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01/26/2011 11:00 PMFill the earth with the seeds you will sow
You are the sun and you are the water
You are the ground that I've come to know
These lyrics from Paul Hartung's song "Flower," found on his new CD titled Run Away, say a lot about the musician. Over the past 30 years, music has been both a grounding and liberating force for Hartung in his personal and professional growth as a singer-songwriter and recording artist.
Hartung is very open about what he now refers to as "a challenge," but says initially was "a devastating shock." In 1981 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia while a senior in high school and spent a number of difficult years in and out of psychiatric hospitals.
"I got a great deal of help from my parents," Hartung says. "They never quit."
Hartung attended the Hammonasset School (formerly of Madison) and Goddard College in Vermont.
Today he lives in Madison with his wife of two years, Carol Jane Hartung, who is a folk singer, and together the couple has recorded several CDs. Hartung refers to his wife, who also has schizophrenia, as "a great inspiration" in both his music and his life.
Through the gift of his music, Hartung wants to help other people-both with and without disabilities.
"Music makes me feel good about myself," Hartung says. "And I've made a lot of people happy. I've given hundreds of performances, from Connecticut through Washington, D.C."
Hartung has performed in well-known area venues, such as Harkness Memorial Park in Waterford and the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center in Middletown.
He's also performed at many hospitals and mental health facilities.
"It's my way of giving back," he says, "by sharing with people who don't have the advantage of being outside a hospital. By helping other people, you can start to recover yourself."
For 20 years Hartung performed with the Free at Last Players in Middletown-a not-for-profit theater group dedicated to dispelling the myths and misconceptions that surround mental illness.
"The [theater group] promotes the idea of thinking of people with mental illnesses as not being so different and providing good, real entertainment," he says.
Hartung says he would like to start offering songwriting workshops because "songwriting teaches how the value of music can heal and take people out of themselves, make them feel good about themselves, and believe in themselves."
For the past 25 years Hartung has studied guitar at the Community Music School (CMS) in Centerbrook. Two years ago, he began studying at the school with fellow Madison resident Stephen Roane. A jazz bassist and guitarist, Roane has toured the U.S. and Japan and has appeared in Carnegie Hall, The Bottom Line, and Town Hall in New York City. Roane has written hundreds of pieces for ensembles, vocalists, and string quartets and is also an audio engineer.
Hartung credits Roane with helping him take his music to a whole new level by teaching him new guitar techniques, such as alternative tunings, and helping him refine his songwriting skills.
"He taught me so many different techniques guitarists use, I was mind-boggled," Hartung says. "I didn't have time to be mentally ill."
When asked what he likes to write about, Hartung's answer is simple: "I write music that says what I feel."
"Songwriting is Hartung's forte," Roane says. "The main thrust of his songs is the lyrical content, based on his life experiences and experiences of other people he's come in contact with who have led similar lives."
Roane says he knows of individuals who have exploited Hartung because of his mental illness.
"I feel it's important to respect and not take advantage of people with disabilities," Roane stresses. "I've never treated Paul differently because of his mental illness. I'm impressed by his openness and wanting to do music at a professional level-not only for the fun of it. Musicians sometimes get to a place that's safe and they stay there in their music. Paul always wants to take his music a step further. Since we've been working together, he's developed his music to incorporate more interludes and varied sections."
When Roane first asked Hartung if he'd like to record a CD in his Madison studio, Hartung says he was a little nervous and hesitant, but once they got into the project, it was fun and exciting.
"It picked up like a freight train rolling down the tracks," Hartung says. "I'm really glad to have had this opportunity."
The eight songs on Run Away are all originals by Hartung and are augmented by different accompanying instruments that aren't normally included in his live performances: Hartung performs all vocals; Roane plays guitar, cello, bass, dulcimer, mandolin, and bohran; and Max Head of Madison is featured on drums.
Roane describes the CD as a blend of acoustic American music with Celtic and jazz influences, noting similarities to Neil Young's and Joni Mitchell's songwriting.
"The album has a nice flow," Roane says. "There's a thread that connects all the songs from beginning to end-an arc that rises and falls from quieter ballads to more rhythmic, upbeat tunes."
It's the fruit, Roane says, of all of Hartung's labor to get to this point in his ever-evolving musical career.
Hartung and Roane will perform the songs on Run Away in a free concert at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 6 at Community Music School, 990 Main Street, Centerbrook (860-767-0026; www.community-music-school.org). The CD will be for sale for $10 and can also be purchased by emailing Hartung at paulhart.2@att.net. You can also contact Hartung by email for information about songwriting workshops.