Senator Schwank Seeks Senate Designation of Dave Kline’s “My Pennsylvania Home” as a State Song of Pennsylvania

From Dave Kline

Pennsylvania Senator Judy Schwank has submitted the original song, “My Pennsylvania Home,” by Pennsylvania native singer/songwriter/performer/bandleader and longtime Pennsylvania advocate and musical ambassador Dave Kline, of Sinking Spring, PA, to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration as a State Song for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Below is the memorandum by Senator Schwank to all Pennsylvania State Senators:

“Amid a flurry of conversation surrounding the naming of a new Pennsylvania State Song, I wanted to offer up the work of a beloved professional Berks County musician whose bluegrass, jazz, and folk music is adored by many.

Dave Kline, a Pennsylvania born and raised composer and musician, has served our community well through his decades of volunteer service to agritainment, farm preservation, traditional folk culture preservation, and furthering the arts industry here in Berks. In addition to his work at home, Dave has served as an international musical ambassador for our Commonwealth for more than three decades with his performances in Reading’s sister city in Germany.

“My Pennsylvania Home” celebrates our deep folk roots and captures the beauty of nature within our Commonwealth. Dave’s song serves as a reminder to the wandering Pennsylvanian that no matter how far they roam, they’ll “always remember the snowflakes and the spring days in the heartland of our Pennsylvania home.”

I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing “Our Pennsylvania Home” as our new and improved Pennsylvania State Song, and to take a listen to Dave’s song.”

Composer Dave Kline commented: “Original songs are a bit like children of the composer. You nurture them, launch them, and hope they have a positive impact on the world. In 2025, I’m celebrating 45 years of promoting, writing, recording, broadcasting, performing bluegrass, folk, and mountain music with the Mountain Folk brand. It would certainly be a milestone to have this particular song take on wings as a Pennsylvania State Song.

If I were to list the number of places that song has been performed, both in the states and in Europe, to favorable reception always with curiosity about Pennsylvania, it would assist in adding gravitas for the song’s staying power and popularity. In addition, I’ve been an advocate of performing, creating, presenting bluegrass, folk, and Appalachian Mountain music here and abroad for more than four decades and have introduced it, and our state and its attributes to literally tens of thousands of people through those years. I founded a student music scholarship fund, The Mountain Folk Scholarship Fund, administered by the Reading Musical Foundation that has served to assist with funding for music students interested in this style of music. This style of music deserves recognition as something Pennsylvania has within its very roots of traditional culture. To date, the fund has raised more than $120,000 for students of this genre and interest in the genre is growing, not waning.

It would be a career highlight for this Pennsylvania born and raised composer and musician to have written a state song for this bluegrass, folk, and/or mountain music genre.”

Other Related Facts

Several states have multiple state songs in various language or genre variations, while some also designate additional songs as state anthems.  

West Virginia 

• “The West Virginia Hills” 
• “West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home” 
• “This Is My West Virginia” 
• “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver 

Tennessee 

• Tennessee has the most state songs in the U.S., with 12 official songs and an official bicentennial rap. 

Arkansas 

• Arkansas has four official state songs, including “The Arkansas Traveler.”

Other states with multiple songs:

• Massachusetts has a state anthem, folk song, ceremonial march, patriotic song, glee club song, polka, and ode.
• New Mexico has songs in both English and Spanish.
• Hawaii has a state song with both English and Hawaiian lyrics.

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Source: bctv