Wayfarers & Company

Testimonials

• Well, now that I’ve actually had a chance to listen to Trimmed & Burning, I can safely say that it completely lives up to my expectations for it (to put it mildly).  This is flat-out delightful.  Great arrangements, terrific recorded sound, outstanding performances, and a wonderful mix of some familiar tunes with new (to me) discoveries.

  The vocals are just as tight as they can be throughout, and I love the a cappella spots on “West Virginia, My Home,” “Oil in My Vessel,” and of course especially “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”—very classy!

  I also noted some pretty fancy dulcimer playing on “Banks of the Ohio,” “Oil in My Vessel,” and “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior” (great dulcimer ensemble work there!)

  You should all be right proud.  This is a wonderful CD.  Vacant Chair has been at the top of my listening list for this style of music and repertoire for the past 5 years; I’m happy to put Trimmed & Burning right there beside it (well, maybe on top!).  Wayfarers & Company should be a featured band at every festival on the old-time music circuit.

  Thanks for the great music!

  Bill Collins, Dulcimer player & author of great arrangements - Wilmington, DE

• Congrats, Norm and all Wayfarers and Company, on the new CD release!  I’ll be ordering “Trimmed and Burning” tomorrow.  If it’s anything remotely as good as your previous CD, “Vacant Chair,” it’ll be terrific.

  It looks as though you’ve also scored with another superb piece of cover art.  Dulcimer-list readers, WF&Co may be the only band with album covers that are worth the price of the CD all by themselves.  The cover art is stunning, but the good news is that in this situation, you actually CAN “tell a book by its cover,” because the music more than lives up to it.

  Bill Collins - Dulcimer Player - Baltimore

• We really enjoyed our performance at ESU.  Great group! 

  Doyle and Debbie Nelson, Minisink Hills, PA

• Thank you for your gift of time and talent to the Salvation Army.  The music was wonderful and everyone enjoyed the various talent the night presented.  Your donation of time and talent helped raise funds to enable us to meet needs.

  Thomas S. Babbitt, Captain, E. Stroudsburg, PA

• I purchased a CD at your concert and enjoy it immensely.  Thank you!

  Jan Macmillan, Stroudsburg, PA

• Thanks so much for your expeditious response to my CD order.  To say I am pleased with the product is an understatement…this CD is good stuff.  Instead of a competitive definition of each individual performer, you all appear to perform complementary to the other, producing a rich and warm blend of voices and instruments in the process, and evoking a sense of comfort and peace in the listener.  I’d like to order 4 more copies.  Thanks for the music.

  Lela Buchanan, E. Stroudsburg, PA

• Editor, the Record ( Poconorecord.com ) :

  Wayfarers and Company, a gospel and folk ensemble, presented a delightful performance to a very appreciative audience at East Stroudsburg University recently. With nuance of note and wisdom of word, they conveyed a depth of passion for this genre of music equal to the best found anywhere. Thoughtful programming, sensitive interpretation, and skillful execution seem to be their forte. Their material exposed a quieter, gentler side of life.

  Their appearance was heralded by a Pocono Record article accompanied by an artistically composed photo on page one of the second section of the newspaper’s Nov. 11 edition. On page one of the first section of the same edition was a photo of a man we all know, caught in a stance with his arm upraised. The contrast here merits comment:

  The Wayfarers and Company’s signature song, as expressed graphically and beautifully on the group’s CD cover, is the “Vacant Chair,” which tells the tale of a Civil War soldier killed in battle never again to be present at the family’s Thanksgiving table, hence, the vacant chair. I am sadly reminded of over 2,000 chairs that will be vacant this Thanksgiving in homes throughout the nation.

  Lest some be inclined to read more into this letter than what is intended, save the rebuttal for someone more threatening than me. For I too, am a simple wayfarer in this journey through life. Hoping, no, praying to reach its conclusion with the humility, dignity, and grace imbued in these simple, poignant songs. Thanks and blessings be to Wayfarers and Company.

  Ralph S. Harrison, Stroudsburg, PA

• I just got the cd in today’s mail.  What a dandy release!  You folks
  have it all, interesting and varied arrangements, lots of
  instrumentation to draw from, and really wonderful singers doing
  beautiful harmonies!  Plus, there’s a tangible feeling in the recording,
  that you’all love what you’re doing, and are having a great time doing
  it.  Love it!!!

  Thanks for sending in your music to the radio station.

  Cindy