November 8, 2011 - NewLanders to make return trip to Germany
By Mary Pickels, TRIBUNE-REVIEW - Monday, November 8, 2010
The first time The NewLanders performed before a German audience, band member Art Gazdik was a bit confused by the response. They sat up straight, hands folded, and appeared to concentrate hard as the Pittsburgh folk band played. After the music, they erupted in cheers and applause. Gazdik said the band learned that European audiences consider it a sign of respect to performers to be still during live events.
Longtime friends and musicians Gazdik, Paula Purnell, Doug Wilkin and Gerard Rohlf are heading to Germany for the third time, performing Thursday and Friday at the Kokerei Hansa Coking Plant Museum in Dortmund and the LVR Industrial Museum in Oberhausen.
The band's music celebrates Western Pennsylvania, reworking old songs from a time when steel mills offered workers, many of them immigrants, both sustenance and camaraderie.
In 2009, the group was honored by the Westmoreland County Historical Society with the Arthur St. Clair Historical Preservation Award for preservation and performance of music chronicling the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania and their industrial heritage.
The NewLanders' first album, "Where the Allegheny Flows," brought the band to the attention of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
"They asked us to do an independent CD, ' Born of Fire,' which led to this great adventure," Gazdik said. The museum recognized the importance of music as oral history as it began preparing its recent exhibit "Born of Fire: The Valley of Work." "I think it's unique that they did that, included music with the paintings and photographs," Gazdik said.
The band traveled with the exhibit to Germany in 2007 and 2008. They were asked to return as part of the Ruhr Region's designation as the 2010 European Capital of Culture and the "Born of Fire" finale. "The whole thing revolves around the connection between industrial areas in and around Pittsburgh. Here we are with the rivers and valleys and the industrial area. They (Rhine and Ruhr regions) basically mirrored us and had a similar history relative to industrialization," Gazdik said. "The Rhine and Ruhr rivers were the center of the steel and coal culture."
The band finds historical songs from numerous sources, including libraries and people's personal collections, Purnell said. "There are a lot of folk songs. We try to find ones rewritten to reflect part of life in Western Pennsylvania. There are lots of disaster songs -- railroad disasters and love gone wrong," Purnell said.
Gazdik described one song written by a steel mill foreman. It was his duty to tell a man's wife and family, who had arrived from Europe to join him, that her husband had died in an industrial accident. Some songs tell tales of battles and union issues. In addition to acoustic and electric guitar, band members play fiddle, mandolin, Appalachian dulcimer and bones (a percussion instrument formerly made of animal bones) to try to infuse the older sound into the music. "We don't try to repeat the way it sounded then," Purnell said. "Every generation kind of takes up music that was there and plays it in its own way." Some of the songs have more verses than modern audiences will listen to, so the bandmates try to pull out the words and tell the story with less repetition. "Some original melodies are so beautiful you don't have to change them at all," Purnell added.
The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area collaborated with The Westmoreland and The NewLanders on the "Born of Fire" exhibit. "We should celebrate and embrace who we were," said Ron Baraff, the Homestead agency's museum collections and archive director. "They (the NewLanders) are taking the music that is traditional American labor music and putting a modern twist on it to make it accessible to 21st century Americans," Baraff said.
The band has a catalog of about 30 to 40 songs, Purnell said. "It gives us a wonderful palette to create something new maybe people haven't heard before," she said of the music's appeal. "Some songs people don't know, but they might have a connection to, steel mill songs." Purnell and Gazdik said the band is considering a "newer" period for a future album, possibly playing music produced around Pittsburgh in the 1950s and 1960s. "Stay tuned," Gazdik said.
February 1, 2010 - WDUQ Interview
Hear the Pod Cast of this Bob Studebaker interview with Paula that was broadcast on February 1, 2010.
November, 2009 - A Note From Pete Seeger
Update: Here are a few pictures from the Childrens Museum/SLB/
Robert Schmertz/ Pete Seeger Event taken by Bernadette Kazmarski.
A few months ago, Paula wrote to Mr. Seeger, humbly asking for an
endorsement of the NewLanders’ upcoming Robert Schmertz recording
project. Robert Schmertz was a wonderful Pittsburgh musician in the
1950s and, we knew, one of Pete’s favorite songwriters. Pete quickly
replied with an interesting challenge, asking us to write a song about
John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed). Paula soon penned a wonderful tune
and lyric, and we set to work creating an arrangement. Now it’s time
to send our song to Pete!
Join the NewLanders, host Larry Berger, and special guest Jack
Schmertz (Robert Schmertz’s son) on the Saturday Light Brigade Radio
Program (http://www.slbradio.org/) for the world premier of “Apple
Blossom Breezes: The Story of Johnny Appleseed.” We will also be
making a "video postcard" of the event to mail to Pete Seeger along
with a CD of our newest tune.
Where: The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (www.pittsburghkids.org)
When: 11:00- Noon, Saturday, November 28th
Who: Everyone is welcome! Come sing along and send a video greeting to
Pete and Toshi Seeger
Admission to the broadcast of Saturday Light Brigade and the Pete
Seeger post card event is FREE. Refreshments will be served. If you
would like to stay and explore the Children’s Museum, wristbands can
be purchased at the front desk.
Pete wrote (in the margins of a letter about our Robert Schmertz
project) the following;
Dear Paula:
If you, Jack and Mildred (Schmertz) can get a song written about
pacifist Swedenborgien, John Chapman, who walked from Boston to
Pittsburgh a little more than 200 years ago, and later became famous
in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois as Johnny Appleseed, I'll be glad to
write a forward for you and help in other ways too. Bob Schmertz was a
very good songwriter, so this has to be a very good song too. Get a
batch of people working on it. I look forward to hearing from you or
them.
Old Pete Seeger - Box xxx Beacon NY
October 7, 2009
NewLanders receive the Arthur St. Clair Historic Preservation Award for 2009 from the Westmoreland County Historical Society. The Arthur St. Clair Historic Preservation Award is given annually to individuals, organizations, or educational institutions that have made significant and sustainable contributions to the preservation of our historic places, documents, records, or stories, and by doing so, are keeping alive Westmoreland County’s rich history and heritage for future generations.
Semptember 18, 2009
Coal and Coke Heritage Music Festival features NewLanders
By: TARA RACK-AMBER Herald Standard
This year at the second annual Coal and Coke Heritage Music Festival, the contemporary folk band The NewLanders will provide audiences with not only a musical performance, but a storytelling experience.
The band, which is comprised of members Paula Purnell, Gerard Rohlf, Art Gazdik and Doug Wilkin, use traditional instruments like the Appalachian lap dulcimer and mandolin to tell historical stories that inspire.
It was because of this unique blend that led The NewLanders to partner with the Westmoreland Museum of American Art on a multimedia project "Born of Fire."
"Born of Fire" gave audiences the opportunity to see what the life and culture of the American steelworkers of the Pittsburgh region were all about.
The project provided an opportunity for The NewLanders to travel to Germany to promote the DVD because of the similarities between the local region and Germany.
"We performed at the Saxony Industrial Museum in Chemnitz, as part of the Chemnitz Cultural Festival," Purnell said. "It was a wonderful experience on so many levels. It was my first visit to Eastern Germany, and I learned a lot about German history and reunification. It's also just amazing how the songs of Pittsburgh's steel era connect with the people of Germany. Despite our language difference, our cultures are connected by similarities in hard work, industry, and through the struggle for fair wages, quality of life, and safe work environments."
Continuing with the commitment of sharing stories from the past, the group is hoping to resurrect an album from the past. "We are hoping to revive and re-record a wonderful album that was released in Pittsburgh in 1959 by a wonderful songwriter named Robert Schmertz. Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and Tennessee Ernie Ford all recorded his songs," Purnell said. "The album includes 12 songs that tell the story of the settlement of Pittsburgh. Some of the songs' historical events took place in Fayette County, so we're hoping to do some collaborative research with the folks at Penn State Fayette campus."
The NewLanders are no strangers to Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Last year they were part of the entertainment for the first Coal and Coke Heritage Music Festival.
"We feel very honored to be invited back to participate in this year's festival," Purnell said. "It is always a joy to sing songs that have a deep connection to the lives of the people in the audience, and the Coal and Coke Heritage Music Festival is the perfect venue for that. The weather and the setting were perfect last year, and the food was great, too!"
Something new has been added to The NewLanders' performance this year. They have put their special touch to an old folk song that has local connections.
"We've created a new arrangement of a folk song that was written following the Dunbar mining disaster of 1890, titled 'Dunbar's Heroes'," Purnell said. "One of our members, Gerard Rohlf, learned that he had relatives that perished in this tragic event, which of course, makes the lyrics all the more poignant for us." Along with entertaining the audience, the group hopes to inspire local residents to take pride in the area's musical heritage. "We always hope that people will be reminded of the proud musical heritage that we share here in western Pennsylvania, and maybe be inspired to take a little closer look at their own family histories and to explore their communities' rich heritage and traditions," Purnell said.
The festival will be held at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, which is located on Route 119 north of Uniontown.
For more information about The NewLanders, visit www.newlanders-.com. To learn more about other performers at the Coal and Coke Heritage Music Festival, go to www.coalandcokemusicfest.org.
May 28, 2009
The NewLanders were selected to perform at the PennPAT Showcase held during the Spring PA Presenters Conference. The showcase took place at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh. It was a great opportunity to be seen by many presenters from around the region and also to take the stage in one of the Pittsburgh's best concert halls. Thanks PennPAT for giving us the opportunity.
May 2009
A friend of the NewLanders, composer Albert Glinsky, will be premiering his new string quartet on Saturday, May 30. In doing his research for the piece Mr. Glinsky discovered the NewLanders and he has incorporated some of the tunes that we have rediscovered in his composition.
A new musical work celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Pittsburgh will receive its world premiere this Saturday, May 30, at 8 PM in the New Hazlett Theater. Commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Quartet, by Pennsylvania composer Albert Glinsky, will be performed by the Biava String Quartet, an ensemble currently in residence at the Juilliard School.
Glinsky's Allegheny Quartet traces the history of Pittsburgh, from its early frontier days, through the French and Indian War, the industrial years of the 19th and 20th centuries, to the modern day shining metropolis. The work is based on eleven traditional folk tunes from Western Pennsylvania, including some that have been performed locally and recorded by the NewLanders. The composer, in fact, has cited the NewLanders as an inspiration in his work, along with such artists as Pete Seeger, Vivien Richmond, and Woodie Guthrie.
Glinsky says of working with the NewLanders:
Among the many gems of Pennsylvania's proud history are its colorful folk songs--flavored by the ethnic inflections of its various immigrant founders--which collectively tell the story of the Commonwealth and its people. To keep our history alive and meaningful, each generation needs its bards and minstrels to give voice to this rich legacy, and reinterpret the songs for a new age. In this true folk tradition, the NewLanders have infused the storehouse of Pennsylvania's homegrown music with a contemporary freshness, blending the old and the new into a delightful sonic mix. Because each of the band's members can trace their own roots back through the same local history chronicled in the songs they sing, there is vibrant authenticity to their interpretations.
When I was commissioned to create a classical concert work to commemorate Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary, I set about mining for musical ore in the City's hills, and struck gold when I discovered the NewLanders and their classic renditions of Western Pennsylvania's folk music. Along with such artists as Pete Seeger, Woodie Guthrie, and Vivien Richmond, their music inspired me to forge a work from the precious raw materials of the Allegheny region. My gratitude goes out to the NewLanders, not only for their lively, creative renderings, but for their personal encouragement of my endeavor, as well. No one, either within the Commonwealth, or across America and the World, should miss the opportunity to hear them bring history to life in sound in their unique way. They are truly a Pennsylvania treasure.
Albert Glinsky
Composer
Professor of Music, Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA
For more information on the piece, see Albert Glinsky's blog on the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society website: http://pittsburghchambermusic.org/?p=291
August 2008
The NewLanders are invited to perform at the Chemnitz Cultural Festival in Chemnitz, Germany. The performance will take place on October 7, 2008 at the Chemnitz Industrial Museum. The concert is part of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art's, Born of Fire Exhibit that is currently showing at the Chemnitz Industrial Museum on its tour through Europe.
March 2008
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council selected the NewLanders as a featured artist on its web site. Thanks PEC
January 2008
The Pittsburgh Speech & Society Project is using the tune "Run Johnny Run" from our CD, Where the Allegheny Flows, as the intro to their pod casts on Pittsburgh's dialect. Check it aht, yunzers.....
July 2007
A tune from the Born of Fire CD, “The Altoona Freight Wreck” was added to a list of American Labor Songs on the Labor Notes Music Archives web site (http://labornotes.org/node/1019 ). Many great artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, John McCutcheon, Ry Cooder and Pittsburgh’s own Anne Feeney have tunes on the list.
June 13, 2007
Nice article in POP City on NewLander Doug Wilkin, the "Minister of Sound".
May 1, 2007 - U.S. Department of State
Friday, April 20, 2007
A Great Review From Activist, Singer Songwriter Anne Feeney
Fellow Travelers' Advisory
from Anne Feeney
"Born of Fire" - The NewLanders
"Born of Fire" is 11 Songs of Steel and Industry collected by Paula Purnell and innovatively arranged by the NewLanders for this project of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
I should have known that any musical project undertaken by regional treasure Paula Purnell and multi-instrumentalist and engineer extraordinaire Doug Wilkin would be of exceptional quality. In addition to Doug and Paula the NewLanders feature Art Gazdik on mandolin and violins and vocals and Gerard Rohlf on 6 and 12 string guitars. The project is enhanced considerably by the budget provided by several area foundations, enabling the NewLanders to engage the services of a wide variety of talented musicians from around Pittsburgh.
In live performance the songs are accompanied by a powerpoint show of paintings from steel and industry assembled by The Westmoreland. This brilliant recording paints pictures of its own. The recording contains some familiar material - Woody Guthrie's "Hard Travelin'" and a delightful arrangement of "Bread and Roses" using Mimi Farina's melody. Deborah Silverstein's classic song about strip mining - "Draglines" - is given respectful treatment. Gerard Rohlf's original about riverboat captain Spike Crain sits nicely in the project.
The most noteworthy contribution made by "Born of Fire" is the breathtaking arrangement and performance of many largely unknown songs written at the dawn of Pittsburgh's industrial era. "Twenty-Inch Mill" (c. 1870), "Where the Old Allegheny and Mongahela Flow" (c. 1910), "The Altoona Freight Wreck" (1926), "I Lie in the American Land" (c. 1899), "Two Cent Coal" (c. 1877) and "In Soho on a Saturday Night" (c. 1855) are beautifully revived in this recording. The NewLanders vocal harmonies are flawless.
The show-stealer in my opinion is "Coal Diggin Blues," collected by George Korson in 1940, but sung by African-American coal miners as early as 1840. A must for any union member's record collection - and a much more authentic expression of true Pittsburgh than overpriced sweatshop-made sports items. Available at CDBaby ... and while you're there, buy "Where the Allegheny Flows."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Exhibit Preview: 'Born of Fire' forges overview of steelmaking heritage
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The industrialization of Southwestern Pennsylvania meant more than commerce. The region's culture had to first evolve to accept the concept that entrepreneurs could legitimately seek unlimited wealth and later adapt to the idea of servitude to patriarchal corporations.
Francis Komperda's oil painting, "Portrait of Mike Kessel" (c. 1938-40), is part of the "Born of Fire" multimedia exhibit at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg.
Click photo for larger image.
'Born of Fire'
Where: Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg.
When: Preview and reception 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Exhibit runs Sunday through Sept. 3.
Tickets: Free; 724-837-1500. Preview and reception 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Exhibit runs Sunday through Sept. 3.
To this day, much of what we are as Pittsburghers, good and bad, is rooted in those notions -- many of us are no more than a generation or two out of the mills.
That's a lot of cultural anthropology to swallow, particularly when it's explained through the abstract imagery of art. But that's the goal of an ambitious, multidiscipline exhibition conceived by the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg.
"Born of Fire" attempts to tell the human story of industrialization through period paintings, a catalog book of the collection, songs about the region, a documentary film, historical analysis, a steelworkers' picnic and a road tour, still under construction, that organizers hope will take perceptions of Pittsburgh's industrialization across America and around the world.
Like the wildfire industrial expansion that came to define Pittsburgh, "Born of Fire" started as a spark and grew exponentially.
"We have a large permanent collection of paintings, 'Valley of Work: Scenes of Industry,' " said Amy Baldonieri, the Westmoreland's director of development and finance. "It's about 140 paintings in all, relating to the steel and coal and glass industries in Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania. 'Born of Fire' began several years ago as an exploration of ways to use the collection to increase earned income while forwarding the museum's mission of educating the public about the region's steel heritage."
First came a search for funding to compile a catalog documenting the permanent collection. At about the same time, a local folk group, The NewLanders, approached the West-moreland about marketing its first CD, a collection of old songs written about the region's heritage.
"In a meeting somebody said, 'Wouldn't it have been great if they had put one of our paintings on the CD cover?' " said Baldonieri. "Then it was, well, why don't we commission them to do an album? And if we're going to have an album about the collection, why not exhibit more than just the 50 or 60 paintings that we had on view?"
The NewLanders, from left, Gerard Rohlf, Doug Wilkin, Art Gazdik and Paula Purnell, will perform Saturday at the Westmoreland Museum.
Click photo for larger image.
At the same time, Massachusetts filmmaker Bill Mosher was taping a segment about the museum for the PBS TV series "Visionaries," hosted by Sam Waterston. Mosher wanted to do a documentary film about Pittsburgh told through the paintings of the permanent collection. Baldonieri tied the expanding exhibit to a line of "Born of Fire" merchandise, from T-shirts to a box set including the CD, the documentary film and the catalog. And since they were showcasing the lives of steelworkers, why not invite former steelworkers to the opening? And why stop there? Why not take the whole project on a tour of industrial cities of the world?
Each time the Westmoreland threw another brick into the hopper, more foundation money and donations were collected to pay for it. The result is an expansive multimedia exhibition that attempts to chronicle through art the cultural costs and benefits of our region's "valley of work."
- The Valley of Work: Scenes of Industry. On exhibit for the first time, the complete collection of more than 140 paintings, photographs and works on paper, 1900 to the present, documents Pittsburgh's industrial past. Many of the works are 100 years old or more, but local contemporary artists represented in the collection include Ron Donoughe, Mark Perrott, Clyde Hare, Aaronel deRoy Gruber, Cynthia Cooley, Pam Bryan and Raymond L. DeFazio. After the exhibit closes in September, it will travel through 2009 to museums in other industrial towns. The first overseas show will be in Oberhausen, Germany, in February.
- "Born of Fire: The Valley of Work." A catalog book documenting the permanent collection was written by Westmoreland curator Barbara L. Jones, with analysis by Edward Muller of the University of Pittsburgh and Joel Tarr of Carnegie Mellon University.
- "Born of Fire: Songs of Steel and Industry." Pittsburgh folk group The NewLanders researches old songs about the region and gives them new life through contemporary interpretations that range from acoustic to electric. The group, named for the marketeers whom William Penn sent to Europe to recruit Colonists for his new Pennsylvania, debuts its CD with a release party, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, at the Westmoreland museum.
"We wanted to tell the human story of steel in art and music," says the band's Paula Purnell. "Researching these songs, I've found a much deeper respect for industrial culture than I had before. Growing up here, the steel mills were big stinky places that smelled like rotten eggs. But the experience of researching the songs and connecting to other people who worked on the trains and in the mines and on the barges and in the mills has transcended my childish visions of what it all represented."
"Born of Fire: How Pittsburgh Built a Nation." The 60-minute documentary film by award-winning producer Bill Mosher includes paintings from the permanent collection, period photos, analysis by historians and the music of The NewLanders. It premieres at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Greensburg Middle School, across the street from the museum.
"It's not a traditional historical documentary, not a chronicle of events," says Mosher. "It's about how the steel industry impacted on American culture, as seen through the eyes of art. A decision was made by the American public that defines who we are even today: We had to accept that an individual could have unlimited wealth and make decisions about the lives of other people. It's a belief that Americans didn't have before the late 1800s, that any kind of progress is good as long as it leads to more jobs in greater convenience. Initially, artists thought the Industrial Revolution was ugly, but later a new group of artists found astounding beauty in the industrial process."
- Born of Fire: A Steelworkers Picnic. Starting at 6:30 p.m., includes free ethnic food, a cash bar and "Bessie the Bessemer," a larger-than-life inflatable public artwork on loan from The Sprout Fund and Pittsburgh Roars. It's on Park Street, Greensburg, between Greensburg Salem Middle School and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
(John Hayes can be reached at jhayes@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1991. )
Tribune-Review
The NewLanders 'reinvent' old songs
By Amanda Cochran
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Their songs tell the story of a bygone era of mining kings and smokestacks billowing over the southwestern Pennsylvania landscape, but The NewLanders' tunes have a contemporary flavor.
"We don't try to recreate the songs; we reinvent them," said Doug Wilkin, 52, of Greensburg, who performs vocals and plays guitar, bass guitar and harmonica in the acoustic band.
The quartet of area musicians -- Wilkin; Paula Purnell of Greensburg; Art Gazdik of Pittsburgh; and Gerard Rohlf of Pittsburgh -- perform a variety of ballads, from pre-revolutionary British soldiers' songs to tunes of the strip-mining industry in the 1960s.
Wilkin said the band's name, which refers to William Penn's ambassador agents who enticed early immigrants to come to Pennsylvania, is more than a name. He said it identifies the band's calling, similar to that of Penn's advocates.
"That's essentially what we do," Wilkin said. "We're telling people how cool western Pennsylvania is. We bring these old stories to new audiences by making them hip."
Just as Penn's newlanders wore new clothing to attract immigrants, The NewLanders' new sound reaches listeners with rock, jazz and pop interests. Wilkin said each of his bandmates brings his or her own style to the band.
"We all play differently but when we get together, somehow the four pieces fit," Wilkin said. "It's very serendipitous."
Wilkin said that the members aren't highly trained, adding that the majority of their knowledge comes from watching other players. The lack of extensive classical learning doesn't hamper the group's performances, he added.
"We've played in a lot of bars and in a lot of bands," Wilkin said. "We're not new pickers. There's not a weak link."
Some elements of their historical songs, found in library and Smithsonian records, pose a challenge to the musicians. Repetitive melodies and an excessive number of verses, Purnell said, can influence the performance quality. She said the band works to add new elements to the song, like a bridge, or pick out the most important verses, while still working to preserve the song's original message.
"We try to maintain the feel (of the song)," Purnell said.
Wilkin said the band occasionally starts out with a couple of lyrics and chords and they make the song over completely.
"They're almost unlistenable," he said. "We really make them rock."
Mainstream instruments, such as the acoustic and electric guitar and violin, join folk instruments such as the Appalachian dulcimer, the bones, jaw harp, mandolin and harmonica in the NewLanders' music.
The bones, a percussion instrument that makes a rhythmic click-clack sound, shows how much people of the past loved music, Purnell said. Now plastic and wood, they were once real bones.
"They used whatever was around (as instruments) -- including their leftovers," she said.
The NewLanders continue that love for music in their ongoing work together.
In their four years as a band, The NewLanders produced two albums, "Where the Allegheny Flows" and the currently unreleased "Born of Fire," a corroborative effort with the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.
The band performed in Harrisburg last year in the House of Representatives, as well as several historical engagements across the southwestern Pennsylvania area.
The NewLanders will perform Sept. 17 at Fulton House in New Derry to benefit the Derry Area Historical Society membership drive. Bob Reintgen, president of the Derry Area Historical Society, said the society chose the NewLanders because they respect history, but have a refreshing sound.
"It's neat and novel," Reintgen said.
Reintgen hopes the drive will boost a younger membership of teens and young families. He said a buzz is already building in the Derry Area High School about the September event.
"We're expecting an eclectic crowd," he said. "We're redefining what a young member is."
He said The NewLanders will attract many people from the area, primarily because of the music's subject.
"This area was built on the blue collars' shoulders. The NewLander stuff is their cup of tea."
Appreciation of The NewLanders' music transcends generations, as Purnell discovered.
Purnell often performs during residencies and workships on historic folk music and songwriting for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She said when she lectures, she talks with family members who have been singing The NewLanders' revamped songs for years.
"It's so nice to hear that these songs are connected to these people's lives this way," Purnell said.
There's no end in sight for The NewLanders, according to Wilkin.
"We all enjoy it so much," he said. "We'd probably do this even if we didn't want a band and even if we didn't want to record."
BORN OF FIRE
Bands get signed all the time, but how many sign with a museum? The NewLanders are a Pittsburgh-area folk group that researches and revamps songs written over the centuries about southwestern Pennsylvania. They've inked a deal with Greensburg's Westmoreland Museum of American Art that links the band's next CD to an upcoming exhibit examining the century of steel that built Pittsburgh. "Born of Fire," the exhibit, CD and film documentary, will premier in June 2006.
-- By John Hayes, Post-Gazette staff writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8/25/2005
NEWLANDERS OPEN FOR HISTORIAN DAVID McCULLOUGH AT THE ANNUAL SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE'S MILLENNIUM LECTURE AT THE STATE CAPITAL IN HARRISBURG
"Your songs, just like David McCullough's message, provide powerful images of our nation's heritage and raise the spirit of Pennsylvania's rich past." Mr. John M. Perzel, The Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Speaker of the House John M. Perzel Names Pulitzer Prize-Winning Writer and Historian David McCullough as the Speaker’s Millennium Lecturer 2004
Harrisburg – Speaker of the House John M. Perzel has arranged for acclaimed writer and historian David McCullough and the Pittsburgh based band the NewLanders to present a free public lecture and musical performance in the Hall of the House of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. The event will be the fifth consecutive Millennium Lecture in the 323-year history of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The Speaker’s Millennium Lecture is scheduled for Monday, November 8, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. In addition, the Pennsylvania Cable Network will broadcast the event live across the state.
Perzel has invited the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer to deliver remarks on the value of history to the House and Senate, guests from the Governor’s Cabinet and Office, the Judiciary, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, statewide scholars, students and other guests.
“In his writings, McCullough provides us with powerful images within our nation’s heritage,” said Perzel in making the announcement, who continued, “We are honored to have one of our Commonwealth’s greatest historians share his thoughts and insight on the value of history with Pennsylvanians.”
Michael Tomor, Executive Director of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, and Chair of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council remarked, “We at the Humanities Council are extremely pleased that David McCullough will present this year’s Millennium Lecture. McCullough reminds us that our history is full of vibrant, powerful stories and that these stories are an important part of our lives as we look to the future.”
The state Humanities Council again is a partner with the Speaker’s Office in producing the event.
Joseph J. Kelly, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, commented, “Less than a week after the election, David McCullough will give us a perspective on American life that comes from deep learning in history and critical understanding – truly a humanities perspective.”
The event will also include a musical performance by Pittsburgh-based folk musicians, the NewLanders, playing historic songs from McCullough’s home town.
Following the lecture there will be a reception in the Rotunda of the Capitol where guests will have the opportunity to meet McCullough, who will be signing books at that time. Books must be purchased in advance.
McCullough, who lives in Maine, spent the early years of his life in Pittsburgh, PA., and is twice winner of the National Book Award and twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He has been called a "master of the art of narrative history." His books have been praised for their exceptional narrative sweep, their scholarship and insight into American life, and for their literary distinction. John Adams, his most recent work, hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one and has remained on the list for more than a year.
His books include The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, The Path between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback, Brave Companions, and Truman. As may be said of few writers, none of his books has ever been out of print.
The NewLanders are a Pittsburgh based band that promotes the history of Western Pennsylvania by performing our forgotten songs was voted by Calliope, the Pittsburgh Folk Music Society, as having one of the “10 Best” CDs of 2003. Their CD titled “Where the Allegheny Flows” was included with CDs by such artists as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Bruce Cockburn and Gillian Welch. The list was published in the Pittsburgh City Paper on 12/31/2003.
The NewLanders CD, “Where the Allegheny Flows,” includes 10 historical songs by and/or about, the people of southwestern Pennsylvania. Culled from Library of Congress files and local folklore, the songs document the evolution of the region from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. Contemporary arrangements combining elements of folk, rock and the blues make old tunes sound new again. A NewLanders performance includes richly layered harmony, traditional instruments including the Appalachian lap dulcimer, fiddle, mandolin, jaw’s harp and the bones, as well as electric guitar, slapping bass and driving percussion.
The name, NewLanders, is taken from the name given to the agents that William Penn hired to tell Europeans about the opportunities awaiting them in the “new land.”
The NewLanders CD is available at www.westsylvania.org. Visitors may also download song samples, and order the CD at www.newlanders.com
NewLanders - Paula Purnell, Gerard Rohlf, Doug Wilkin and Art Gazdik, with bassist David Yates, have been playing music together in a variety of venues for many years. This new project allows them an opportunity to blend their musical styles, while exploring southwestern Pennsylvania’s rich history and musical heritage.
Last year, over 450 guests attended the Speaker’s Millennium Lecture 2003 when novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen delivered the address. Other past speakers include historian, author and W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Humanities at Harvard, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., World-famous radio broadcast celebrity and author, Studs Terkel and historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Dr. James M. McPherson.
NATIONAL PBS PROGRAM "THE VISIONARIES" FILMS THE BAND
Our Partnership the Westmoreland Museum of American Art will be featured on TV series
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Judith H. O'Toole understands most people probably don't think of museums as agents of social change.
They might think organizations that feed the hungry and shelter the homeless make the only difference. Or that museums are static institutions that only offer people a place to go to see paintings.
As director and chief executive officer of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, O'Toole knows that museums can change people. They can offer insight into the past. They can be interactive. They can be visionary.
"We feel as an art museum, it's the whole notion that if you didn't have the art, if you didn't have history ... these are the things that really make a culture. These are the things that really make a human being."
The interaction between the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and its community will be highlighted in an episode of "The Visionaries," a public television series set to film there next week.
Since 1995, "The Visionaries" has profiled the work of nonprofit organizations throughout the world. The Greensburg museum will be the first museum and only the second cultural organization to be featured on the program, O'Toole said.
"We are extremely excited about this," O'Toole said. "We are gratified to get this kind of recognition. We are thrilled that we're the first art museum. We've been trying to think in innovative ways for a good number of years."
Bill Mosher, creator and executive producer of "The Visionaries," could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But the program's Web site describes each 30-minute documentary episode as showing "that ordinary people are making a difference."
"The goals of the series are simple: honor the work of these otherwise unsung heroes while simultaneously inspiring viewers to take up a cause of their own choosing," the Web site said.
O'Toole said museum officials applied in early February to be featured and were accepted later that month. O'Toole said the museum has been visionary through its innovative partnerships and programs and some risk-taking.
Filming will occur over three days next week and will highlight three of the museum's programs.
One, called "Every Picture Tells a Story," connects fourth-graders' study of Pennsylvania history with the paintings in the museum and with guest speakers.
Another program under development, "Born of Fire," is a collaboration among the museum, the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Corridor and the NewLanders, a folk music group.
Together, they are developing a CD-ROM focusing on the region's industrial era through artwork, the sites of steel mills and the songs of the time.
"The Visionaries" program also will focus on the museum's support of regional artists, O'Toole said.
Jennifer Reeger can be reached at jreeger@tribweb.com or (724) 836-6155.
OUR FIRST CD HITS "TOP 10 LIST"
Pittsburgh City Paper 12/31/2003
Top 10 CDs of 2003 FROM THE CD PLAYERS OF THE STAFF OF CALLIOPE, THE PITTSBURGH FOLK MUSIC SOCIETY not necessarily in any particular order
Gillian Welch, Soul Journey (ACONY)
Marcia Bail, So Many Rivers (ALLIGATOR)
The Iguanas, Plastic Silver 9 Volt Heart (YEP ROC)
Vasen, Trio (NORTHSIDE)
Pierre Bensusan, Anthology (ENG)
David Long, Midnight from Memphis (BIG EVE MUSIC)
The NewLanders, Where The Allegheny Flows (WESTSYLVANIA)
Lunassa, Redwood (GREEN LINNET)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken (CAPITOL)
Bruce Cockburn, You've Never Seen Everything (ROUNDER)
As Published in the Pittsburgh City Paper December 31, 2003
THEY LOVE US IN NEW ZEALAND
The NewLanders are getting airplay in New Zealand
DJ Eddie O'Strange, the host of the Town And Country radio show writes: "This is the most attractive album I've heard for some time. What lovely voices. What interesting arrangements. What feel. And diction to boot. What more could anyone ask for! You've made everything sound fresh and relevant again. Just hearing you has restored my faith in music from the heart."
Cheers, Eddie O'Strange
Town and Country Radio Show, 783 KHz AM, New Zealand
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Local Seen 1/30/2004
Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society has issued a list of its best records of 2003, and along with artists like Gillian Welch, Marcia Ball and Bruce Cockburn, it includes Pittsburgh band The NewLanders, which released "Where the Allegheny Flows." The CD features 10 historical songs by or about the people of southwest Pennsylvania. For more details, go to www.newlanders.com.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Wednesday, 8/20/2003
City Scenes: Johnstown fest offers 60 acts
This year's annual Johnstown FolkFest, Aug. 29-31 [2003], will be a family affair including more than 60 performances on five main stages. Musical genres range from rock to roots and from Latino to Irish, spotlighting performers as diverse as the back-country blues of the Tarbox Ramblers, Those Darn Accordions and the NewLanders' historical songs from and about Western Pennsylvania
.Produced by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, the outdoor festival will be held in a 10-block area of the historic Cambria County town. For schedules, directions or more information call 1-888-222-1889.
Music Preview: Family history inspires Newlanders
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 3/03/2003
By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The story begins in 1778 when Englishman William Foy took the Oath of Pennsylvania and settled near Fort Pitt. Some 200 years later, one of his progeny, Greensburg's Paula Purnell, was researching songs about Pennsylvania when she uncovered details of her family history and forged a new appreciation for the region.
Seven albums into her career, Purnell is a full-time musician playing folk-rock originals with Zen Again, cover tunes with various duos and trios, and children's programs at school assemblies. She's also a rostered songwriter with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. But she doesn't write the music performed by her new project, Newlanders; some of the songs are as old as the state itself.
"The research started focusing on Western Pennsylvania history," says Purnell. "Growing up, I didn't know anything about it, so I got excited about the music."
Pouring through library volumes and the Library of Congress Web site, she found folk ballads based on ancient English marching songs and newer tunes about the region.
"I was telling [family members] about some of the songs we're doing," says Purnell, "and they started telling me about my great-grandmother's brother, William Henry Foy, who was shot by the Pinkertons at the Homestead Strike."
Purnell invited some friends, Gerald Rohlf and Art Gazdik, to work with her on the old songs. Coincidentally, Rohlf's great-grandparents had been killed and his grandmother orphaned in the 1889 Johnstown Flood.
"So these songs are part of very personal histories," says Purnell. "We very quickly realized that a lot of people in this area share the history that's in these songs."
Greensburg guitarist Doug Wilkin was recruited to help give the songs contemporary folk sensibilities.
"A lot of the melodies are based on old English marching songs," says Purnell. "'The Homestead Strike,' for instance, is based on the same tune as the Oscar Mayer wiener song, and no matter what we did with it, it would remind you of hot dogs. So we had to find a new voice for these songs, preserve the spirit, but do them in our own voice."
The result is "Where the Allegheny Flows," a 10-song collection of Western Pennsylvania history recorded at Wilkin's Greensburg recording studio. "Monongahela Sal" becomes an up tempo blue tune about a tough young Monessen woman. "The Homestead Strike," written during or shortly after the landmark 1892 steel lockout, gets a fresh melody, and "The Johnstown Flood" loses its bouncy beat, taking a more contemplative look at the death of 2,200 people under a 40-foot wave.
"We got the name Newlanders from William Penn, who has become a hero of mine," says Purnell. "He was a visionary who had a concept that was unheard of at the time, that you could invite people of all backgrounds and religions to come and live together in peace. He printed up pamphlets and hired people to go spread the word of this new colony, and they were called Newlanders."