Musician Don Shappelle lives right on the Susquehanna River in South Wilkes-Barre.
“The area right around where I live, this is one of my inspirations,” he said. “I’ve written several songs right there at that spot, just looking at the river.”
One of those was a song he calls “Going Down to the River to Pray,” which was featured on one of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association’s "Songs of the Susquehanna" albums.
Shappelle has appeared on every album since John Zaktansky, the conservation group’s executive director, started the project during the pandemic in 2020.
“We were trying to find a creative way to engage people about topics about the river without being able to talk to people in person,” Zaktansky said. “There’s so many great musicians in the area that already were singing songs about the river, so we reached out to them.”
The music scene came through - Zaktansky said they got 46 submissions for the first "Songs of the Susquehanna" album. They start accepting submissions for a new album at the end of every year - submissions are open for Volume 4 now.
“We encourage people to put together songs, things that maybe throughout the year have inspired you,” he said. “It could be anything, like a species you want to sing about like a hellbender or a blue heron.”
Volume 3 featured two songs about the hellbender salamander, Pennsylvania’s state amphibian. Zaktansky said that extra awareness helps with the association’s conservation efforts.
“That's a species that we've been really advocating for,” he said.
Shappelle has written river and conservation songs for most of his musical career.
“I just like to tell people my observations and what I think we can do better to have a cleaner river,” he said. “It will mean cleaner towns along the river, more positive attitudes, more chances for people to enjoy the river, whether it’s paddling a kayak or fishing.”
Zaktansky says they are accepting submissions for Volume 4 until January 31, 2024. Songs should be no more than 5 minutes long, have family-friendly lyrics, and include a typed version of the lyrics.
In February, the Riverkeepers Association will share the songs online for feedback throughout the month. Then, by March, they’ll share the 20 songs that will appear on "Songs of the Susquehanna Volume 4" and start developing CDs and digital downloads for the full album.
For anyone who’s never written a song about the river before, the Riverkeepers Association will host a songwriting workshop for the first time on January 6 at the Montour Preserve in Danville.
“We’ve had some people who have never done music before use this as a chance to try out this aspect and really use it as a way to get involved,” Zaktansky said. “So you never know what may come from this if you just give it a shot.”
As more musicians get involved, Shappelle says, the more people will understand the way rivers impact their lives and how they can help keep the Susquehanna clean.
“The amount of musicians who have written songs for this album, it’s created an awareness in those people,” he said. “It’s just going to spread from them. Each person is going to send copies of this CD, or they’re going to tell people about the river, and it just spreads like ripples in the water.”
