The Conley Daugherty home on North School Lane is constantly filled with beautiful music – and sometimes just a lot of sound.

“We like to experiment with sounds,” says Pat Daugherty. “Our sons have gotten really good at just banging around on the drums, sometimes on the bass, sometimes on boxes. We have a lot of different instruments we play – bongos, a cowbell.” 

Pat is a professional musician and composer. His wife, Jennifer Conley, is a professional dancer and Professor of Dance at Franklin & Marshall College.

The couple met nearly 30 years ago when they both worked with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City. Jennifer was a dancer and Pat played piano for the Company. They first became acquainted with Lancaster 15 years ago when Jennifer was asked by Franklin & Marshall College to reconstruct a work by Martha Graham for the F&M Dance Company.

“I came down here and I loved being in a liberal arts community,” Jennifer says. “There was a beautiful energy here with people coming from all different backgrounds and fields of study.”

Two years later, in 2012, Jennifer accepted a position at Franklin & Marshall and the couple moved to School Lane Hills. 

Pat and Jennifer – along with their sons Rex, 14, and Reggie, 10 – regularly go back to New York where they still have an apartment in the East Village. Every October, the family attends New York Comic Con. Jennifer also continues to work with the Martha Graham Dance Company as a Regisseur and instructor.  Pat performs at music venues across New York City with his group Lower Power which he describes as  “Rock and Roll with a political bent.” The group will release its third album early next year called “What If Women.” The album will include snippets of recorded interviews Pat did with dozens of women who answered the question “What if women ruled the world?”

Pat and Jennifer’s love of music has rubbed off on their sons.

Reggie, who is in fourth grade at Wharton Elementary School, plays the bongos, sings and is a “budding lyricist.” He also enjoys playing tennis, biking and hiking.

Rex, an eighth grader at Wheatland Middle School, mixes academics, sports and music. A member of the National Junior Honor Society, he also plays basketball and tennis, and is a flutist with the school band. At the prompting of his father, Rex also has a growing affinity for writing lyrics.

“During the pandemic, we were having increasing problems with screen time. We had to come up with something to counter that,” Pat says. “So, I challenged Rex – for every hour of screen time he had to write a poem. In two years, he had an entire book of poetry written.”

Pat adds: “I’ve actually robbed some lines from him for the album I’m working on.”

While Pat is the professional musician in the family, and Jennifer the dancer, the two occasionally dabble in each other’s area of expertise. Years ago, while working with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York, Pat decided to take dance lessons and ultimately joined a performance that was reviewed by the New York Times. The paper specifically called out Pat as “an actor of imposing presence.”

Pat shrugs off the rave review, crediting his basketball experience as teaching him how to move gracefully.

Jennifer recently learned the bass guitar which she plays with the family band and, according to Pat “is the best singer in the family” – which Jennifer denies.

“He gives me too much credit,” she says. “Pat is such an incredible musician, he is able to make you feel you know what you’re doing when we’re jamming.”

When not teaching, creating choreography or jamming with the family, Jennifer researches ancient dances associated with the Celtic Wheel of the Year. 

Noting the Celtic origins of her and Pat’s surnames, Jennifer and the family have traveled to Scotland, Ireland and England to document and learn from people who carry on the ancient traditions.

“For the Celts, these fire festivals were how communities would mark the passage of time,” Jennifer says. “Music is a big part of that. Fire and dancing are a big part of that.”

Since beginning her research in 2022, Jennifer has become a certified fire artist. She is now looking into creating a film or other project – including a possible new course at F&M –based on her research.

While Pat and Jennifer’s music and dance careers often keep them on the road, they say they love coming back to School Lane Hills where they can enjoy the neighborhood’s ample greenspace that provides home to owls, foxes and other wildlife.

“I love the sunsets and how our little corner of the neighborhood feels like a village of its own,” Jennifer said.