Mechanicsburg grad produces first musical recording.      By Mina Raulston      Staff Writer      NORTH LEWISBURG, OHIO - Frank Bard, a graduate of Mechanicsburg High School, has produced his first recording,"Harmonica From the Heartland."      Bard, Who lives near North Lewisburg Ohio, said he always enjoyed music, has played for about 30 years, but didn't get serious until about five years ago.      He said he has several sisters and brouthers. None of them played instruments as children, but get together now and play for enjoyment. He said one person who helped them enjoy music was an aunt who played piano.      Many years ago, Bard said, He played with the Monument Square Jug Band from Urbana University. He said the band played folk music. He and his friend Jr. Smith have played together as a duo in the Springfield and Dayton area, and Smith helped him line up the studio band for the recording.      The band includes Bard on the diatonic harmonica and dodro, Johnie Dee on drums, Dan Russell on 5-string banjo,Stevie Williams on fiddle, Brian Aldridge on mandolin, Mitch Coleman on piano and Jr. Smith on guitar and second dobro, a stringed instrument. Smith also is the producer.      Bard said he called it "Harmonica From the Heartland" because he has lived in Champaign county all his life and "The Music just sticks in my mind."      "If I ever made a recording I wanted to sound like several different style bands,"he said, The recording has a variety of styles of music on it, with some standards, some bluegrass, some country. It is all instermental.      Bard said the recording was produced and recorded at SoundSpace Studio in Yellow Springs, Ohio and took about nine months from inception to completion. He said he didn't have big expectations, just wanted to put it together as a hobby. If all of his first set of recordings sells, he would like to produce more, he said.      "Playing the harmonica is an extension of what's inside me. It's almost like whistling," he said. The diatonic harmonica is equal to the white keys on the piano, so it limits a variety of tones that can be produced, he said. So, a few years ago he learned to play cross harp style to allow for more variations in tone. There are also several harmonicas and each one has its own range, or key.      Bard has a web site at, www.ctcn.net/~febard/ . On the site, he has several pages and links. The two main pages are about "About Frank" and "About the Music," which tell about Bard and how the recording came about, purchasing information and the studio musicians.      He also has a page for diatonic harmonica students. If they can play harmonica a little, then the chart on his site, combined with listening to his recording, will help the students to know which key of harmonica to use to play his songs. The site also has links to other harmonica sites.      Bard will teach a four- to six-week beginning harmonica class at Clark State Community College as part of the adult continuing education department. Then in May he will play in "Big River," a musical for Sinclair Community College, in Dayton Ohio.      The CD or cassette can be purchased from Bard at several on line music retailers or at Spinners music, in Urbana Ohio.

Harmonica man: Frank Bard said playing the harmonica is almost like whistling and is an extension of what's inside him.