Were Pete Seeger alive, he'd be 100 on Friday. Chances are he'd still be singing. Chances are that we would, too.
To mark the centenary, venues around the region are hosting talks, concerts and other events celebrating the folk legend — including a few that are likely to erupt in singalongs. No Seeger birthday weekend would be complete without them.
"Pete Seeger spread this idea of music that was participatory. It wasn't just something that you listen to on the radio or consumed by buying records — it was this thing you were a part of," said Jesse Jarnow, author of the 2018 book "Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the American Soul." "You sang along. You understood the legacy of these songs and where they came from."
A music journalist, musician, radio deejay and author of other books on American music and culture, Jarnow will bring a multimedia presentation on Seeger's life in song to local libraries and other locations over the weekend, participating in a lineup of free programming organized by The Egg as part of its NY Living Legacy project. Additional Seeger-centennial events dotting the region include two Friday concerts — one at the Guilderland Public Library, the other a Happy Traum fundraiser at The Linda — and a May 23 show at The Egg featuring Arlo Guthrie and a "baker's dozen" of others. (See accompanying box.)
Seeger's legacy can be broken down into two parts, Jarnow said. First up is that participatory component. The second, related piece is his conception of music as "a long-term community organizing tool. You know, the phrase 'protest music' often gets attached to people like Pete Seeger, and I think that's an extreme disservice to what he actually did, which was using music to build on causes and build on communities over the course of decades."
For his...
