Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering

Hal Kunkel

With nearly twenty years of experience as a hammered dulcimer performer in genres ranging from Celtic to classical to pop, Jody Marshall’s performance credits include the White House, the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap’s Filene Center for the Performing Arts, the Birchmere, and the Smithsonian Institution. She was a founding member of the bands Ironweed and MoonFire, and has been nominated as best folk instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association. Jody is also a popular dulcimer teacher, and has been on the faculty of festivals and arts workshops around the country and overseas.

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.

Richard Withers

Dave Ruch

Richard Withers, from the Pittsburgh area, plays traditional Irish music on wooden flute, tin whistle and melodeon, as well as old time music on the banjo. Longtime music partner of Mark Tamsula (also a member of Keystone Rebels), they together explore the largely forgotten tradition of fiddle and fife music from Pennsylvania, bringing together elements of both Irish and American music.

Dave Ruch (it rhymes with "luck") has been busy exploring the traditional music of his native New York State for many years now. With guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, banjo, bones, spoons, jaw harp and more, he travels widely working with children and adults in a variety of settings including schools, libraries, historical societies, folk festivals and community events, and has recently completed a tour of UK folk clubs.

Keystone Rebels

Clark Parry & Cindy 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.

Rachel "Rachabelle" Bell

Jerry Trusty

Rachel Bell grew up playing piano and exploring a wide range of folk instruments. She went on to study music education at Houghton College and then earned a Master's degree in piano performance from Bowling Green State University. Now focusing on accordion and wooden flute, she enjoys a busy gig schedule playing concerts and contra dances with Montage, Tunescape, and the Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand Band, as well as other occasional assemblages of musicians. She is admittedly addicted to composing and has a particular love for Quebecois, Scandinavian, and French music. The love of her life is her Italian-made, tone-chambered accordion named Alfred

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.

Kelly Parker

Beth and Stephen Folkemer

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

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.

Diana Wagner

Linda Huber

Diana Wagner is an acoustic musician and folksinger who collects and preserves folk music. Diana plays acoustic and classical guitar, mountain dulcimer, a bit of banjo and diddley-bow. She also plays multiple percussion hand instruments. Folk audiences know that her show-opening trademark is to begin without any instruments and an a capella mountain song or ballad. Whether singing Civil War songs, blues, Irish love ballads, or indie folk from contemporary backroads, Diana is committed to telling the personal stories and sharing the histories of the lives preserved in song. Diana is also a classical guitarist with a variety of musical interests. In addition, she directs the Maryland site of Guitars in the Classroom, an innovative program that brings guitars and music integration to classroom teachers across the country.

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.

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 - Bob Foster

2010 Heritage Musician: Gene Hoffman

Gene Hoffman has lived in Huntingdon County for most of her 88 years. She began taking violin lessons at age seven, and her father insisted that the teacher include both violin and fiddle techniques. Gene has developed the ability to sing and play at the same time, a very difficult feat for a fiddler to accomplish. She is a delightful person and will charm you with her stories and musings years gone by.