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About Group Tribute Schedule Music CDs Quotes Photos Charity Work
Meet the members of The Hard Travelers: Photo Tribute to the late Buddy Renfrow
"The Hard Travelers are dedicated to finding ways to use their music as a vehicle to make a difference in the world."
Kenn Roberts, John Glik, Ira Gitlin, Mack Bailey, Mike Munford Today, The Hard Travelers are: Kenn Roberts, Mack Bailey, Mike Munford, Jon Glik and Ira Gitlin, but, they have had several groupings of outstanding musicians. Read below more about this long established folk group, that continues to perform exciting concerts and sponsor annual benefit events for charity, through the M.U.S.E. Foundation, founded by The Hard Traveler's remaining original member, Kenn Roberts.
New member Mark McGlashen often joins the Hard Travelers for concerts:
UPDATE ON JON: Our "Baltimore Jonny" is recovering from Liver Transplant Surgery. He received a new liver, but still has no health insurance.
Jon Glik is home, recovering slowly from a liver transplant which he had on November 18th. He will be back, joining the Hard Travelers for future concerts in 2008.
Jon is making great progress and determined to get better and we hope with everyone's support we can help make it happen! He still has large medical bills and continues to need assistance with them and the medications he will need to continue to take. Your heartfelt contributions along with well wishes can be made payable to Jon's sister at "Barbara Glik for Jon Glik Medical Fund"
Barbara Glik PO Box 4005 Annapolis, Md 21403 On behalf of Jon's Family, Friends, and Band Members, we thank you! God Bless. Amazing audiences around the world for over 3 decades! Jon is a world renowned fiddler He has performed or recorded with Del McCoury to David Grisman, Peter Rowan,Dukes of Bluegrass, Frank Wakefield, Dan Paisley, Dave Evans, Mack Bailey and the Hard Travelers, The Dance company Footworks, The Good Deale Bluegrass Band feat. Mike Auldridge and The Eastman String Band. His fiddle playing can be heard regularly on NPR and XM radio.
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About the Hard Travelers: The short "Press Kit" Version: Kenn Roberts, Mack Bailey, Mike Munford, Jon Glik and Ira Gitlin are The Hard Travelers. For more than 30 years The Travelers have continued to delight audiences from DC to Japan. The Hard Travelers began playing together in 1958. Original members were Kenn Roberts, Buddy Renfro and Mike Ritter. During their 30+ years of performing some changes have occurred. Eighteen years ago The Travelers added a fourth member, Mack Bailey. Since that time Mike Ritter retired and Buddy Renfro lost his fight with Cancer in May, 1998. Within the past fifteen years they have added three stunning instrumentalists, Mike Munford. Jon Glik and Ira Gitlin. From their beginning to today, they have been the opening act at The Cellar Door in Washington, DC, toured all over the USA from The Kerrville Folk Festival to Grossinger's in NY, Azalea Festival in NC, The Wheeler Opera House in Aspen Colorado and a goodwill tour in Taiwan. The Travelers are dedicated to finding ways to use their music as a vehicle to make a difference in the world. In 1988 they produced the first "Hard Travelers and Friends Concert" to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis. Now an annual event, The Travelers have been joined by such renowned artists as Emmylou Harris, Alabama, Kathy Mattea, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride and Reba McEntire, to name a few. They have raised over eleven (11) million dollars for various charities, with their main focus on finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Musically they have evolved from Pure Folk to Folk-Bluegrass to Folk-Country, and now have a unique quality of their own. Much of their music is self-composed, but you can always count on a familiar tune from one of the many performers who have influenced their work. A mixture of varied voices blending into tight harmonies along with guitars, banjo, mandolin, acoustic bass and fiddle, The Hard Travelers are a truly unique act with an avid following of friends and devotees.
The History of the Hard Travelers: The Hard Travelers are probably the longest running opening act in show business. Forty-plus years later, they are still going strong, having worked with some of the top names in country, bluegrass and folk music, including Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Kathy Mattea, The Oak Ridge Boys, Barbara Mandrell, Randy Travis, Brooks and Dunn, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and John Denver. The Hard Travelers include original member Kenn Roberts on tenor vocals, plus newer members Mack Bailey on guitar and baritone and tenor vocals, Mike Munford on banjo and harmony vocals, John Glik on fiddle, and Ira Gitlin on upright bass. Mike Ritter and Ed Windsor were original members, as was Buddy Renfro, who passed away May 15, 1998. The Hard Travelers, formed by students from the Baltimore suburbs attending the University of Maryland, consisted of the original personnel of Buddy Renfro, Mike Ritter, Ed Windsor and Kenn Roberts. They played together for several years in the Washington / Baltimore / Annapolis triangle during the folk heyday of the 60's while they were attending the University, and thereafter. The Hard Travelers appeared in the Washington, D.C. area at the Cellar Door and the Live Eye, where artists like John Denver, the Mama and Papas, and Bill Cosby got their start. They opened for Ian and Sylvia at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. in 1962. After releasing a single and recording an undistributed album, the Hard Travelers received many offers to start touring. Faced with the need to make a decision, they opted to leave music as a career and went off to pursue their separate careers and fortunes rather than endure the rigors of "life on the road." There was always the lingering, "What if . . . " and, in December, 1985, just for fun, Kenn Roberts arranged to use the King of France Tavern in Annapolis for their one-time-only Reunion Concert. (Editor's Note: This concert was recently released as a "new-old" CD, available on the Hard Travelers' CD Page.) When the event sold out and closed to standing ovations and pleas for encores, the Hard Travelers were quickly signed on to appear there for a weekend every month. For years, lasting through 1997, they presented monthly, weekend concerts in which they shared the stage with "Friends" that have included Donal Leace, Jan Garrett, Bill Danoff, Allen Damron, Side by Side, Charlie Byrd, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, Josh White, Jr., Schooner Fare, Hobo Jim, and many others. In 1987, they added Mack Bailey whose strong vocals have become a mainstay for the group. They also added two stunning instrumentalists: Mike Munford and Jon Glik. The Hard Travelers are also dedicated to finding ways to use the music as a vehicle to improve the world around them. In 1988, they had their first "Hard Travelers...And Friends Concert" to aid in seeking an end to Cystic Fibrosis, the killer of the young. Over the years this concert has become an area event. The Hard Travelers have been joined by such renowned artists as Emmylou Harris, Alabama, Kathy Mattea, Kenny Rogers, Brooks and Dunn, and John Denver, and have raised over 5 million dollars for CF. For more information on these concerts, visit the M.U.S.E. (Music Unites the Souls of Everyone) website. M.U.S.E. was founded by Kenn Roberts as a charity organization to use music to benefit others, primarily through benefit concerts. In addition, they are hoping to raise the public's consciousness regarding the plight of the Chesapeake Bay. They have written and performed several songs at various civic functions throughout Maryland. The Hard Travelers have four CD's, some are releases featuring favorites from the height of folk music's popularity, and new original material written primarily by Mack Bailey and the late Buddy Renfro. Coming together from diverse locations and vocations, the Hard Travelers continue to draw packed houses for an evening of humor and great music with something old, something new, and always something for everyone.
About the Musicians in the Hard Travelers:
The Cystic
Fibrosis Concerts
(opened by The Hard Travelers and sponsored by them, along with M.U.S.E.):
Maureen Harrigan of MoFolk Productions states:
"Mack Bailey is the
lead singer and guitar player, and has a perfect pitch tenor voice that will
bring tears to your eyes. Kenn Roberts is the original founding member of
the band and the orchestrator of some terrific arrangements as well as vocals.
Mike Munford, Jon Glik and Ira Gitlin are all award-winning performers who set
the standards for the instruments they play (banjo, fiddle and bass,
respectively). An anonymous fan: "The Hard Travelers music features soaring harmonies worked into lively songs and poignant ballads. The musicians are first rate and combine their talents to make a spirited good time for their enthusiastic audiences."
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Many of The Hard Travelers' Concerts are under the auspices of the M.U.S.E. Foundation (now closed) for the benefit of charity.
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Discography
Hard Travelers (L to R): Ira, Mike, Mack, Kenn, and Jon (Photo: Vern Roberts)
The Hard Travelers CDs All proceeds from these CDs go to the MUSE Foundation for the charities they support.
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