Founder and re-founder

So he can't call it the Newport Folk Festival, but a rose by any other name... George Wein started the Newport Folk Festival 50 years ago, and when new owners couldn't turn it into the Bonnaroo of the Northeast, he reclaimed it just in time to celebrate a half century of amazing music.

He, and longtime musical cohort, Pete Seeger, spoke to Vanity Fair.

Folk Festival 50 in Newport, takes place this weekend. Here's the lineup.

Pete Seeger, Rev. Gary Davis and Donovan

Bruce says Pete can "kick your ass"

Bruce Springsteen gave testimony to the power of Pete Seeger and the power of song when he said at Pete's huge Madison Square Garden Birthday last night:

"He's gonna look a lot like your granddad that wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He gonna look like your granddad if your granddad can kick your ass."

Well, all right. Sounds like it was a great party.

Pete Seeger 90 Today

And we're a better America, and a better world because he's been with us these 9 decades. Happy Birthday Pete.

Big blowout for Seeger's 90th

Tickets go on sale Monday for Pete Seeger's 90th birthday party in Madison Square Garden.

There will be many tribute peformances, and the list is impressive:


Pete Seeger
Richie Havens
Bruce Springsteen
Steve Earle
Dave Matthews
Taj Mahal
Eddie Vedder
Tom Morello
John Mellencamp
Warren Haynes
Juanes
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
Ani DiFranco
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Arlo Guthrie
Dar Williams
Bela Fleck
Guy Davis
Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses)
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
Ben Harper
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Billy Bragg
Larry Long
Billy Nershi (String Cheese Incident)
Mike & Ruthy Merenda
Bruce Cockburn
Native American Indian Cultural Alliance
Emmylou Harris
NYC Labor Chorus
Joan Baez
Scarlet Moore
Keller Williams
Silvio Rodriguez
Kris Kristofferson
Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Tom Chapin
Michael Franti
Tom Paxton
Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)
Tommy Sands
Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Del McCoury
Tony Trischka
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Toshi Reagon

Beausoleil wins Cajun/Zydeco Grammy

In an interview just last week I talked to Mike Doucet about his double nomination for a Grammy this year. He thought the double nominee would knock him out of contention.

One nomination was for a very fine solo fiddle album he put out for Smithsonian/Folkways called From Now On.

The other was for a live Beausoleil album from Jazz Fest recorded by an outfit called MunckMusic which records CDs of live sets at festivals and sells them to fans on-site. Steve Riley's album, also recorded at Jazz Fest, was also nominated.

"I've never even heard it," Doucet told me.

"Wouldn't it be ironic if that's the album that won you a Grammy?" I replied.

He admitted to an irony, that in fact occured this evening, when Beausoleil won the Grammy for that live recording.

Congratulations to Beausoleil, and to Pete Seeger for taking home a Grammy for his Appleseed recording At 89.

Neck deep in the big muddy

And the big fool says to push on.

Marking the death of the 4,000 American soldier (how is it we always leave Iraqui dead out of this equation), we listen to Dick Cheney equivocate and Pete Seeger and Mark Erelli sing.

Rise up singing

Fashion week has just ended in New York, so, the Times is following the obvious post-fashion-week trend - large group singalongs.

Yes. that's Sally Rogers leading a group sing in a photo taken in Michigan. And yes, singalongs, or mostly folk songs, has suddenly grown in favor again.

If you like to sing, and aren't one of the 800,000 or so who own a copy of the marvelous, Rise Up Singing, you need to get a copy. It's a book, that time and again answers the question, "How's that old song go?" The Times ladles glory on Peter Blood and Annie Patterson for putting the book together and keeping it in circulation.

You won't find songs much past the sixties in the book, but whether it's South Australia, or If I Only Had a Brain, you'll find all the lyrics and easily manageable chords.

Having been to a few singalongs where this book has been the central reference, I can only commend it. It's corny, but righteous.

Pete Seeger film at Real Art Ways

There's been a movement afoot to have Pete Seeger nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and there's barely anyone I can consider who deserves one more. He certainly is more an ambassador for peace than many who have received the award.

While nearly everyone knows his name, his hours of glory and ignominy ran together in the fifties and sixties when his music was in the ears, hearts and minds of the people of this country and the world with songs like "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and "If I Had a Hammer." And when the musical group he was part of, The Weavers, had "hits" during what Pete himself coined as "the folk scare." That renown was balanced against the anti-communist fervor of the day when Pete, and many other folksingers, were hauled in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify.

Jim Brown's new documentary "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," demonstrates why Seeger is truly one of the greatest living Americans. The film opens tonight at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

What would Woody do?

Woody Guthrie archive director Jorge Arévalo Mateus will conduct an interest presentation about the influence of our foremost American singer-songwriter and travelling troubador.

Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, Pete Seeger's grandson, and leader of the new-folk band, The Mammals, will perform.

Concerts of the week - Reggae Got Soul

Toots and the Maytals Thursday June 14 - Webster Theater, Hartford

If we are to believe Toots himself, reggae owes its very existence to Mr. Hibbert (He was the first to use the word in a song lyric). His songs are exuberant classics, and his early works reflect the growing influence of rock-steady. After a stint in prison, he partnered with legendary producer Leslie Kong, and released, what is still a very powerful, and very personal prison protest song about depersonlization called 54-46 That's My Number. That was followed by hits like Monkey Man, and two songs (Sweet and Dandy, Pressure Drop) which propelled him to international recognition as part of the soundtrack of the film, The Harder They Come. James Brown called himself the hardest working man in showbiz. He may never have seen Toots. After 45 years of performing, he shows no ebb in energy or vocal power. A Toots concert is not one to be forgotten soon.

Clearwater Festival - Great Hudson River Revival June 16-17 Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY

If you are amongst the many who think Pete Seeger deserves the Nobel Peace Prize (and there is a movement afoot), this festival, which will undoubtably be amongst the most political/environmental of the year, you may want to head to the banks of the Hudson. Joining Pete onstage are Leo Kottke, Buffy Ste. Marie, Bruce Cockburn, the Cowboy Junkies and many others.

The Great Connecticut Cajun/Zydeco Music and Art Festival June 15-17, Sunrise Resort, Moodus CT

For several years two local Cajun/Zydeco festivals competed for an audience on the very same weekend. A few years ago, they decided to co-exist on adjacent weekends. It makes Eastern Connecticut a destination for French Louisianan and Texan musicians, and the dancers who clamor to hear, and move to the music. This year the "Moodus" festival, as it's known among the regulars, leans heavily toward the zydeco circuit with appearances by Keith Frank, Step Rideau, Brian Jack, Big Red and the Zydeco Playmakers and Dora and the Badboyz. The wonderful Basin Brothers are going to have to carry all the Cajun music weight, but they're up to it.

Step Rideau plays Second Street, Eunice LA