Fri 5/3 @ 7PM
Sat 5/4 @ 8PM
Legendary folksinger Pete Seeger who died in 2014 would have turned 100 on May 3 — and for a while it looked like the indefatigable musician/activist was really going to make it. He performed at Farm Aid only four months before he died and marched with Occupy Wall Street when he was 92. He was known for his activism on labor, civil rights, the environment and peace, as well his music, which was virtually a soundtrack to leftist movements for 70 years. Among other songs, he wrote “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “If I Had a Hammer,” and the anti-Vietnam War song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.” He also wrote the version of the traditional tune “We Shall Overcome” that became an anthem of the civil rights movement.
Needless to say his centenary is a big deal in both the folk music and activist communities, so there are two different celebrations in the area this weekend.
The first, on Friday, takes place at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland in Shaker Heights (unsurprisingly, considering the denomination’s history of civl rights and peace activism, Seeger was a member). The Pete Seeger Songfest will feature Jim Scott, a travelling performer whom Seeger himself called “some kind of magician,” along with Michael Carney and the UUCC Chancel Choir. If it’s true to Seeger’s spirit, at some point, someone is going to shout his familiar call of “Everybody sing!” and invite the audience to join in.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for kids 6 and up, free for kids 5 and under, at the door, no presale.
Then on Saturday folksinger John McCutcheon will host a Pete Seeger 100th birthday concert at the Kent Stage. His work too earned Seeger’s stamp of approval, when Seeger called him “a great singer, songwriter and song leader, and not just incidentally he is committed to helping hard-working people everywhere to organize and push this world in a better direction.” The 66-year-old Wisconsin native, who plays a multitude of acoustic stringed instruments, especially hammered dulcimer, is known for both his political activist music and his children’s music, which earned him six Grammy nominations. His own repertoire meshes nicely with Seeger’s.
Tickets are $25.
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