Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering

Hal Kunkel

Hal first learned of shape-note music when he came across some recordings of early American choral music from the shaped-note tradition. The music was unlike anything he had ever heard, with strong folk influences and rustic modal harmonies. After learning that the music was still being sung as part of a living 200 year-old tradition, he sought it out and has been singing shape-note music ever since. Hal is also a composer of shape-note music, with compositions appearing in a number of spacee-note tunebooks. He leads a shape-note singing group which meets twice a month in State College.

An exciting new dance band from Western New York and Pennsylvania, Montage plays an innovative mix of European-based music, rooted in tradition and strongly influenced by modern styles. Jane Knoeck (accordion, piano), Rachel "Rachabelle" Bell (accordion, flute) and Tom Santarsiero (guitar, banjo, mandolin, jaw harp, foot percussion) weave together everything from swing to Parisian cafe to rootsy Breton folk styles. Montage is in demand as a contradance band and regularly plays in New York, Pennsylvania, and into Canada.

Linda Huber

Jerry Trusty

Linda Huber has been a festival attendee for many years and now returns as staff. An accomplished autoharp player and vocalist, Linda's repertoire ranges from old time fiddle tunes to songs by contemporary composers. She teaches private lessons, leads workshops at festivals, teaches adult education classes, and arranges music that is published in Autoharp Quarterly. Linda lives with her husband in the Pigeon Hills outside of Hanover PA, along with a dog and six cats. She has two grown children who are both professional musicians.

Jerry grew up in Mississippi where he learned and played traditional music at an early age. He has a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in music performance (French horn). Jerry was a high school band director for several years, and he is now a professor in counselor education at Penn State. His current musical passions include playing, researching and building clawhammer and old-time banjos.

Keystone Rebels

Clark Parry & Lucinda Durkee

Mark Tamsula, Todd Clewell, Henry Koretzky and Carl Rahkonen serve up Pennsylvania tunes flavored with Scandinavian, Scottish, and Irish styles. They are particularly known for their research into traditional music collected in Pennsylvania. Carl is an ethnomusicologist with a focus on Pennsylvania music, and Todd has been devoting himself to preserving the music of Sarah Armstrong, an early 20th century fiddler from southwestern Pennsylvania. Among these four musicians, you’ll hear fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bass, and more.

Also known as The Allegheny Mountain Dulcimer Players, Clark and Cindy focus on old time and gospel songs, accompanying themselves on mountain dulcimer, guitar, strum stick, hammered dulcimer, autoharp, and bass. They are also the founders and organizers of the Heart of the Alleghenies Festival in north-central Pennsylvania. Now that Clark and Cindy have retired, they split their time between Florida and their sail boat on Lake Erie.

Tom, Betty, and Nathan Druckenmiller

Peggy Shutes

Tom and Betty Druckenmiller, along with their 25-year-old son Nathan, perform old time music on banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. Performances include the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Mayfair, the Fall Fiddle Festival at Lyons, Godfrey Daniels, Augusta Heritage Festival in West Virginia, and the Mt. Airy Fiddlers Convention in North Carolina. Tom is a radio DJ on WDIY, and he reviews traditional music for Sing Out! Magazine. Nathan was a winner of the Fall Fiddle Festival competition in Lyons, PA for three consecutive years. For five consecutive years, Nathan was awarded Youth Scholarships to attend the Augusta Heritage Workshops in Elkins, WV to study fiddle, banjo and guitar as an advanced student. The group is especially interested in West Virginia music.

Peggy Shutes, a music teacher in the State College Area School District, teaches Pennsylvania, Americian, and World folk music to middle school students. She has studied a variety of instruments including the Appalachian mountain dulcimer and piano and performs with the folk bands Mountain Laurel and Smash the Windows. A native of Boalsburg (near State College), Peggy earned her Bachelor's Degree and Master's of Education in Music Education from Penn State.

Howard Blumenthal

Beth and Stephen Folkemer

Howard has been playing & singing folk, old time, country, bluegrass & contra dance music for many years on guitar, fiddle & mandolin. His energy and large repertoire of fiddle tunes can keep a jam session going far into the wee hours!

Beth and Stephen Folkemer are founding members of Cormorant's Fancy (celtic music) and Folk and Friends (Civil War era and American music). Stephen has directed choirs for over 30 years and teaches music at the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg.

Bob Nicholson

Paul Fagley

Based in Syracuse, NY, Bob is in demand as a contradance teacher and caller. His dances are easy for beginners while still being fun for accomplished dancers.

The Cultural Interpreter for Greenwood Furnace State Park, Paul is knowledgeable about the history of the people and places at Greenwood.

Kelly e Parker

Kelly is a drummer, poet and peacemaker from Pittsburgh. She is involved with projects ranging from women's centers and shelters to youth conflict resolution via the arts. Kelly is staff member at the Center for Victims of Violence and Crime and active with the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children.

Pennsylvania Heritage Musicians

A goal of the Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering is to identify and preserve traditional music of Pennsylvania. Towards this goal, a project was initiated at the 2006 Folk Gathering to invite musicians with a long history of playing music in Pennsylvania to share their history and early experiences.
2006 - Charlie Arentz and LeRoy Mumma
2007 - the late "Fiddlin' Joe" Yesolivich and his wife Helen
2008 - John and JoAnn Dively

2009 Heritage Musician: Bob Foster

Bob Foster began playing tenor banjo in the 1920's and soon branched out to guitar and accordion. Most of his playing was for barn dances around Bigler PA (Clearfield County) and then in the State College area where his family moved when he was 14. In the 1930's, Bob became interested in the popular cowboy music from western movies, and he developed a wonderful singing voice and yodeling technique. Bob has a background working in his family's coal mine, then as a farm worker (and married the farmer's daughter), and then as a carpenter. He was involved in building some of the landmark buildings at Penn State and in the surrounding area. Bob added musical saw to his repertoire when he saw another carpenter playing one. Bob is a regular at the weekly bluegrass/gospel jam in Pine Hall.