On May 3, 2009, Madison Square Garden in New York City will host a 90th birthday “singalong” party for Pete Seeger. According to an email I received, musical guests will include
Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, John Mellencamp, Juanes, Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, Bela Fleck, Ben Bridwell, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Billy Nershi, Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Keller Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Michael Franti, Patterson Hood, Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Del McCoury, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Richie Havens, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Tom Morello, Warren Haynes, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Dar Williams, Guy Davis, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Larry Long, Mike & Ruthy, Native American Indian Cultural Alliance, NYC Labor Chorus, Scarlet Moore, Silvio Rodriguez, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton, Tommy Sands, Tony Trischka, and Toshi Reagon
Tickets go on sale on Monday. Proceeds will benefit “Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization founded by Seeger in the 1960s to preserve and protect the Hudson River,” according to the Reuters article linked above.
Sure would love to be there for that.
It’s time for the Pete Seeger biopic. I can’t think of another set of eyes that witnessed the entire history of modern American folk from Harlan County to Woodstock and beyond. He raised an army of box guitars and banjos to fight the good fight and change our society from one where people worked 12 hours a day just to pay the company store, and the signs over the water fountains determined who would go thirsty. That is a story worth remembering.