“Dearest Home, that PHENOMENAL band that plays beautiful Abolitionist music and REALLY KNOWS THEIR STUFF!”

“It was great to have you folks back for the Civil War Hymn Sing! Thank you again! I heard a lot of good comments. One resident just told me again on Monday how much he had enjoyed it!”

“At last Sunday’s inspiring Gettysburg Concert across America to End Gun Violence, I was reminded again of what motivates our group. This is not a dismal movement, but a loving one. We are a nation of people who care about one another profoundly. The Folkemer family and Ricky Czar gave us wonderful American music and Celtic music, focused on the love between people. The Barnstormers sang toe-tapping folk tunes and concluded the concert by leading everyone in the uplifting This Land is Your Land. Tana Daughton sang about world peace in the moving Jerusalem, made popular by Joan Baez. Will Lane’s song Hold On struck a chord with me. When we get to where 30,000 people a year are dying in gun violence in our country, it is time, as Will sang, to “plant your feet and take a stand.” Will went on, “when there’s trouble everywhere and too many sit and stare, raise your voice and prove you’re there. Hold on, hold on, hold on.””

“ACAC meeting to feature Appalachian music of Dearest Home, and more The Adams County Arts Council (ACAC) will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at its Arts Education Center, 125 S. Washington St., Gettysburg. Arts council members and the public are invited to attend this free event. In case of inclement weather, the meeting will be held on March 21 at the same time.”

“Lightning flashed as rain descended. Electric power failed, and the batteries in the CD player were dead. So Beth Folkemer followed her friend Carl Rahkonen, Indiana University music librarian, to his car to listen to a 1948 field recording from rural Pennsylvania. Folkemer quickly identified Northern Appalachian versions of ballads from Scotland, Ireland and England. Back to Laurel Hill, Pennsylvania and West Virginia Folk Songs from the Bayard Collection: Volume 1, was born. The album’s official release is slated for Friday, from 5:30-8 p.m., at Gallery 50, 50 W. Main St., Waynesboro, during Destination ARTS! The album was released in Great Britain when Dearest Home performed at festivals there in July and August. Chuck Krepley (vocals, fiddle, and banjo), Stephen Folkemer (vocals, concertina, and keyboards), Margaret Folkemer (vocals and pennywhistle), Beth Folkemer (vocals, guitar, and mountain dulcimer) and Chris Barnabei (acoustic bass) comprise the band Dearest Home.”

“We have been receiving many positive comments regarding your performance. Thank you again for joining us and sharing your talents!”

“Your group gave us an evening of fun and inspiration.”

“Thanks so much again for... conducting the workshop and performance for the campus and community. What a wonderful experience and opportunity for students and faculty to hear your music and learn so much about the Bayard Collection, etc. Such remarkable talent you all have! I hope we can contiune to collaborate on future projects.”

“Thanks so much for your performances and lecture last week! We truly enjoyed the music and discussion.”

“Penn State Altoona's Division of Arts and Humanities and the Center for Community-Based Studies will host the traditional American music group Dearest Home for an educational workshop and performance on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. . . With authenticity and originality in perfect harmony, Dearest Home recreates traditional American music from the U.S. Civil War era and Appalachia with a focus on the Samuel Preston Bayard Folk Song Collection housed at University Park's Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Bayard was an internationally known folklorist and musicologist who collected folk songs from the Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia areas. He established the folklore program at Penn State. . . . This event is part of the "Canal-Era Music: Study and Performance" academic-community partnership project with The Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway.”

“Depending on the performance and venue, band members sometimes don period attire, but their music sounds just as authentic when they play in street clothes, due in large part to the group’s attention to historical accuracy.... While many of the songs are more than a century years old, the band manages to sound authentic and modern at the same time.”

"Dearest Home" Impresses Assembly: Last week, the historically informed musical group Dearest Home performed for a large group of Health Care residents in Nicarry Meetinghouse. The group played authentic music of the Civil War era, dressed in period attire. Our own Trenton Greenawalt also wore his period garb for the occasion.

“These folks are WONDERFUL!”

“…people just still smile and tell me how much they enjoyed the presentation… Brenda”

“We really did enjoy having you as part of our Fine Arts Series! I heard that many people really enjoyed your presentation! I am still getting really positive comments about it all. It was a great performance and I really enjoyed getting to know you! Peace, Brenda”

“Your concert was a real gift to our church and the community. Best regards, Donna”

“What a marvelous afternoon of music we experienced last Sunday at First Lutheran Church! It was satisfying for the Fine Arts Committee to take part in our nation’s 150th Commemoration of the Civil War by presenting Dearest Home in period attire performing music of the era. Our audience really enjoyed participating in the singing. We heard many comments about how meaningful it was to hear the background history about each selection. We applaud you for your attention to historical detail, your excellent musicianship, and your interaction with the audience. Please share the Fine Arts Committee’s appreciation with the rest of the ensemble. We wish you all the best, Donna”

“Photos from the Grand Opening of the Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg. Dearest Home were the official musicians for the Grand Opening Ceremony with Gov. Corbett. Album ID: 1675718”

“Seminary Ridge Meuseum opens: MUSIC - Christ Barnabei from the group dearst Home plays the double bass during the grand opening eremony at the Seminary Ridge Museum on Monday.”

“Dearest Home in Concert Sunday, June 30, 2013, Time: 1:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m. 150th Event Tap your feet and listen to the music of Dearest Home, a Gettysburg-based traditional music group, play Civil War songs and traditional folk favorites. No charge. Location Information - Hollabaugh Bros. Inc. Fruit Farm and Market. Contact Information - Phone: 717-677-9494, info@hollabaughbros.com http://www.hollabaughbros.com”

“If "home is where the heart is," then the singers and musicians who together make up Dearest Home have clearly poured their hearts into their new self-titled album. Deeply steeped in the traditional music of Pennsylvania, my own home state, they have chosen wisely from their wide repertoire of Civil War songs, Appalachian ballads and fiddle tunes. Singing with passion, skill and the resonant matching of voices that seems born in the blood of next-of-kin, Dearest Home presents us with close harmony in many senses of the phrase, on stage and on CD. In their voices, you can hear the peaks and valleys of the landscape, feel the past and future marching together, and sense the shadows of the mountains. Si Kahn, 2010 Folk Alliance Triple Crown winner: #1 Artist, #1 CD, #1 Song”

“CLASSICAL/FOLK | War Music This weekend it's a double-header for war music, at home and abroad, in a pair of performances ranging from large-scale classical to period recreation. On Friday, May 3, William Weinert will conduct Benjamin Britten's massive "War Requiem," ...the composition will require performances by the Eastman Rochester Chorus, Eastman Chorale, Eastman Philharmonia, and the Eastman Children's Chorus, along with four soloists. Weinert described the piece as "the most important musical work ever written with an anti-war message." Then, two days later on Sunday, May 5, Dearest Home, a folk ensemble from Gettysburg, will don Civil War-era attire to recreate a vespers liturgy from an 1862 worship book. The Civil War Vespers is presented to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The group features vocals, fiddle, concertina, guitar, bass, piano, reed organ, mountain dulcimer, pennywhistle, flugelhorn, trumpet, bones, and tambourine. Reception....”

“Dearest Home Band Brings "Civil War Music on the Home Front" to Seminary Ridge Friday, April 19. This Friday evening at 7 p.m., Music, Gettysburg! presents the five-member Dearest Home Band and a 19th Century Dance Presentation (with an invitation to join in the dancing) with Dr. Briant Bohleke. The concert will be held in the Seminary Chapel; the dance will be held directly across the street in the Refectory. The evening event is free and open to the public. Dearest Home delivers authenticity in perfect harmony. In period attire, they recreate traditional American music, especially from the Samuel Bayard Collection (Pa. and W.V.) and other Appalachian sources, and from the U.S. Civil War era...with rich vocals, fiddle, concertina, guitar, bass, piano, mountain dulcimer, pennywhistle, and tambourine. The music, like the five band members, spans generations.”

“Dearest Home band will be featured at the Common Ground on Seminary Ridge event Saturday, beginning at noon, at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. The band will present workshops on Civil War Period Hymns and Songs. Attendees at the hymn workshop will be invited to sing along with period hymns from the Revival, Spiritual, Shape-Note and Mainline traditions, all well known during the Civil War.”

“AID AND COMFORT: ONE VAST HOSPITAL Dates: Sunday, September 30, 2012 Description: Aid and Comfort: Sunday, Sept. 30, 3:00 p.m. Historian and dramatist Rev. Dr. Phillip Fogarty and Gettysburg Musicians, Dearest Home, recreate scenes of a hospital in Frederick following the battle of Antietam. Sunday, Sept. 30, 3:00 p.m. This is a presentation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Fine Arts Series. It is free and open to the public. Location:Evangelical Lutheran Church 31 East Church Street Frederick 21701 Contact: (301) 865-0814”

“Workshop to focus on CW music CIVIL WAR MUSIC - Dearest Home band will be featured at the Common Ground on Seminary Ridge Event Saturday, beginning at noon at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. The band will present workshops on Civil War Period Hymns and Songs. Attendees at the hymn workshop will be invited to sing along with period hymns from the Revival, Spiritual, Shape-Note and Mainline traditions, all well known during the Civil War.”

“The Dearest Home band will accompany the “Common Ground on Seminary Ridge” event on Saturday, July 21, 2012. From noon until 11:00pm, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg will be the site for the first Common Ground experience organized by the long-running traditional arts festival “Common Ground on the Hill” at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. The Seminary event will include workshops on Civil War-era hymns and songs. Attendees at the hymn workshop will be invited to sing along.... Dearest Home will also lead participants in singing songs that were popular at home, including songs by Foster, Root, Tucker and Work as well as some set to traditional tunes. At 7:30pm, at historic Christ Lutheran Church, 30 Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg, Dearest Home will perform for the Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital program. Following the Civil War hospital program, they will accompany a Civil War Period dance in the church’s education building.”

“Folkemers to play at First Friday Stephen and Beth Folkemer to perform at Christ Lutheran Friday! The Folkemers, joined by bassist, Chris Barabei, will be performing from 6pm to 8pm this Friday at Christ Lutheran. The will be appearing as part of the Dearest Home band performing during the town's First Friday celebrations. Songs and dances performed will be from traditional Appalachian/American tradition as well as Civil War Period and Celtic music. Please drop by and say, "hi," and "set yourself down a bit" while you are visiting the Blue Parrot, Pub, bakeries, etc. or shopping. They'd love to see you! As with all Christ Lutheran's First Friday music events, it is free to the public.”

“The summer series relates the history of Christ Church leading up to, during, and after the Civil War, and its role as a hospital during that time. The program incorporates readings of first-hand accounts from Civil War soldiers and civilians, including Virgil Gibson, pictured, portraying Sgt. Stearns, a wounded soldier in the Massachusetts 13th Regiment whose wounds were treated at Christ Church. Civil War-era music is provided by local musicians before and during the program. More information and this year’s remaining schedule can be found on the website www.candlelightatchrist.org. (Bill Schwartz/Gettysburg Times)”