Side gigs bring balance, Mountain View Elementary School counselor says

Juggling work as a school counselor, instrument repair technician and professional musician would be too much for many people, but it all helps to keep Joe Golden on an even keel.

Weekdays find him at Mountain View Elementary School in Unity. Weeknights might find him in his home shop working on a stringed instrument. Weekends could find him playing a gig solo, with partners Pat Petrarca or Jane West, or with the four-piece band Sugar Mountain.

“When I have a hard day at work, music can be very refreshing to me,” said Golden, of Ligonier Township. “When I have struggles in the repair shop, music can always help. When I have trouble trying to figure something out musically, I'll come to the shop.

“To me, it all helps to keep everything balanced.”

Golden has been at his day job since 2009. The Ligonier native has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a music minor, with a focus on classical guitar, from Duquesne University and a master's degree in counseling from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He worked previously as a school counselor in Wiscasset, Maine.

One innovation he has brought to his job is the Golden Ticket, which several students receive randomly each day, entitling them to have lunch at Golden's table.

“During the lunch, the students discuss various school topics and play games,” principal Becki Pellis said. “Our students all want to receive a Golden Ticket to have lunch with Mr. Golden.”

“There's almost 700 students in this building, and I don't want to know just 5 percent,” Golden said.

Golden says he was drawn to a career in counseling “with the idea of making connections.”

“Duquesne's school of philosophy in psychology is existentialism. Before I got there, I'd never experienced that school of philosophy, the idea of our purpose for being in this world, and man's search for meaning,” he said. “That drew me into the idea of working with children in a public place.”

Music as a creative outlet came early in his life, Golden said.

“I've known Joe since he was 14, so I've known how talented he is for a long time,” said Annie Urban, another Ligonier native and executive director of Fort Ligonier. “He and my brother used to play in a band, and they practiced in our basement.”

Golden said he was inspired to study guitar at 12 or 13 upon first hearing James Taylor's “Fire and Rain.”

“I thought it was the most incredible thing. I didn't have a concept of how chords worked or how he was moving chords in that intro,” he said. “Now I look back and I laugh because he is such a craftsman, and I thought I could nail it in one night.”

Now he not only plays guitar but also sings and plays clawhammer banjo and old-time, or Appalachian-style, fiddle. He and Petrarca regularly play at Fort Ligonier's summertime History Happy Hours.

“They just seem to have the right mix of music to appeal to our guests,” Urban said.

Golden's other sideline grew during his time in Maine, where he ran into a number of well-known instrument builders, including Dana Bourgeois, who is rated among America's top acoustic guitar makers.

Golden bought out a retiring repairman in Maine and brought the tools along when he and his wife, Jessica, director of Greater Latrobe Senior High School's Center for Student Creativity, returned to the area. Operating under the name Westmoreland String Workshop, he rebuilds and repairs mainly guitars and violins, along with banjos and mandolins.

At this point, Golden said, neither of his children is following in his musical footsteps. Marnie, 9, shares her mother's love of art, while George, 12, is into sports.

“We all have our own journey to take,” he said. “Music found me and did some really great things.”

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750 or smcmarlin@tribweb.com.