He was founder of the regional touring group The Vicksburg Quartet.  He was founder and organizer of The Pennsylvania State Singing convention held annually in Martinsburg, PA.  If that wasn't enough, he was a booking agent for local and regional music and variety acts as well as founder and director of The Meister Singers from Northern Bedford High School.  Blair County native Steve Aungst says that being in the music business has pretty much been his life.

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Aungst says that he grew up around Musselman's Grove in Claysburg.  He says that he saw some of the big acts that came in there.  One of the major acts that he saw was The Sunshine Boys when he was about eight years old.  He never got over that.  He adds that he liked Gospel Music and he liked country music.  So, he developed The Vicksburg Quartet in 1965 or 66.

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In the early years, he says that The Vicksburgs performed all Gospel Music.  In later years, they did a variety of good clean country music as well as Gospel.  "We opened for a lot of the big stars of the time."

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Aungst's long-time friend and fellow quartet member Jake Snyder was the sound man and emcee.  "We were together for over thirty years.  We did a good many sound jobs for big stars."

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Aungst, himself did not sing.  He played the piano.  He is classically trained.  He graduated from Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana and then did graduate work at Penn State.  He adds that most of The Vicksburgs were also professionally trained and had music degrees.

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**To read the complete article, please check out the upcoming book release They Came From Blair County Volume 2 due out by the end of 2021.

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**Information for this article was obtained through an in-person interview with Steve Aungst.

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**Photos were supplied by Steve Aungst