Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering

2008 Instructional Staff



TuneScape	Kitchen Chair
An innovative dance band from Western New York and Pennsylvania, TuneScape nudges the border between traditional music and modern groove. Rachel Bell (“Rachabelle”), Jodi Blumenthal, and Nadine Dyskant-Miller combine piano, accordion, flute, foot percussion, and shruti box for a distinct and exciting sound with tunes from Québec, Brittany, New England, Ireland and Scandinavia.	Jennifer Dotson (fiddle) and Gail Blake (guitar) offer a wonderful repertoire of exquisitely interpreted dance music from New England, Québec, Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia. Based in Ithaca NY, they’re a favorite among contradancers from upstate New York to Ontario to the Midwest.
Jim Colbert	Jerry Trusty
Singer/songwriter Jim Colbert was the winner of the first Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Competition and winner of the 2007 Susquehanna Folk Music Society Songwriting Competition. In 2007 he was named a Folk Spoke on FolkAlley.com. Jim has taught songwriting at the Central PA Festival of the Arts, First Night State College, Hickory Fest, through the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, and has co-taught workshops with Deirdre Flint, Verlon Thompson and Marc Douglas Berardo. Jim performs regularly throughout the region, and has played from Long Island to Texas.	Jerry grew up in Mississippi where he learned and played traditional music at an early age with his father and brother. In high school and college he played rock, jazz, and classical music. In his 20’s, Jerry returned to his musical roots playing old-time and bluegrass banjo at festivals and concerts in the Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana area. 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 clawhammer banjo, researching old-time songs, and building 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.

Liz Friedel	Beth and Stephen Folkemer
Liz Friedel was recently accepted to the Berklee College of Music and has been nominated for a Sammy award for her work as fiddler and vocalist with the old-time and newgrass band, Boots 'n Shorts. Liz also plays guitar, and she is a member of the folk-rock-Irish band, Generations, the Traditional Ensemble at Onondaga Community College, and Pockets Family Band. After she completes her studies, Liz plans to open a venue, teaching facility and recording studio in upstate New York.	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.

Tom, Betty, and Nathan Druckenmiller	Simple Gifts
Tom and Betty Druckenmiller, along with their 24-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.	Simple Gifts, the host band for Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering, has played together for almost 14 years. Linda Littleton, Karen Hirshon and Rachel Hall are three women playing twelve instruments, performing a wide variety of ethnic styles: Romanian, Klezmer, Greek, Irish, Bulgarian, Scottish, Appalachian, Swedish, and more. They have a special interest in the traditional music of Pennsylvania. Key performances include the Smithsonian, National Governors’ conference, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. They recently received a personal invitation from the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to be the featured artists at a state event. For the past three years, Simple Gifts has been selected for the West Virginia Block Booking program, and they are members of the prestigious roster of Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour. Their latest album won an award from Indie Acoustic, and their previous one from Crossroads Music.

Howard Blumenthal	Bob Nicholson
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!	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.

Pete Hawley	Paul Fagley
Pete Hawley is a music student at Onondaga Community College where he founded and leads the Traditional Music Ensemble. Pete plays mandolin and guitar, and his singing has been compared to Pete Seeger.	The Cultural Interpreter for Greenwood Furnace State Park, Paul is knowledgable about the history of the people and places at Greenwood.
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. Past recipients: 2006 Charlie Arentz and LeRoy Mumma; 2007 the late "Fiddlin' Joe" Yesolivich and his wife Helen. In 2008, we honor John and JoAnn Dively.
	John and JoAnn Dively
	John and JoAnn Dively are an integral part of the Dively-Shawver Bluegrass Band, known throughout central Pennsylvania for their traditional gospel and bluegrass music. A dairy farmer from New Enterprise, PA, John Dively embraced music early on, and has composed his own songs as expression of his faith and love for his family. Mandolin is John’s preferred instrument while his wife JoAnn plays the guitar. The band is occasionally accompanied by their son John on mandolin or guitar.