Bill Molzon, assistant director of communication, has been involved with the band Gross National Product (often referred to as GNP) for over 50 years. What started out as an ambitious high school band, playing at school dances and teen hangout spots in New Jersey, has evolved into an annual event, bringing people from all over the country back together in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
The band was formed in 1967 when Molzon and a few friends wanted to get into the New Jersey music scene.
“If you were a teenager who wanted to play in a Rock ‘n Roll band, there were not many better places in the country than that part of the Jersey shore,” Mozon said. “It was abundant with bands and different styles of bands.”
In an attempt to stand out from the various other “boy bands” that resided in New Jersey, Molzon and company decided to model their band after a new form of alternative rock coming out of San Francisco, California that featured women in the role of lead vocals. The band began playing covers of songs coming out of the Bay Area and added another unique twist to their entertainment experience.
“We decided, in addition to doing some songs from that music style, we also wanted to create and build a light show,” Molzon said. “That made us different in two ways.”
When Molzon came to then Waynesburg College in the fall of 1969, GNP was still a major part of his life. When a student art group at Waynesburg began looking for a group that did light shows, Molzon was able to provide not only the light show but also a band to perform with it.
Although the light show was advertised as the main attraction, the band’s performance was well received, leading GNP to return to Waynesburg throughout Molzon’s college career.
When Molzon began working at the college, the band wanted to continue their performances.
“I and others in the band said ‘let’s go back to Waynesburg’ because they enjoyed performing out here,” Molzon said. “Eventually it became an annual event.”
The annual GNP concert, a blend of rock, jazz, bluegrass and other genres of music is not just for students, it is also a community event.
“You have people from the school; students, faculty, staff, and alumni coming,” said Molzon. “But then you also have a nice representation of people from town.”
Molzon believes the best aspect of the GNP concert are the various types of people it continues to call back to Greene County.
“There is a nice handful of talented musicians and there is some aspect of it as to why they continue to come back,” said Molzon. “We have a lot of people who have done a lot of the shows that come back.”
A prime example is Lee Robinson, the lead saxophonist for the show. When legendary Jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine died, Robinson was selected to oversee the music at Turrentine’s funeral.
Students, faculty, staff and local musicians have all been involved with the annual event and have returned.
A woman who graduated from Waynesburg in the 1980’s returns every year to run lights. A drummer that got involved as a student comes back, having played upwards of 30 shows.
Three horn players from last year’s show will be returning again. A former maintenance worker who was a bluegrass singer joined the show in the 1980’s and has come back to perform.
A local guitar player, who at the time was a high school freshman, got involved and will be coming back for his fourth show.
People will be traveling from across the country, places such as Texas, New Hampshire, South Carolina and New Jersey, to come back and take part in this year’s event.
The 48th installment of the concert will be held on Saturday April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Goodwin Performing Arts Center, and admission is free.