was where it all started. Herm Arnold and Barry Aungst came to the conclusion that starting a band might be a good idea and Bill Wilson, a long time friend of Herm's, was a natural choice for bass. The drummer position took a lot of auditions, but eventually, Roger Ginter of Williamsburg was selected. Their first job was at Whitsel's Tavern in Mill Creek in mid-May of 1969.
Although the first few jobs were performed under the name Black Mountain Express, including a Wednesday night feature at the Huntingdon County Fair in 1970, before long, the name was changed to Second Edition.The early years often saw stage show performances at places like Shapiro Theater in Mt.Union, Oller Hall at Juniata College and many others.
Two 45 rpm records and a long play record album were recorded and released during the first 2 years. A number of extra musicians came and went to supplement the core band during this period, incuding Wayne Runk on steel guitar and banjo, Gene Fye on steel guitar, and Barry's younger brother Lonnie on guitar and vocals. Barry decided to get out of the music business in 1972, but Bill, Roger and Herm continued.
By late 1974, Monte Kemmler joined the band and the format changed from Country to Top 40. By 1978, the format changed again when Lonnie Aungst returned and Roger was replaced with Mike Parks on drums. Oldies and some classic rock became the new format and by 1981 another 45 rpm record was made, featuring Hang on Sloopy and I Saw Linda Yesterday.

After 13 years with the band, Bill Wilson left in early '82 and was replaced with Gary Miller on bass. By now the equipment was getting bigger and the format was leaning more toward the Classic Rock format. Three years later, Gary wanted to form a band of his own so he trained his cousin, Don Diven, to replace him on bass in early 1985. A couple of months later, Mike also retired and was replaced by Scott Gardner. In addition to excellent musical skills, Don and Scott also brought very versatile vocal capabilities with them.

In 1988, Lonnie was replaced with Gary Miller again with a number of special appearances by Lynn Knight and this arrangement continued until 1992. A cassette album was recorded during this era.

The 90's were a difficult period of numerous changes when various band members had to follow other personal objectives and came and went at various times. Band members over that period who are not presently with the band included Don Diven, Kevin Milliken, Jerry White, and Rick McMahon.


One especially memorable appearance in mid 1992 was opening for 38 Special at the Huntingdon County Fair. Band members for that performance included Herm Arnold, Don Diven, Jenny Wright, Dan McCorkle, Bob Weir and Jerry White.

The first couple of years of the new millenium saw Lonnie Aungst returning for a short time until 2004 to fill in while Bob and Jenny got through their early child raising years, and unfortunately Bob took a new day job on the other side of Harrisburg in 2006 and had to leave. The band was most fortunate to find an excellent replacement for Bob in Wade Shumaker - without a doubt, the finest guitar player Second Edition has ever had, as well as an excellent vocalist. The present band configuration in 2006 is Herm Arnold (37 years), Dan McCorkle (12 years), Ron Leonard (10 years), Jenny Wright (11 years), and Wade Shumaker (the new kid!). Very few bands in the history of rock and roll last 37 years. Not many even last as long as the 10 years experience Ron has with the band so far. With the diversity of ages and musical backgrounds the current arrangement permits a wide variety of musical types to be performed. Don't be surprised to hear a Hank WIlliams tune followed up immediately by something from the Beach Boys, Kiss, Skynyrd, or Green Day. Or a Chuck Berry or Pink Floyd followed by ZZ Top or Elvis Presley.