Larry Long will be joining Anne Feeney, Bucky Halker, Lil’ Rev, JP Wright, Jan Hammarlund, Paul Metsa, Emmett Doyle, and the Twin Cities Labor Chrous to celebrate Joe Hill! WHERE: EAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY, 1105 GREENBRIER STREET, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA WHEN: SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015, 2:30 – 4:30 PM
The East Side Freedom Library is honored to be hosting the Saint Paul stop of the Joe Hill 100 Roadshow, a tour commemorating the memory of the Swedish immigrant IWW singer/organizer, executed in Utah 100 years ago. Organized by the musicians themselves, this tour is sweeping across the Midwest and beyond. Among the performers will be:
Anne Feeney, the Pittsburgh-based singer/activist, has been performing on stages and picket lines since 1991. At last count, Anne has performed in 41 states and more than a dozen counties and has recorded nine cd’s, including such favorites as “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?” and “Dump the Bosses Off Your Back.” She has also organized a rape crisis center in Pittsburgh.
Bucky Halker earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota in the early 1980s but does not refer to himself as “Dr.” Halker. Bucky is well-known for his electric and electrifying versions of labor favorites and for his work preserving historic folk and labor music. With the Illinois Humanities Council, he has produced a five volume cd series, “Folksongs of Illinois,” and he has recorded 13 cd’s of his own, including “Welcome to Labor Land” and “Don’t Want Your Millions.”
John Paul Wright hails from Lexington, Kentucky, where he has been a railroad engineer and union activist as well as a labor songster. JP has been a leading organizer of Railroad Workers United, an organization which continues Eugene V. Debs’ dream of one big railroad workers’ union and which has been a particularly strong voice for railroad workers’ concerns with public safety. JP’s cd’s include “Born Union” and “Music for Modern Railroaders.”
Lil’ Rev grew up in Milwaukee, where he has worked as a bus driver and a grade school teacher, as well as a labor troubadour. He has authored eight instructional books on ukele playing, and he has recorded 15 cd’s, including 2 volumes of “Fountain of Uke.”
Jan Hammarlund has come all the way from Sweden to join the tour. He recorded his first album in 1972, a collection of protest songs against the Vietnam War. Since then, he has recorded ten cd’s, ranging from interpretations of Italian and Chilean music for Swedish audiences to musical commentaries on the work of Bertolt Brecht and Malvina Reynolds. Jan has also been a strong voice for GLBT rights in Sweden.
These touring musicians will be joined in Saint Paul by some local talent:
Paul Metsa hails from the Iron Range and has become well-known locally not only as live performer and recording artist (six cd’s), but also as an author and radio show host. In 2011 the University of Minnesota published his memoir, BLUE GUITAR HIGHWAY, and many of us enjoy his “Wall of Power” radio show on 950AM KTNF, broadcast live on Saturdays at 6PM and re-broadcast on Sundays at noon. Twin Cities labor activists have a special appreciation for his song, “Slow Justice,” which he first performed on the picket lines during the Hormel strike in Austin in 1986.
Emmett Doyle grew up in Collegeville and is now a popular presence in the Twin Cities folk and protest music scene. He is also appreciated for his use of the internet as a vehicle to encourage the non-commercial distribution of his passionate music.
The Twin Cities Labor Chorus will also join the celebration. They were organized in January 2009 and have since performed at labor gatherings, meetings, and protests across the state. They have 30 dedicated members who rehearse and perform under the direction of Josh Whitney Wise, who has also been a leader in the Twin Cities Fair Trade Coalition.
Larry Long is an American singer-songwriter who has made his life work the celebration of everyday heroes. Author, historian, actor, and broadcaster Studs Terkel called Larry “a true American Troubadour.” Larry has written and performed hundreds of ballads celebrating community and history makers. Larry produced “Live From Austin: Boycott Hormel”, which raised thousands of dollars to help P-9 displaced workers and their families. As an active member of Local 1000, American Federation of Musicians, Larry continues to perform and give support to organized labor whenever he is called.
MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND THIS HISTORIC EVENT
SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015, 2:30 – 4:30 PM
EAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY, 1105 GREENBRIER STREET, SAINT PAUL
The East Side Freedom Library is a newly organized 501c3 nonprofit, located in the historic Carnegie Library building which served for 97 years as the Arlington Hills Public Library. The immediate neighborhood around the Library was long a center of Swedish immigrant life, and in recent years it has been made a home by Hmong, Mexican, Karen, Salvadoran, Somali, and African American newcomers. The ESFL is dedicated to providing resources and programs which will enable community residents to tell their own stories in multiple formats (books, poetry, theater, music, visual art, and more) and to learn from each other. For more information, please see http://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org.