Claire.

Larry Long’s American Roots Revue has been awarded a 2014 Arts Tour Minnesota Grant through Community Celebration of Place (501-C3). American Roots Revue will perform in five greater Minnesota communities for forgotten populations and audiences in partnership with homeless shelters, incarceration facilities, and community and veterans organizations.

In each community American Roots Revue will celebrate in story and song the many nations of people who now call this country home. The performance will draw upon the musical roots of the Anishinabe-Ojibwe Nation, Pete Seeger, Mahalia Jackson, Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday to the present day.
Featuring gospel powerhouse Tonia Hughes, gifted activist songwriter Larry Long, creative dynamo J.D. Steele, and keeper and singer of the song Waubanewquay – Dorene Day. With Marc Anderson (percussion), Cory Wong (guitar), Billy Peterson (Bass) and Brian Ziemniak (Keyboards).

One day prior to each American Root Revue celebration Larry Long will facilitate a collective songwriting session with those who are served by host community organizations. Their song will be performed by American Roots Revue on performance day.

Performance dates & locations

June 28, 2014: Duluth, Minnesota in partnership with Peace United Church of Christ and Churches United in Ministry (CHUM).

July 31, 2014: St. Cloud, Minnesota in partnership with Hands Across The World, which serves immigrants from East and West Africa, Central Africa, Ukraine, South America, Central America, Nepal, Vietnam, India, Middle East, Pakistan, Iraq and Mexico.

July 24, 2014: Cass Lake, Minnesota in partnership with Leech Lake Boys & Girls Club, Cass Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

August 15, 2014: Crookston, Minnesota in partnership with the Crookston Chamber & Visitor’s Bureau, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Committee, and Bring a Vet Home.

August 23, 2014 Detroit Lakes, Minnesota in partnership with The Refuge, who runs a regional homeless shelter for men serving Becker, Wadena, Hubbard, Mahnomen, and Otter Tail Counties, called the Compassion House.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Pete Seeger was a giant of a man, who walked humbly on this earth.  He changed the course of history by changing the lives of everyone he met.  He inspired us all to be a little less selfish and more courageous in our giving.  He carried the memories of the people in the songs he wrote, the songs he sang, the stories he told, and the decisions he made daily to stand for justice from wherever he stood.   

Pete Seeger co-wrote We Shall Overcome during the Mississippi Freedom Summer campaign in 1964.   He was a World War II veteran who was a champion of the labor and anti-Vietnam War movement, as well.

Pete Seeger was truly a remarkable man.  He cared deeply for his neighbors, and we cared for him, because the entire world was his neighborhood.   His kitchen table was filled with letters that arrived daily from those who loved him.  He would separate those letters in piles and meticulously go through each one of them with hand written responses in the margins or on postcards with a sketch of a banjo by his name, Pete.

I met Pete Seeger through the former Farmer-Labor Governor of Minnesota, Elmer Benson.   After singing songs in support of the family farmer in the American Agriculture Movement’s strike office in Appleton, Minnesota, Governor Benson said, “You remind me of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.   Pete and Woody use to travel through Minnesota and sing for the lumberjacks and miners who were on strike.”

One month later, after arriving in Washington DC on a hundred mile long tractorcade for parity, I get a call from Pete Seeger through Governor Benson’s prompting, who shared stories with me about singing for striking dairy farmers at our nation’s capitol and gave me encouragement to keep singing for the people.

When they honored Governor Elmer Benson at the Prom Center in St. Paul in the late 70’s Pete brought me up on stage to sing with him.

I loved him as a father.  I loved him as a friend.   I would call him up on the phone at odd hours from the road. Sometimes we would talk for hours. Other times for only a few minutes, but no matter how long we talked, I always felt a whole lot better after we did. Conversations with Pete had no end, they just kept flowing into laughter and inspiration to keep on trying to make this world a little bit better than what it was when it was handed down to us.

I was asked to perform at Madison Square Garden with Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Ramblin Jack Elliot, Kris Kristofferson, Richie Havens, and others for his 90^th Birthday celebration, which raised funds for the Clearwater Project Pete founded to help save the Hudson River. The moment most remembered was when Pete Seeger sang Amazing Grace and all 20,000 people stood up singing.

Pete Seeger gave us all a voice and the encouragement to keep on singing and making a

difference.
As Pete told me years ago,  “Try and do a good job with the people you know near you. It’s nice to travel. But – and I suppose while you’re young it’s the best time to travel. You can learn by traveling. The world can be your University, as Maxim Gorky once said.  But in the long run, find this part of the world that you really like that you can stick to.  It might be the same town you were raised in, but it might be another place. It might be a valley, it might be a desert, it might be a swamp, but find some area that you really like enough, so you’re going to stick there the rest of your life.”

Pete then shared, “Everywhere I go I tell this: When I meet somebody who says there’s really no hope – – you know, things are going to get from worse to worse, and this is the last century of the human race, I tell them: ‘Did you expect to see our great Watergate president leave office the way he did?’ They say, ‘No, I guess I didn’t. I say, ‘Did you expect the Pentagon to have to leave Vietnam the way it did?’ They say, ‘No, I didn’t.’ I say, ‘Did you expect to see the Berlin Wall come down so peacefully, the way it did?’ They say, ‘No, I really didn’t expect that.’ Then I say, ‘Did you expect to see Mandela head of South Africa?’ They say, ‘Oh no, no I really didn’t expect that, I thought he’d rot in jail forever, the rest of his life.’ ‘Well,’ I say, ‘If you couldn’t predict those things, don’t be confident that you can predict there’s no hope.”

It’s now our turn to carry that torch of justice, equity, and freedom out into the world. We’ve got work to do.  There’s a job to be done.  The future of our children depends upon it!

For Pete’s Sake

For Pete’s sake keep those rivers clean
The Hudson, Amazon, Volga, Nile, Yangtze, Ganges, Mississippi

(Chorus)
There ain’t no body in the whole wide world like Pete (2x)
There ain’t nobody in the whole wide world
Like each and every boy and girl
There ain’t nobody in the whole wide world like Pete

For Pete’s sake find a place you love to be
Stick with it, care for it
The whole world depends on it
All it takes is one good song
To help the world sing-a-long
(Chorus)

Sail away, sail away, sail on Clearwater
Sail away, sail away, sail on Clearwater

Words & music by Larry Long

Copyright Larry Long 2014 / BMI

 

American Roots Revue is returning to the Dakota this January for two shows on January 18. If you missed their last shows in November, now is the perfect opportunity to experience this amazing group of musicians all on stage at the same time. From the press release:

Back by popular demand after two sold-out shows at the Dakota in November, gospel great Robert Robinson; the unstoppably creative dynamo J.D. Steele; R&B powerhouse Tonia Hughes and gifted songwriter Larry Long will return with a band of musicians second to none on Saturday, January 18th. Together for an explosive new show at the Dakota, they will warm up your January with their powerful and heart-warming performances from the vibrant traditions of gospel, jazz, rhythm & blues, folk and rock. For this Martin Luther King weekend, join them in celebrating the ties that bind us together through a shared love of music rooted in the American experience. 

We hope to see you there! And to keep up with all the latest updates on the show, be sure to visit Larry on Facebook.

American Roots Revue is giving away two free tickets for Friday’s 9pm show at the Dakota. All you need to do is head on over to the American Roots Revue Facebook page, hit that nifty Like button, and enter. We’ll pick the winner at noon on Thursday, so get while the gettin’ good!

I want free tickets >

[youtube]g4buG-jvGFo[/youtube]

On Tuesday, July 9th, the world lost a beloved cornerstone of the traditional music world: Toshi-Aline Ohta Seeger, aged 91. Toshi was the wife of Pete Seeger or–perhaps more fittingly–Pete Seeger was the husband of Toshi.  She passed away just a few days shy of their 70th Wedding Anniversary.

As Mark Moss (SingOut!) wrote in his tribute, “[Toshi] was a mother, an organizer, an activist and filmmaker … and an essential part of all of her husband’s work.” (singout.org/toshi-seeger-passes)

Toshi was a dear friend to many, including me. And she was tough as nails. She had to be.

Pete was on the road performing and doing benefits for countless organizations through most of their married life, and Toshi kept the home fires burning in their modest log cabin home perched above the Hudson River.

Years ago Pete tacked up a cartoon on one of those cabin walls. It showed a very exhausted housewife holding two children in one arm, washing the dishes with the other, wearing a dirty apron, phone pressed to one ear, saying, “No, my husband’s not at home right now. He’s off saving the world.”

Pete crossed out the word “he’s” and scribbled his own name above it.

Toshi worked tirelessly behind the scenes throughout Pete’s public life.  Pete was the sails. Toshi was the rudder that kept them both afloat.  She handled most of the details of their shared life and helped keep Pete humble.

As Pete got older, Toshi made sure that someone was always keeping a close eye on him when he was out on the road.  On one occasion I was elected to be that person.  When she learned that Pete and I would be performing at the same conference in California, she asked me to pick him up at the airport, stay at the same place, and drive Pete wherever he needed to be.

In later years, as this amazingly strong and independent woman needed twenty-four hour care, it was Pete and their daughter Tinya watching over Toshi.

I learned about Toshi’s passing from a neighbor walking her dog by our home yesterday. She asked if I had heard about Toshi Seeger passing away. I hadn’t.

My neighbor heard about her death through what my First Nation friends call the “moccasin express.” A sister had died, and the people knew it.   Which is how Toshi lived her life: Close to the ground and close to the people. Just how it should be.

There will never be another Toshi-Aline Ohta Seeger, but her life and legacy will no doubt inspire countless others to walk their talk in her footsteps.

Community Celebration of Place has been nominated for a 2013 Nonprofit Mission Award for our work in communities and schools. From their website:

Through its Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song™ program, Community Celebration of Place works to eliminate prejudice and racism in society by demonstrating a commitment to pluralism and [inclusivity], and developing unique and thought-provoking strategies to combat racism.

To learn more, visit their website.

Join Larry Long and Community Celebration of Place on May 30, 2013, from 9am to 1pm, for the Youth & Elders’ Circle 2013 to celebrate the elders honored by Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song during the 2012-2013 school year as well as all the elders honored through the EWCS program.

The event will feature Jazz Legends Irv Williams and Cliff Brunzell with brothers Billy & Paul Peterson, Mini-Documentary “Be Kind To All That Live” in honor of Helen Tsuchiya, release of two story song books & three sound recordings from Elizabeth Hall International and Barton Elementary students, performance of “Forgiveness” and “Be The Change”, Youth & Elders from throughout the metro area, Round Table Discussions led by Dare 2 Be Real Student Leaders and free Soul Food lunch with vegetarian option.

To RSVP

When

Thursday, May 30, 2013
Program from 9am – 1pm (lunch provided)

Where

North Community YMCA Youth & Teen Enrichment Center
1711 West Broadway Avenue, Mpls.
Matt Kjorstad: 612-302-7272

On February 12, 2013, EWCS honored Anishinabe Ojibwe elder Pat Bellanger at the Sanford Middle School celebration. Bellanger is a founding member of the American Indian Movement and shared her story with students, who wrote the song Awanakwe to honor Bellanger. You can read more about Pat Bellanger in the article posted on The Circle this month. Watch the video of the performance on YouTube.

From the History Theatre’s website:

With Labor organizations and Unions under attack on the political battlefield, now is the perfect time to reflect on the life of one of Minnesota’s most important labor activists and civil rights leaders! Nellie had played an important part in Hubert H. Humphrey’s history, on both the local level and the national stage, and made a tangible difference in the lives of those she worked with and all of the people of Minnesota.

For more information:

Passport to History events:
http://www.historytheatre.com/event

On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/152916948194808/?notif_t=plan_edited

The Martin Luther King Day Celebration will celebrate Inaugural of the President , the election of the 113 new members to Congress, the new members to Senate and the House of Representatives, and the defeat of the two state amendments.

Will include Food, cash bar. Entertainment, Dancing, and highlights of the Inauguration. There will even be cut-outs of the President and Vice-President for pictures

Ticket Prices:
Pre-Sale  $20
At the Door $25
College Students  w/student ID $10 (At the Door)
Groups of 10 or more $15/ticket (Pre-Sale Only)
No Charge for children 0 – High School Seniors accompanied by parent or guardian

On November 15, 2012, the Okemah city council voted to make the song Okemah Waltz the official city song. Speaking before the council voted, Larry McKinney, who worked with Larry back in 1988, spoke about his first conversations with Larry, who was looking to come to Okemah and teach the children about Woody Guthrie.

Initially hesitant, he eventually agreed, and Larry spent three years in Okemah working with the schools and children. Larry’s album It Takes A Lot of People (Tribute to Woody Guthrie), came out of that work as did the new official Okemah song, Okemah Waltz.

Read the article from the Okemah Leader here.

Download Okemah Waltz notation (PDF)

Larry joined Dale Connelly in the KFAI studio this Wednesday to talk about his song, Water In the Rain, which honors the 38 Dakota men who were hanged on December 26, 1862, following the US-Dakota War of 1862. To listen to the interview and hear Larry singing Water In the Rain, you can visit the KFAI website. Fresh Air will be replaying the interview on December 26, between 7:00 – 9:00 am, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the hanging.