There Is A Season: The Pete Seeger Podcast

Join us as we speak to long-time folk musician and songwriter, Tom Paxton. In this conversation Tom speaks about his early musical influences and the role Pete played in impacting his musical philosophy, as well as Tom’s relationship with political music and what the purpose of folk music is. We also speak about the 1968 Woody Guthrie tribute concert, Phil Ochs, Broadside Magazine, and what Seeger...

In this first episode of season 3 we go into depth in discussing the Seeger family’s trip around the world, lasting from August, 1963 to early June 1964. We’ll examine several of the performances Pete makes as he and the Seeger family make their geographical traverse through a dozen and a half countries, and will also discuss the wide variety of music and dance that the Seegers documented along th...

Join us as we speak with author Elijah Wald, and learn more about his book, Dylan Goes Electric, and its role in being optioned for the film A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. In our conversation Elijah discusses how Seeger and Dylan were represented in the movie, and shares a variety of insights on how both Seeger and Dylan have been interpreted, respectively, over the course of history. We conclude by talking...

In this month’s episode, we learn about Camp Woodland, a summer camp that existed in Phoenicia, NY from 1939-1962. Among many of the summer camp settings Pete visited during the 1940s and ‘50s, Woodland was a space Pete visited with regular frequency, and spent much time making music with campers over the course of several decades. As we go in depth with today, Pete’s time spent at Woodland would...

In this episode I discuss my reactions to and thoughts about the recent film, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. I focus on several elements, ranging from how effectively the characters were written, to the extent to which we get to see how Dylan is influenced by other people and other musicians, such as Suze Rotolo and Joan Baez. I also deconstruct what Dylan and Seeger really thought of each other, and what Pe...

In our first episode of Season 2, we discuss Pete Seeger's participation in the civil rights movement between 1962 and 1965. We discuss his early involvements singing in Georgia, his affiliation with the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee, and his We Shall Overcome concert at Carnegie Hall. We also evaluate Seeger's participation in Mississippi's Freedom Summer in 1964, and his attendance i...

Join us for this episode where I speak with Pete Seeger’s biographer, David Dunaway. We discuss David’s early connection to Pete Seeger and his music, and how he came to publish three editions of Seeger's biography. We also talk about the archive of Pete Seeger material David has produced for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, as well Pete’s involvement with Folkways Records,...

In this epsiode we examine several of Pete Seeger’s albums recorded and released after the period of the Blacklist. We discuss the Bowdoin College Concert and Live at the Village Gate, and his first Columbia albums - Story Songs, The Bitter and the Sweet, and Children's Concert at Town Hall. We also dissect Pete’s efforts to bring folk music to people through television, particularly the controver...

In this episode we delve into Pete Seeger's legal challenges in facing the House-Un American Activities Committee in 1955 and the impact of Seeger’s decision not to cooperate with them. We also investigate how Seeger’s status as a blacklisted artist resulted in the prolific amount of performing and music-making he did throughout the remainder of the 1950s into the early '60s. Specifically, we exam...

In this episode we examine the quartet, The Weavers, the folk group Pete Seeger formed with Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Ronnie Gilbert in 1949-1950. We go into detail with the founding of the group, their musical style and approach, and their initial pop success with the songs "Tzena Tzena" and "Goodnight Irene". We then investigate how the FBI, Counterattack, and other opportunistic individuals...

This episode delves into the Peekskill Affair of August and September 1949. This concert, held in Peekskill, New York, functioned as a fundraiser for the Civil Rights Congress, where Pete Seeger opened for the baritone-bass singer Paul Robeson. The show was rescheduled due to violence that erupted at the first attempted concert in late August, and while this second performance did happen, hundreds...

In this episode we discuss Pete’s musical activities from 1942-1949. We focus on Pete's activities as a performer in the army during WWII, the additional records Pete made during this period, the founding of the People’s Songs organization after the war, and how that eventually came to a close.

In this episode we discuss Pete’s activities between 1940 and 1942 with the Almanac Singers. This episode will get into the founding of the group and its members, its political and musical direction, and the challenges the group faced in trying to continue playing and performing.

This episode investigates Pete's musical and political discoveries between 1938 and 1941. We look at Pete in New York City after leaving Harvard, his meeting Lead Belly, his work and travels with Woody Guthrie, and his own independent explorations riding freight trains and hitching rides as a budding musician.

This episode delves into Pete Seeger's early years growing up in upstate New York and at boarding school; his political worldview as channeled through his educational experiences and his father, Charles; Pete's discovery of the 4 and 5 string banjo in the 1930s; and his attending and dropping out of Harvard.

Welcome to the show! This four minute introductory episode informs folks of what topics, ideas and objectives this podcast will have.