Tomorrow night at A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, I'll be co-hosting the screening of "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" with folk musician and my Colonial Place neighbor Bob Zentz.
Bob asked me to be part of the screening -- organized by the Naro Expanded Cinema and Elightened Cinema at A.R.E. -- because I'm a Seeger fan, but also because I have a family connection to the great folk family.
I won't go into too much detail here, but, in essence, Pete Seeger and his parents camped at my great-grandmother and great-grandfather McKenzie's farm outside Pinehurst, N.C., way back in the 1920s.
The story gets told in "Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book."
"Mother and Father ended up becoming good friends with the McKenzies," Pete writes. "One night they took their instruments up to the McKenzies' farmhouse to show their generous hosts what kind of music they played ... The McKenzies sat there politely and said 'Oh, that's very nice. We play a little music, too.' And they took their fiddles and banjos down off the wall and proceeded to fiddle up a storm."
Bob Zentz sent out the following message this week about Saturday's screening:
"You are invited to join us for an encore screening and live music Hootenanny on Saturday February 2nd, 7pm at the A.R.E., Atlantic Ave at Virginia Beach. As Hosts, Sam McDonald and I will introduce the Film, then following the show, we'll have a session of Song- in the 'Seeger Tradition, featuring; Amy Ferebee, Regina Sanford, Greg Anderson, Skye Zentz, Jim Newsom and Dustin Hogue admissions are $10.
This must-see film is a saga, a drama, a 'musical' and an honest tribute to a man who has dedicated his life and music to the causes of Freedom, Equality, Peace and Environmental Sanity. Bring your voice! You'll want to join in ... The Naro Expanded Cinema and Enlightened Cinema at the A.R.E. appreciate your passing the word along....Hope to see you there!
Sweet Songs..."
4 comments:
Bummer! I wish I could be there. Sometimes I hate my job cause I have to miss cool stuff. Can't wait to hear all about it!
Nice post.
On an unrelated note, I have two tips for you:
First, Thao Nguyen. Grew up in northern Virginia. Recently graduated from William & Mary. Has a record coming out on Kill Rock Stars -- her second, I think.
Second, uh, Seven Mary Three. Yup. Cumbersome. Icky. But they have a new record coming out. The ad in Paste says something like: You've never heard them like this before. The only thing that makes me curious is that Brian Paulson is listed as a producer. He's got a pretty good track record.
Thanks, Joe! Seven Mary Three is poised to make the inevitable comeback America has been waiting for!
Funny, I'd heard one of those Thao songs on Paul's show and he talked about her being sort of local ... Thanks for shedding the light.
Oh, and has your blog started yet?
My blog has not started. I'm being slow about it.
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