Local

Soul-filled strummin’: Fr. Ziegler mixes old-time bluegrass with ministry

Katie Scott | Catholic Herald

Fr. John A. Ziegler, pastor of St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg, plays a set with Rapidan Ridge band during the Labor Day Bluegrass Festival at the parish Sept. 7. A longtime musician, he started playing again about 12 years into his priesthood.

1445959199_27ae.jpg

“No more darkness, no more night. Now I’m so happy, no sorrow
in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light.”

The banjo twanged, and deep vocals, with a hint of Johnny
Cash, sung the familiar Hank Williams lyrics.

Father John A. Ziegler is pastor of St. Patrick Church in
Fredericksburg, but he also knows how to produce a
toe-tapping, soul-moving recording. He’s created two
bluegrass gospel CDs and can be heard strumming his guitar
and singing at parish festivals and fundraisers.

The musician with a special fondness for bluegrass is at home
as pastor of the Spotsylvania County church, which Father
Ziegler says still has a “country parish feel” to it. The
Civil War’s Battle of Chancellorsville took place in the
county in 1863, and contiguous to the church are hundreds of
acres of woodlands and rolling fields set aside by the
National Park Service.

Growing up, Father Ziegler learned piano, accordion and
guitar, but he said guitar was the “easiest to stick with” as
he moved around. He is primarily self-taught, and the tunes
of Williams, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Glenn Campbell and
Gordon Lightfoot initially inspired him to delve deeper into
guitar. Folk and country singer Norman Blake and guitar hero
and folk legend Doc Watson later influenced his technique.

In Ohio for law school, Father Ziegler played during
celebrations at houses and farms. While serving as an
assistant district attorney in Dallas County, Texas, he
befriended a fiddler, whom he jammed with whenever he could.
Wherever he went, his guitar came too.

He played a diverse mix of music, including country, folk,
pop, classical and bluegrass. Since being ordained in 1996,
he’s primarily played gospel bluegrass.

But it wasn’t until about 12 years into his vocation, while
pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Colonial Beach,
that Father Ziegler began playing music as a priest. At St.
Patrick since 2010, he now performs with local musicians at
four or five parish events yearly. Most recently he performed
at the church’s Labor Day Bluegrass Festival in September.

An all-acoustic form of American country music, bluegrass has
roots in English, Irish and Scottish traditional music, as
well as Appalachian tunes, blues, gospel and jazz. According
to Smithsonian Folkways, the nonprofit record label of the
Smithsonian Institution, bluegrass first made an appearance
in the Southeast United States, especially Virginia, in the
mid- to late 1940s.

“Folks from this region have been singing these old favorites
for generations,” said Father Ziegler.

Parishioners enjoyed hearing the locally grown music, and so
did his parents in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Whenever I came home to
visit, my mother was always asking me to create a recording
of it,” he said. With the help of several musicians and
professional recording artist Dale Adkins, who is also a
banjo player, the priest recorded two CDs.

“They are very well done, and Dale said Nashville has nothing
over his equipment,” Father Ziegler laughed.

Donations for the CDs support the construction of a new St.
Patrick church and middle school. So far they have raised
more than $16,300.

Along with “I Saw the Light,” songs include “In the Sweet By
and By,” “Are You Washed in the Blood” and “Cold Jordan.”

Father Ziegler said the chance to play old-time bluegrass
gospel, especially with like-minded musicians and
parishioners, “has been a lot of fun.”

He doesn’t have much time for his “hobby,” but he gets a lot
of satisfaction out of playing and said he hopes it “brings
peace to others.”

Quoting part of Isaiah 38:20, he said: “We will sing my songs
to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the
house of the Lord.”

For Father Ziegler, that stringed instrument of choice is the
guitar, and he’s grateful for the opportunity to strum and
pluck it on behalf of God.

Hear the music

To get a CD of Fr. Ziegler’s gospel bluegrass recordings and
help support the construction of St. Patrick’s new church and
middle school, call 540/785-5299.

Related Articles