Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Their Lives Flow on in Endless Song

Featuring Four (or Five or Six)

Jeff and Carol Snyder


Q: How did you two meet?

A:  Carol (Zaugg) and I first met at a church camp in western New York as staff members; she in the dining hall and I was on grounds. I worked there three summers and she worked there the last two years of that. She was also from Ohio (Warren) and actually attended Richville grade school in the 1st and 2nd grade, as her father was the pastor of the Richville United Church of Christ. We continued to communicate after she left to attend Heidelberg College (now University) in Tiffin OH. After a four year courtship, we were married in 1972 in Jamestown, New York, where her father had a church.

Q: Did you sing in the high school choir?

A: I did not sing at Perry but I did sing in my church’s high school choir, [and] I did play in several bands with GARY LOUDON, GREG LINTNER, and JIM FERBER in junior high, but we did instrumentals. Carol had a strong back-ground in music with piano and violin lessons and church choirs.

Q: So when did the two of you begin singing together? 
 
A: We actually started singing together while working at the camp at “Talent Night.”  The staff “volunteered” Carol and me as they said we made beautiful music together. We sang, “If I Were a Carpenter” for the three different Family Camps that summer. Carol is a wonderful singer and adds much to the songs with her voice. Then, we started performing at our church after our marriage at our church variety show, selecting various folk music for us and writing in the harmony part for Carol.  I grew up listening to folk music as my parents loved that style.
 
Q: And what kind of music do you sing now at your performances?
 
A: We rely heavily on folk music from the late 50’s and early 60’s with  much from the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and ballad type of  rock music, such as, “As Tears Go By” by the Rolling Stones, “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues, and “John Barleycorn” by Traffic, to name a few. I also tell stories and jokes (always clean) in between the songs and this has proven to be comfortable to us and the audience. They look forward to the whole package. I play an acoustic guitar (Yamaha) which I run through our sound system and Carol occasionally adds a tambourine or a triangle.

Q: Any funny or embarrassing moments performing?
A:  The most embarrassing or funny thing to happen when performing is the response to my vast collection of jokes or stories that I tell in between the songs we do. We would hear everything from laughter to groans to dead silence. Apparently, some things haven’t changed much since my high school days. Remember that on Senior day, my class prophecy was that I would, in ten years, be a has-been comic at the State Burlesque Theater in downtown Canton.
{Editors' note: the Senior class day prophecy for me was that I would have 12 children. So much for Peggy Forrest's crystal ball.]
 
Q: So where are you preforming these days?
A:  We really look forward to performing each year at the Magnolia Park Bandstand. Every July, the Historical Society sponsors Music-in-the- Park on every Monday of the month. We are featured on one of the Mondays and we get a chance to show the variety of our songs as we are usually allotted almost an hour of time. We also enjoy performing in the various churches during the summer months when their choirs are on hiatus. It is always great to serve the Lord.

HEAR JEFF AND CAROL SING HERE on YOUTUBE:


Q: Are you willing to take on other engagements?
A: We don’t seek out gigs but we have never turned one down. Sometimes we are paid a small fee but many times it is done gratis. The fee would be negotiated on each individual event usually based on how far we would have to travel, lodging, etc. They could contact me by posting a Comment here with contact information, and I will contact them.













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