Blog
Random thoughts, ideas, and videos that might be of interest to the Nerdy Gurdy community, as well as people interested in getting involved
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Saul Bailey
Saul might be a newcomer to the Nerdy Gurdy world, but he certainly isn’t new to the traditional music scene. Growing up as a Morris Dancer, Saul has always had a love for both traditional and trad-inspired tunes, many of which he plays on his diatonic accordion and English Concertina. Check out his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@SaulBailey When asked about his venture into the hurdy gurdy, he says “I’d seen gurdys being played a few times, and I suppose it’s my love of unconventional things that drew me to it. They’re like pieces of functional art.” He goes on to say “Obviously, it’s difficult to get into without having the right…
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Conor (“Fitz”)simons
I’m from Dublin, Ireland, and living in northern Spain. I wanted to learn to play the gurdy since I was in school but my music teacher said this wasn’t possible as the instrument is essentially extinct. My interest continued but I never thought it would be something I would really ever pursue due to the high cost and scarcity of information associated with the instrument until relatively recently. During lockdown in 2021 I found out about the Nerdy Gurdy kit and thought it would be a great way to mitigate the boredom of being shut in. I found great joy in assembling and refining the instrument and my passion for…
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Coming Soon – The MorKitHarpa
(NOT A NERDY PRODUCT BUT APPROVED BY JAAP BRAND) Thanks to the genius designs of Jaap Brand, with a special nod to his Nerdy Harpa, I would like to present my own take on the Moraharpa in a flat-pack kit that you can build at home. Kits will soon be available in the United States and will become available in other parts of the world as I’m able to make agreements with third-party makers. The MorKitHarpa is a simplified design and is very easy to build and set up. Skilled musician, and an icon in the Folk Music Community, Vicki Swan of NyckelharpaUK has been instrumental in the design and…
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Ryan Kurczak
Community Spotlight Here’s a video by my great gurdy friend, Ryan Kurczak, who does the Hurdy Gurdy Cafe Podcast with co-host, Sergio Gonzalez. Ryan and Sergio bring us interviews with well-known members of the hurdy gurdy community and a wide variety of music. Ryan maintains an awesome website for hurdy gurdy enthusiasts, https://hurdygurdycafe.com/
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My Journey to the Land of Nerdy
My Journey to the Land of Nerdy I’ve owned a laser cutter for a few years and have used it to entertain myself and my friends with a wide variety of eclectic and often weird “art” pieces that I’ve designed and built but never really hit on my niche… …Until one day when my daughter-in-law posted a picture of a laser cut toy model of a hurdy gurdy, thinking that it might be something for me to make. My other daughter-in-law saw it and went kind of crazy because she had always wanted a hurdy gurdy. Other than one line in an old song, I had never heard of a…