More than 48 years have passed since a New Jersey high school band went from playing at beach clubs to hosting an annual concert at Waynesburg University for the community to enjoy. Bill Molzon, assistant professor of Communication, showed off his musical side Saturday, April 21 for his band’s annual GNP concert. The band, Gross National Product, has created lots of memories for Molzon, as well as the university.
“I’m just lucky and blessed that part of this annual event is my high school buddies and bandmates,” said Molzon. “Not many people in this country can say they played together 50 years ago, and we’re still getting together once a year to perform. To me that’s really special.”
From 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., music poured from the Goodwin Performing Arts. Different types of music such as typical rock and roll, acid rock, country and even blue grass were played during the concert.
The origin of the first concert stems back to 1970 when Molzon tried to find a way to bring the band back together once he left for
college.
“There was a student art group called the Creative Idea,” said Molzon. “They wanted to bring a light show to campus in the Spring semester of 1970. So, I told them I have a light show, and a band will come with it. If it weren’t for the light show, it probably would never have happened.”
Molzon describes his New Jersey high school band having ties to the music emerging from San Francisco in the mid-to-late sixties, and also a Bruce Springsteen type of music rooted in the New Jersey area.
It is that kind of musical variety that makes the GNP concert attract so many different types of audiences.
“There was a little girl probably around four or five dancing right in front of the stage, so we got her to get on the stage,” said Molzon. “But there’s also college students and people ranging from their 30s to maybe even 80s at the concert. It’s a concert that anyone and everyone would enjoy.”
Not only is the GNP concert for people of all ages, it is also for people from all
walks of life.
“It is one of the most uniquely Waynesburg University events that we offer,” said Richard Krause, chairperson for the Department of Communication. “You have current faculty, students, alums, current and retired staff members from the university and even people in the Waynesburg community [attending].”
Even though the concert is held in Greene County, it does not stop performers from traveling far to jam out for the annual concert.
“There were performers that came from all across the country,” said Molzon. “Our female lead vocalist, Jeannie Fisher Clark, drove from Texas; our keyboard player and Waynesburg alum, Doug Sally, drove from New Hampshire; a bass player and also Waynesburg alum, Teddy Webster, drove from South Carolina; and a long-time drummer, Lars Hartman, came from North Carolina.”
The concert has connections to the university’s mission of faith as Molzon described it as “friends making music”.
“That’s an example of that kind of love that has kept the band together for so many years,” said Molzon. “The song ‘Get Together’ has been in the set list since GNP’s first performance on campus in 1970. I’m forever mindful of the love Jesus taught us to have for one another during his earthly ministry.”
Another aspect of the show includes a learning experience for some students. The concert is used as a TV production for students in the Communication Department to get involved in. Being that the last production revolved around a winter sport, it gave more opportunities to develop live production skills.
“Our last basketball production was in February, so for you to go from February to the fall with no experience, you’ll get rusty,” said Jack Hillgrove, Freshman Sport Broadcasting major. “This helps cut down a six-month-gap to a three-month-gap between productions. It’s nice to get in the truck one more time, get to a crew call and run a remote production before the semester ends.”
Even though the crew consisted of mainly freshman, a few recent graduates returned to help the production.
“Tyler Wolfe came back from Colorado being that he’s done the concert before and liked it enough to come back,” said Molzon. “We would not have the quality of video without him.”
Hillgrove stated that the crew stayed long after the concert ended at 11:30 p.m.
“Striking at the end of the night included hundreds of cables that needed to be coiled,” said Hillgrove. “Heavy speakers needed to be put in cases where they then needed to be loaded into a truck. The strike went from 11:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.”
This GNP concert was Hillgrove’s first experience, and he noted one specific significance to the night.
“To see Bill be just as passionate for what he does during his day job and something he does in his free time was really cool,” said Hillgrove. “Plus, being able to give back to Bill for all that he has done for us in the department was really rewarding all in the end.”
Krause, among everyone else who contributed to the event, was thankful for the turnout and all of the support given to the concert.
“I’m very appreciative of the support the event has received from President Lee and the administration as well as the other members of the community who have supported and attended the event allowing us to provide a great night of music to the community,” said Krause.