Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “The heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
In an impatient world, mountain dulcimer master David Schnauffer became a legend Longfellow’s way – he earned it. Sadly, my friend David was diagnosed with cancer in the early summer of 2006 and died much too soon four years ago this month in a Nashville hospice. But all of us fortunate enough to call him friend, are better people today for knowing him.
Born in La Marque, Texas in 1951, David grew up being more interested in becoming a legendary baseball player than a potential Hall of Fame musician. However, that all changed during his first visit to Nashville at the age of 15. Without even trying, from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, Ernest Tubb changed young Schnauffer’s life. The style of music and the honesty of the lyrics followed the inspired teenager back to Texas.
At the age of 19, while in Austin, David saw an Appalachian dulcimer in a music store window and the rest is history. He left college and moved into the woodshed, as he patiently and painstakingly taught himself to play the almost forgotten instrument. In 1976, Schnauffer won the National Dulcimer Championship that was held in Winfield, Kansas.
David then moved to Nashville on his 32nd birthday. His first Nashville recording session was for the Judds when they recorded “Rockin’ With The Rhythm.” In the years since, Schnauffer performed on albums for Dan Seals, Holly Dunn , Jeannie C. Riley and Cyndi Lauper, to name only a few. I was surprised to learn that his first live performance in Nashville was at The Villager Tavern long before I owned it. I would have loved to see that.
He spent seven years as a member of The Cactus Brothers Band for Liberty Records and Schnauffer’s solo albums feature accompaniments by Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins and Mark O’Connor, all leaders in their field. David’s rendition of the Hank Williams classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” was the most played solo instrumental on Nashville radio. His video of the same song was the first video aired by CMT Europe on its first broadcast day.
It’s a long way from that Texas woodshed to a position as adjunct associate professor of dulcimer for Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, but, around the same time he joined the university in the mid-1990’s, Schnauffer wrote a concerto for mountain dulcimer with composer Conni Ellisor, which is now one of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra’s signature pieces. David’s best known student is possibly Cyndi Lauper. She and her mentor played dulcimer together on her “Sisters of Avalon” album. He once told me that “Cyndi is one of the most talented people on the planet.”
David Schnauffer’s musical ability was only surpassed by his inherent goodness. His friends and associates were extremely loyal to him because he demonstrated unmatched loyalty for them. I remember asking him one day to reveal the secret for his excellent life. He thought for a moment and replied, “I just listen to it.”
I believe the only explanation for people like David Schnauffer is that some days God has extra time. For all of us who knew and loved him know that the Lord must have spent an entire afternoon on him.
Henry Piarrot is the general manager of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Pigeon Forge. Please send all story recommendations to hpiarrot@yahoo.com
