Retired Penn State Altoona professor Jerry Zolten was recently named Pennsylvania Heritage Musician of the Year, an award for musicians who have worked to preserve folk music heritage.
Zolten said he grew up in the 1960s listening to blues, R&B, and gospel music.
"There were radio stations meant for Black listeners, and radio stations meant for everyone else," Zolten said. "And I discovered by going to the far end of the radio dial and picking up the local so-called Black radio stations, that they would play music to die for."
He was inspired to learn guitar after discovering folk artist Bob Dylan.
Now, Zolten plays acoustic guitar for Code Blue, an R&B and soul band in Central Pennsylvania.
Zolten also researches and writes extensively about different American folk artists. His biggest work was writing a book tracing the 90-year history of the African American gospel group "The Dixie Hummingbirds."
Zolten said he regularly hears from the family members of musicians he writes about, who are grateful he put their family name and legacy out there.
"In the early days of sound recording, musicians never really made money," Zolten said. "They never even got recognition. They were anonymous, and by writing about them, you’re putting their names on the record and they’re remembered."
Zolten was named the Pennsylvania Heritage Musician of the Year at the annual Pennsylvania Folk Gathering in mid-September.
"What they would look for are people who had a role in keeping folk music alive in some way or, kind of keeping the heritage, the legacy alive in one way or another," Zolten said.
