Keep the flame alive of Pete Seeger & American Folk Music with Spook Handy’s most important CD yet!

 “Pete Woody & Me, Volume I – Keep the Flame Alive”

After playing alongside Pete Seeger more than 50 times from 2003 to 2013, I am   recording a CD and touring throughout the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the globe to share Pete’s songs, stories and message because  I am determined to “KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE."  I need your help!

It may come as a surprise to those who know me and my mission that I knew very little about Pete Seeger before we met in 2003.  I had heard his name and knew he had written "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had a Hammer," but I had no idea what an amazing human being he was.  After getting to know him, I agree with Harry Belafonte that Pete's image should be carved into Mount Rushmore.  Pete was as much the embodiment of the American Soul as the others represented there.

What got me most about Pete was his belief that we have all the tools we need to shape ourselves and our world into what we wish them to be.  For some, these tools are within our grasp.  For some, they are at arm’s length.  And for others, they are just beyond arm’s length.  But they are still attainable IF we work together.  That belief - that message - was embedded in all of Pete's songs and stories, all of his actions and in every interaction he had with others.  I share that belief wholeheartedly.  I feel it is so important that it MUST be made more present in our public consciousness.  So, I set out shortly after Pete passed to share that message everywhere I go.  It is the thread that holds the "Keep the Flame Alive" CD and the "Remembering Pete Seeger" World Tour together.

                       "Love Wins" Concert - September 11, 2011, Kimmel Theater, NYC

The Songs and the Artists

Here's what you'll find on “Pete, Woody and Me, Volume I – Keep the Flame Alive.”   It will be a collection of six Pete Seeger songs, two Woody Guthrie songs that influenced Pete, and four of my songs profoundly influenced by Pete.  All of them, in one way or another, sing of the tools available to us and where to find them. 

The dozen songs span the spectrum of old to new; songs sung in their familiar style or closer to Pete’s original style.  Some songs will be sung in a completely new way.  Some are pure fun.  Some are a call to arms.  Some are performed solo or with my band.  Some will feature special guests like:

• David Amram (the human intersection of folk, jazz, classical, and movie music)
• Freebo (bass player who played with Bonnie Raitt and many others)
• Catie Curtis (acclaimed singer-songwriter)
• The Local 1000 Traveling Musicians Union Singers
• 23 young singers from Oklahoma
• Paul Prestopino (who toured and recorded as a backup musician for Peter Paul & Mary and John Denver)
• Ron Greenstein (bass player for the Chad Mitchell Trio)
• and Bob Harris (who played on and produced Johnny Cash recordings).

You Can Help Keep the Flame Alive

With your help through this Indiegogo campaign, the CD will be distributed and promoted all over North America and beyond.  It will be supported by my “Remembering Pete Seeger” World Tour of all 50 U.S. states, all 11 Canadian provinces, and as many other countries as possible (and all 21 New Jersey counties) - in arts centers, concert halls and theaters, schools and senior centers, colleges and churches.  You can read all about it at www.spookhandy.com/wp/pete.  You can help Keep the Flame Alive with your support of this campaign.

                       

I will tell you all about How I Met Pete and "Founder’s Disease" in a future video - so stay tuned.

Above is a picture from the very last "Pete Seeger and Friends" concert.  At age 94 with his voice, dexterity and memory barely working anymore, Pete gave a concert of pure love and humanity.  It was the last time I saw Pete and in many ways it was the best concert he ever gave.  David Amram – recipient of the 2nd annual Pete and Toshi Seeger Power of Song Award - said this after Pete passed:

“Spook Handy honors the spirit of Pete Seeger, so excellently, by sharing the music with everyone - on stage and in the audience - in the same way that Pete did.  He makes music the star.  That’s why Pete loved to play with him so often.”  If any of that is true, it is because I learned it from Pete.

         To make this happen and do it right, I need your help.  Here are the numbers:

                       TOTAL BUDGET: $33,742 - OUR GOAL: Raise $20,000
                     ($30,000 will allow us to promote this CD much better)

$18,000 Recording & Mixing - includes costs for studio, producer and musicians. (Producer Bob Harris has recorded or produced Johnny Cash, Vassar Clements, Si Kahn, Joe Jencks, Girly Man, Mara Levine, and hundreds of others including more than a dozen songs that have charted in the top 10.)
$1,000 Mastering
$1,956 Royalties
$160    Copyright registration
$1,200 Artwork, Graphics, Photography and Layout
$3,426 Duplication of CD plus 12-page booklet of lyrics and stories
$5,000 Radio Promotion, Marketing, and other PR
$3,000 Tour Outreach Fund – allows me to bring the music to Senior Centers, Schools and other venues that bring the flame to those who can’t afford concert tickets.

If we do not reach our goal, all funds raised will go toward the completion of this project. Keeping the Flame Alive is too important for me not to complete, no matter what.

    

You Will be Rewarded With Perks

Your help will not go unappreciated or unrewarded.  Please take a look at the unique Perks listed on the side of the page.  Maybe you want to give CDs to your friends and family.  Everything can be autographed and personalized according to your instructions.

You Can Make a Lasting Impact

What's most important to me is that together we can make a positive impact in this world, however big or small, by helping Keep The Flame Alive of Pete's tradition.  Pete was once asked if he thought his work made the world a better place.  He said, "I don't know the answer to that question, but I know I have met my best friends along the way."  I know many of Pete's friends whose lives are better because of his work. 

How important will the impact be?  Pete also said that if humankind is going to survive another 50 years, it will be because people re-learn how to participate, cooperate, and find consensus on common goals.  One effective way to do this is to eat, work and sing together – starting as kids and all the way through every stage of life.  But we don’t want to just sing any songs.  We need to sing songs that reflect and promote values that build character and build society - not tear them down like so many popular songs today.

These songs need to be taught to audiences – especially children - so they can learn the words and meaning and sing along.  That’s why our CD will come with a 12-page booklet with lyrics and the stories behind them.  Your help can make this happen.

I want as many people around the world as possible to know about Pete Seeger, because so many of the issues he addressed in his songs are still among the hottest issues TODAY.  That’s why, with your help, our CD will be promoted throughout North America and beyond.  And to show that this style of music is alive and well I have updated a word or two in some songs, written new verses about the world we live in TODAY for songs like “Banks of Marble”, and written new songs that everyone can sing. Your help can make this happen.

In support of the CD, the "Remembering Pete Seeger" tour will keep alive Pete’s tradition of gathering, singing, and celebrating our shared values, landscape, history, and culture.  Pete's message and music need to be shared with people all across the world – young, old, black, white, male, female and everywhere in between. It cannot be limited to those who can afford to go to a concert.  Many of the people who need this message the most lack the means to buy a ticket. .  That’s why I put together the “Tour Outreach Fund” to Keep The Flame Alive at schools, churches, and senior centers that are underfunded. You can make this happen, too.

With help from you and enough people like you our project will come to fruition and we will KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE!

Other Ways You Can Help

• You can spread the word by sharing the video and the link to this page. 
  
• Post them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Google groups, and other social media.  
  
• Use the Indiegogo share tools to help get the word out.

         

          After our set at the 2012 Corn Festival in Beacon, NY, Pete hightails it behind
          the merch tents to avoid the  crowds - photo by Emily Brady.