MANITOWANING—For many on Manitoulin Island, the name Marilyn Wohlberg is synonymous with music, having taught the subject to hundreds of students over her long career, been a driving force behind the musical theatrical company Burns Wharf Theatre and having given birth to a couple of the Island’s best known recording artists (Kevin and Brent Closs). This year, Ms. Wohlberg decided to follow in her sons’ steps and record her own CD, ‘Mom’s Stuff’.
Ms. Wohlberg shared that she began recording the CD in her early 70s at her son Kevin’s recording studio in Levack.
“My intent was to record some tunes that Kevin might be interested in learning,” she said, “especially the East Coast songs ‘Song for the Mira’ and ‘Away from the Roll of the Sea’.
Then enters the pandemic. “So, everything was put on hold,” she said. “This spring I finished recording the album with my son Brent at my home in Manitowaning.”
The CD includes covers of many of the songs that Ms. Wohlberg loves, particularly the first song on the CD ‘The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God.’ “It is an old English poem written by J. Milton Hayes that someone set to music,” she said. “My mother used to sing it often at family gatherings in Kirkland Lake.”
While Ms. Wohlberg sings some of the songs, her son Kevin sings ‘D’Arcy Farrow’ and plays guitar, while she sings backup vocals. Her son also accompanies her on ‘The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God.’
Ms. Wohlberg is donating a portion of the sales of each CD to her niece and her husband Frank. Frank has recently undergone a lung transplant surgery following a severe bout of COVID.
The CDs are available at The Expositor Office in Little Current or by contacting Ms. Wohlberg at lynwood@amtelecom.net or by phone at 705-859-3808.
