Singer-songwriter Shane Palko

|Landenberg Spotlight|

Singer-songwriter Shane Palko has been inspired by the sounds from his Curry Farm in Landenberg and by travels to 28 countries

Photo courtesy of Shane Palko

“In 22 years of playing guitar, I have never owned a new one,” Shane Palko wrote in 2017 to describe this new guitar, from sponsor Godin Guitars, for a trip to Africa. “Never did I think that songs I wrote in my sadness and in my basement and recorded in my kitchen could take me across the world.”

Music from home and abroad

When not traveling to support his music, Palko lives in Landenberg.

Photo by Teresa Mejia

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

Singer-songwriter Shane Palko has listened a lot to the woods.

Some has been doing bioacoustics research abroad on how “the world is singing a song of change.”

Some has been absorbing the spirit of the woods outside his home, on Landenberg’s Appleton Road. “Here, it’s amazing,” Palko said. “How many birds, frogs even mammals can you hear? Nature is happiest and at its healthiest when it uses the full range of frequencies, a symphony of working together.”

That listening has informed his music, notably in “Slowing Into the Trees,” his 11th studio album, especially the haunting “Desacelerando en la Selva,” the Spanish translation of the album title. The track features the slowed-down sounds of Landenberg birds, making “the experience richer and fuller.”

Of course, Palko listens to people, too.

“I love listening to people and hearing their stories,” he said. “I also love to use music to connect with people.”

Some connections have been in places others wouldn’t spot. Consider “Madison Drive,” his 2017 album, named for an area the Newark Post called one of the city’s rougher parts.

Palko lived there four years while studying at the University of Delaware.

“I think Madison Drive is a beautiful community, with all sorts of people, speaking different languages” he said. “Yet we all hear the same train going by. we gardened together, and we played music loud and late together.”

A lifetime in music

Now 32, Palko recalls writing seven songs when he was 6. After seeing a photo of buckets turned into drums, he made his own. It took the young musician a while to realize why people laughed at the BS label that he gave his bucket set.

After graduating from the Towle Institute in Newark, Palko began to study the piano at the University of

Continued on Page 26

Continued from Page 25

Delaware, but switched his focus to writing and human services. To this day, he refers to himself as a self-taught musician, specializing in international alternative folk music.

“I’ve seen him work and work to build his excellence, collaborating with musicians from all genres,” his brother Ian said. “Yes, he’s selftaught, but he also put himself in the position to learn from so many others.”

Music has opened up the world to Shane: “28 countries and counting,” he writes on his social

Photo by Michael Natrin

Palko, center, Evan Stout and Stefan Wolfe perform from the roof of a Chester County house at the wedding celebration of Sarah and Naomi.

Meat Market

Quality

BUTCHER SHOP & DELI Serving Hockessin since 1980

•Prepared Meats•All Natural Chicken •Catering Specialties•Marinated Items •Certified Angus Western Beef •Boar’s Head Gourmet Deli Meats •Honey Glazed Sliced Ham •Homemade Sausage •Homemade Prepared Salads •Fresh Roasted Beef & Turkey 302-239-2529

Shoppes of Hockessin MC/VISA/WSFS Rt. 41—Lancaster Pike M-F 8:30-6•Sat 8-4:30

media. He was in Spain in March of 2020 when the world shut down. He returned to in-person shows this July, on an island in White Clay Creek, next to Ian’s Landenberg home. “It’s a place where lots of songs are sung, but rarely heard by humans,” Shane wrote on Facebook. “This seems like a good time to get together outside and share some music, some laughter, some drinks, and some friendship.”

Different views of the world

Palko has been productive while largely sheltering in place in Landenberg. He’s been “heavy on thought,” recording and writing more than ever, often at least one song a day, often focused on race.

On the road in Uganda.

Photo by Teresa Mejia

“He’s a student of life who has learned so much from people, from culture and from travel. And he wants to share it,” said collaborator Mannie T’Chawi. “He’s a unique soul who wants to make and build relationships with people from all walks of life, even if you oppose his views.”

“He sees the world in a way that other people don’t, articulating in an interesting way. His lyrics cause me to think differently,” Ian said. “Everything is genuine. It

Continued on Page 28

COVID -19 Testing Available

302-738-4300 • newarkUC.org

We’re here Enjoy life. for you.

FROM SNIFFLES TO SUTURES SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1973

Continued from Page 27

comes out of his heart.”

Shane also has been devoting time to his home, a farm he dates back to the Curry family in 1820. He acquired the property a few years ago and has been making it homey, useful and welcoming.

The homeyness comes first from just making overgrown and abandoned areas livable.

As a socioenvironmentalist, Palko is involved with sustainable farming on his property, cultivating honey, mushrooms and eggs, receiving weekly assistance from his parents and a large community of friends and family.

Time for the Curry Farm

“After a decade of being a touring musician, I have a carbon footprint that contradicts my belief,” he wrote on his website, referring to a weekend in 2020 when he gave away several hundred trees to the public from his property. “I’m so happy to be partnering with local community on this celebratory project.”

Photo courtesy of Shane Palko

Palko posts on Instagram about his work on the Curry Farm, which he’s accomplished with the help of friends and family members, the right equipment (the chainsaw was needed for a native food forest planting) and a friendly paw or two.

CECIL COLLEGE

Quality Education • Close to Home

Earn credits or a degree with a ordable tuition, nancial aid and scholarship opportunities, and transfer agreements to numerous four-year colleges and universities.

CONTACT ADMISSIONS TODAY!

admissions@cecil.edu • 410-287-1006

www.cecil.edu

Photo courtesy of Shane Palko

A patriotic statement in the woods of Landenberg.

The welcomeness comes from creating “a place where people are welcome to learn and make. Get dirty and get your minds clean.” It also comes from being open to all ethnicities, sexual orientations and spiritual orientations, he said.

He documents the evolution of the property on www. instagram.com/farmrestoration. He documents his music on his own website – www.shanepalko.com – and major social media platforms.

“Idha Obane (Come and See),” a duet with musician Maro Uganda, has 140,000 hits on You Tube, and his solo “Staring Out the Window” has 33,000. Both are intriguing for both their contemplative lyrics and evocative visuals.

Also highly recommended is the Facebook video titled “The Story of David Crowie the Chicken.” “People have most likely been singing with chickens for millennia,” Palko writes.

At UD, his honors thesis was on human displacement, and he studied applied community development at Future Generations University for his master’s degree.

So he is especially “thankful to have a place called home, and a relationship with its plants and animals.” And with people.