By Corinne Colbert
Reprinted from the Fall 2003 edition of Ohio Today

Ohio University has long been known for a happening music scene. And in the first half of the 20th century, the hills truly were alive with song.

"They sang as a student body, they sang with their sororities, they sang at dinner -- they sang all the time," says Mimi Hart. "There's joy in singing together."

Hart knows all about Athens music: She was a member of Hotcakes and the Bopcats in the '60s and '70s and has gained national renown as one-third of The Local Girls. But she's also learned a lot about musical traditions dating back nearly a century through research for an upcoming compact disc celebrating Ohio University and Athens.

"Four-Year Heaven: Ohio University Players and The Local Girls Present the Songs of Ohio University," a 14-track CD coming out in October, was born almost three years ago when Hart noticed a short article in a 2001 edition of Ohio Today about the 1939 OU Revue. The story mentioned the song "Four-Year Heaven" by composer Vern Smolik and lyricist Rex Koons.

Intrigued, Hart hit the University archives and discovered that "Four-Year Heaven" was one of many songs written by students and alumni about Ohio University. Another was "The Campus is Lonely Tonight," penned in 1941 about the departure of most men on campus after the Pearl Harbor attack. Helen Townsend Corns, a student at the time, wrote the lyrics, and Ernest Mariani, BFA '43, composed the score (although he had never put it down on paper until encouraged recently by Hart).

"One goal of the CD is to reintroduce these songs to the repertoire," Hart says.

In addition to the old tunes, the CD will feature two songs generated by a contest sponsored by The Local Girls, which in addition to Hart features Gay Gehres Dalzell, BMUS '77, and Athens native Brenda Catania. Of the many entries, the group chose "The Green Hills of Athens," a bluesy number by Kathy Fagan Clark, BMUS '78, and "Jewel of the Hocking," a country-tinged song by Steve Zarate, BSC '82, MS '90 and MA '91.

Zarate wrote his contribution in a couple of hours and spent almost three weeks polishing it before entering it in the contest. A longtime Athens singer/songwriter who lived in Alaska for a decade, Zarate drew on his longing for the town in composing the lyrics.

"Often I'd dream I was back on the College Green on a sunshiny day, only to wake up and find that I had to go to my office job in downtown Juneau," Zarate says. "I wanted to put that glowing picture of sunlit Athens in the song."

The CD is an all-Ohio University production, from the arrangers -- mostly School of Music alumni or faculty -- to recording engineer Jeff Rederfer, associate professor of telecommunications. Among the more than 200 performers are the Marching 110, Ohio University Singers, Ohio University Jazz Ensemble and members of AFSCME Local 1699. University President (and musician) Robert Glidden conducted College of Fine Arts Dean Raymond Tymas-Jones and the Cutler Hall staff in a rendition of "Old Manasseh Cutler," a fun 1912 song about the University's founding. Using a new arrangement by L.T. Randle, the Gospel Voices of Faith recorded "Alma Mater, Ohio," which also will be presented in various languages taught at Ohio University.

Hart is especially grateful for the bonds forged with colleagues in the School of Music, such as Ohio University Singers Director Peter Jarjisian, Professor of Music Guy Remonko and Matt James, leader of the Jazz Ensemble.

Perhaps most impressive, Hart says, are the student musicians. The Marching 110, for instance, recorded its cut in less than an hour. "Nobody gets a cut in less than an hour!" she says.

Ultimately, homecomings -- emotional and physical -- are the CD's goal.

"I hope we can evoke that time for some alums," Hart says. "I want to inspire people to come back to Athens. Every weekend is homecoming if you come back."