Arrrr! There Be Pirates in Gettysburg!

By Audra Foster

If you get a kick out of seeing your professors dance around on a stage, or if you just like to listen to hilarious and awesome original music, then it’s time to shiver your timbers for the Gettysburg Pirate Orchestra, the self-proclaimed “Geishas of Rock and Roll.”

Actually, the Gettysburg Pirate Orchestra is a misleading title for this band of buccaneering musicians. They do not, as one might think, dress as pirates while performing, or at any other time for that matter. Neither are they really an orchestra. The Gettysburg Pirate Orchestra (GPO) contains only five people—Matthew Amster, Nathan Foster, Brett Rogers, Michael Strickland, and Jocelyn Swigger—but they are five incredibly talented people who also happen to sing and play musical instruments together on a stage from time to time.

And what a range of instruments!

During their latest performance at the Ragged Edge, on National Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19 th, for the landlubbers), no fewer than seven instruments were used, including a few out of the ordinary ones, such as a banjo, an accordion, a harmonica, and a violin, in addition to the usual bass, guitar, and drums. All of the members can play at least two different instruments, so they usually switch between songs, making each song unique every time it’s played.

But what kind of music is it?

Good question. I wondered the same thing myself as I walked into the back courtyard of the Ragged Edge to see the GPO for the first time. I didn’t know what to expect—their name certainly doesn’t lend much to explanation, so I felt very much in the dark as to what I was in for. Their songs are catchy and funny—you want to tap your feet and sing along to the faster songs, and just sit quietly and appreciate something soft and feel-good during the slower songs. I myself would describe it as a ‘folksy rock and roll.’ The band members call it a sort of “bluegrass death march,” which makes sense when you take into consideration they look to They Might Be Giants and Neil Young for inspiration.

“Fluffy Was A Nice Dog” “Men Go Bad Like Milk” “I Ain’t Got No Soul”

Those are just a few of the original songs the GPO has put together. When asked how they came up with songs, Brett Rogers said it was mainly a “collaborative effort.” Someone starts with a beat, someone else adds a little something more to it, someone else starts writing lyrics to go with, and whammo, they have a song. They also did, during the most recent show, a beautiful instrumental cover of ‘Roxanne’ that had myself and several others clamoring for a CD.

Can they do that? I mean, these are professors we’re talking about…

Don’t be ridiculous. Professors, teachers, crocodile wrestlers they may be by day, they all know when to drop the façade and take on their true form: rock idols. They said they have some plans to make CDs, and play some more live shows—but it’s all very vague, informal, fun stuff. The GPO started because Michael Strickland wandered over from the Physics Department, looking to start a band, and slowly the GPO began to form. Matthew Amster, (Anthropologist and master of both bass and guitar) meandered in, followed shortly by Brett Rogers of both the Classics and the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Department, and Jocelyn Swigger from the Sunderman Conservatory of Music, where she is an Associate Professor of the Piano. And then in Gettysburg town itself they found Nathan Foster, the drummer extraordinaire. They started practicing fairly regularly in October of 2008, and played at least two live gigs in the spring of 2009. After a nice summer break, they opened up the fall season with a gig at The Ragged Edge that was met with much excitement by both new and returning fans, who were met at the door by a friendly man with skulls in his eyes that taught them how to fold a pirate hat from newspaper. They’ve said they’ll continue to play here and there, and are hoping to get some more live recordings in the future. “Ply us with alcohol and/or coffee and we will play for you!” Brett Rogers commented between songs during Saturday’s show.

If that is as piratey as they get, why are they called the ‘Gettysburg Pirate Orchestra?’

Well, apparently Matthew Amster’s three-year-old son was going through a pirate phase…and then someone just suggested the idea and they all went with it.

So, if this rambling but enthusiastic diatribe about the GPO has managed to convince you need to rush out and become a raving fan right away, or if you’d at least like to hear some of their music, here’s where you can go:

http://www.reverbnation.com/gettysburgpirateorchestra

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Gettysburg-PA/Gettysburg-Pirate-Orchestra/82051050671?v=app_2405167945&ref=ts