members come from Northeast Ohio, and beyond.

No advance tickets or reservations are needed for the concert series. Free refreshments from Dulci-More members are available during the intermission. Everyone is welcome to attend. For information or directions, contact Bill Schilling at 234-564-3852 or bill@dulcimore.org or check on the web at www.dulcimore.org for more information about the club.