Ten Pound Fiddle Closes Out Season With Pete Seeger Tribute

If there was a Mount Rushmore to honor the trailblazing icons of folk music, Pete Seeger’s face would surely be displayed prominently, alongside other singer-songwriters like Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan.

Because of this, the Ten Pound Fiddle will close out their 2018-19 season with a birthday tribute to Seeger, who would have been 100 years old on May 3.

Master musician, storyteller, and songwriter Mark Dvorak (above) will help to lead the Seeger tribute at the Ten Pound Fiddle Concert series Friday, April 26 at 7:30 PM at the MSU Community Music School.

Seeger’s influence on music has been felt throughout the years, from Peter, Paul, and Mary and The Byrds, to more contemporary artists such as Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Mary Gauthier, and the Indigo Girls, just to name a few. Seeger’s songs have been covered by many artists, with the most popular being The Byrds’ cover of “Turn! Turn! Turn!”.

“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and his cover of the Guthrie classic “This Land Is Your Land” are two of Seeger’s most famous protest songs.

For Dvorak, a native of Chicago, Seeger’s music has been one of the many reasons Dvorak decided to become a singer-songwriter. Dvorak, a guitarist and banjo player, is a faculty member at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

“Pete’s influence is profound,” Dvorak said. “I still learn things from his book, ‘How to Play the 5-String Banjo,’ and I’ve read through ‘The Incomplete Folk Singer’ about a dozen times at least. I began to learn to read music from his ‘Henpecks and Chicken Scratching’s’. Pete’s own songwriting taught me to not be afraid of tackling a broad subject. His sense of melody informed my own composing, and his vast repertoire pointed me in the direction of soaking in lots of influences and learning lots and lots of songs. I listened and learned from so many other artists who followed in Pete’s musical footsteps: Frank Hamilton, Erik Darling, Art Thieme, Fred Holstein and Michael Cooney.”

Seeger was on the front lines of the social justice movements in the 50s and 60s. The icon is also famous for almost taking an axe to Dylan’s power when he decided to go electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Dvorak said that, in addition to Seeger, the protest music of the Vietnam War helped to ignite his love of music. Dylan’s influence was there, too.

“Young people were still using music to inspire and inform,” Dvorak said. “Just after high school I read Anthony Scaduto’s biography of Bob Dylan. In those years I loved Bob Dylan. I wanted to be Bob Dylan. Then after I finished reading the book, I didn’t want to be him anymore. In the book Dylan called Pete Seeger “a saint.” At that time I had of course heard of Pete, but was unaware that he had a hand in getting some of our best-known folk songs heard, and that he had actually written some of them: ‘If I Had a Hammer,’ ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!,’ ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’ and on and on.”

For the Seeger birthday celebration, Dvorak’s main role as song leader will be to engage the audience as well as the musicians onstage.

It is a role Dvorak takes seriously.

“I always have had a lot fun singing along with others as well as taking a turn in leading others in song,” Dvorak said. “To me it is a form of entertainment unique to our world of folk song. And when everyone gets going, it is a very uplifting and transformative experience. Not every song is well-suited to group participation and at the same time, not every group is ready to jump in and help create a spirited, improvised musical moment.”

The main goal of the celebration is unity, according to Dvorak, and he thinks Seeger would be proud to see other musicians taking up the mantle to engage audiences in activism, politics, and stage mannerisms. And, most importantly, teaching that peace is possible.

“Pete always used music as a response to the ongoing hatred and conflict in the world,” Dvorak said. “I think he taught that it’s okay to be enraged but it’s more effective for peace-loving people to unite and organize. Singing together is an affirming and uplifting experience. To celebrate Pete on his centennial says something about all he has given us as an artist and teacher. As a community leader, singing together is a way of saying to our friend and mentor that we are grateful and we’ll do our best. Together, we’ll take it from here.”

Sally Potter, Concert Booker for the Ten Pound Fiddle, couldn’t think of a better way to end the concert series than with Dvorak and a tribute to Seeger.

“Mark is one of the top song leaders in the country, and knows Seeger's material very well,” Potter said. “He shared the stage with Seeger on several occasions, and was a part of a well-known tribute band, WeaverMania!, which shared the songs of the 50s folk revival group, The Weavers.”

Potter went on to add, “We are very fortunate to have him this weekend this close to Seeger's actual 100th birthday.”

Tickets are $20 public; $18 Fiddle Members; $5 students. For more information, visit tenpoundfiddle.org.