This year’s celebration of Pete Seeger will be an historic one. It’s Pete’s 100th birthday! So in addition to having a rollicking good time, featuring many of Pete’s favorite songs, sing-alongs and compositions, you might also discover something you did not know about Pete’s amazing and inspirational life. We will attempt in a two-hour program to cover many, if not most, of the different phases of his career, from his upbringing in a highly musical family and early influences through more than 75 years as a performer. Artists include Piedmont Blüz, Bev Grant, Hudson Valley Sally, Lindsey Wilson, Mike Glick, Vincent Cross, and others – maybe even a surprise guest or two! This concert will be a benefit for the Peoples’ Voice Cafe.

Celebrating Pete Seeger’s 100th birthday in music & dance

Featuring the Vanaver Caravan & special guests Happy Traum, Tom Chapin, Maria Muldaur and the Southern Dutchess Coalition Choir. Includes more than 20 of Pete’s beloved songs, from children’s tunes to activist anthems, including We Shall Overcome, Big Muddy, Wimoweh, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, and of course, Turn Turn Turn. The show features a variety of dance styles, from clogging to swing and Zulu gumboot dancing, and uses historical photos and recordings to take viewers on a journey through American history. Audiences leave the theater humming Pete’s timeless songs, moved by his enduring message, and inspired to make our world a better place.

Tom Paxton and the DonJuans

Tom Paxton’s career has taken him from his days as a drama student at the University of Oklahoma to thousands of concerts in venues ranging from coffee houses in Greenwich Village to the Albert Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York. He has done over fifty concert tours in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland and has recorded more than fifty albums of his own songs.

The DonJuans:

Grammy-winning songwriter Jon Vezner is a tunesmith of rare sensitivity and dry wit. His catalog of songs reads like a songbook itself, recorded by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Steve Wariner, the Wiggins, Clay Walker, Diamond Rio, BJ Thomas, Janis Ian, John Mellencamp, Nancy Griffith, Judy Collins, and more.

Don Henry is another Grammy-winning writer whose songs have been recorded by Lonestar, Rosie Flores, the Thompson Brothers Band, Bryan White, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, and many more.

www.TomPaxton.com

Tickets $30 in advance / Brown Paper Tickets
$35 at door

Come to this stirring celebration of the life and work of Pete Seeger on the 100th anniversary of his birth!

Songleader/performers. This concert will feature Annie Patterson & Peter Blood (the creators of the songbooks Rise Up Singing and Rise Again) along with Emma’s Revolution (Pat Humphries & Sandy O) and Charlie King – all of whom worked closely with Pete during his lifetime.

Singing together. We will be singing out of If I Had a Hammer, a new collection of songs that Pete wrote or was great at performing and leading which we are creating specially to honor his 100th anniversary. Copies will be available to borrow or buy at the concert – or you can buy copies now and pick them up when you arrive.

Solidarity. This concert is a benefit for Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services. IRIS provides a variety of services to refugees and immmigrants in Connecticut. The concert will also celebrate and shine a light on the many other groups working in the region for the things Pete and Toshi believed in and worked for. If your organization would like to table during intermission, please contact Paul Hamm

Likely the best known folk singer of all time, Pete Seeger’s career as a musician was highlighted by great popular success with the group The Weavers and songs such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “If I Had a Hammer”; Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award, a National Medal of Arts, induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame; and author of one of the most influential instrumental instruction books ever published “How to Play the 5-String Banjo.”  He used his music to further social, humanitarian and environmental causes – most notably in the founding of the Clearwater in an effort to save the Hudson River, and one of his closest musical associates Arlo Guthrie will be joined by a baker’s dozen of artists including Amythyst Kiah, Cary Morin, Dan Zanes & Claudia Eliaza,  Dar Williams, David Gonzalez, Guy Davis,  Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton, Taina Asili,  Tony Trischka, Toshi Reagon and Bill & Livia Vanaver  – that are keeping his message alive for an evening of music, dance and poetry inspired by Pete Seeger in celebration of his centennial.

Net proceeds from the concert will benefit Clearwater, Caffe Lena and WAMC Public Radio.

The Beacon Sloop Club Annual Strawberry Festival will be held on Sunday, June 9, 2019 the Beacon Sloop Club will hold its annual Strawberry Festival at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park from 12-5 pm. This favorite local event is free to the public and features two music stages, strawberry shortcake and other treats, educational displays and children’s activities, and dozens of food and craft vendors.

Riverfront Park in Beacon is one of the most beautiful public spaces on the Hudson River. Festival visitors will find a wide range of activities right at the water’s edge. At the center of the festival is the Strawberry Tent, where fresh made strawberry shortcakes, as well as strawberry smoothies and chocolate-covered strawberries are available for purchase. Along the perimeter of the picnic grounds dozens of craft vendors sell handmade goods and food vendors offer a variety of lunch options. Along with many free children’s activities there is an environmental education tent with displays and speakers on subjects concerning the Hudson River, pollution, and other environmental issues.