Hello Friends,
We reached two big landmarks this week. January 12 is our 3 month anniversary, and our 100th subscriber just joined our ranks. How wonderful!
I write for the same reason I make music - I have to! It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t follow the prompt. And without you, it would be no fun. So, I thank you all for listening, singing along, reading, and commenting.
Another Pearl of Wisdom from Pete
Pete Seeger gave a formula for how to put together a concert for young people. The wisdom is easily adapted to a general concert, a blog series, and many other endeavors. Pete said:
There should be one carefully chosen new word or idea used in a children’s show.
Pete’s story Abiyoyo promotes diversity and inclusion. It has one big word - “ostracize,” and it shows what a mistake it can be to ostracize people just because they are different. Pete also said if he were to sing “Motherless Child” in a concert where children are present, he would follow it up with “Coming Around the Mountain.” He added:
Something new or challenging should be followed (and proceeded) by something familiar (and not challenging).
Following Pete’s Advice
As feeble as it happens, I try to follow that advice with “Looking For America.” So, for our three-month anniversary, I would like to review some ideas written into my stories over the past 3 months:
* In my first blog post, “20 Years Ago Today, I met Pete Seeger and Sang with him for the first time,” I shared this wisdom Pete gave me regarding songwriting. I particularly appreciate the last five words. Can you see how this wisdom can be adapted to any endeavor?:
"Listen to a wide variety of other songs that people sing along to and find a way that works in your song ... or make up something new."
* In my second post, “How I Met Pete Seeger – Part 1,” I share the first seed of my dream to someday become a musician. It was planted on Feb 9, 1964, when I saw the Beatles play on the Ed Sullivan Show.
I saw four kids, kind of like me, except in adult bodies, and I realized for the first time that an adult can have child-like innocence.
* In post 3, “Let the Universe Decide,” I share that I often listen to the world around me for clues as to what should be my next step. While searching for what to write my third post about, a friend walked by and without my prompting, began talking about one of the guiding principles, I use when making a decision:
Build things up instead of tear things down
* Another principle I shared in post 4, “Promoting Democracy.” It can be applied to endeavors way beyond music, and requires that we remain ever-vigilant:
“We musicians reflect and promote values with every song we sing, every story we tell, and every interaction we have in the music world.”
* In “‘Vote!’ – An Accidental Hit Song,” Pete encourages me to write lots of songs. But he never tells me. Instead, he shares a mathematical principle, leaving me to infer how it applies to songwriting:
“The height of a pyramid is equal to the length of its base….”
* In post 6, I share with paid subscribers lyrics to a song I never recorded but I wrote on Election Day 1992, called “Campaign ‘92”
* In “How I Met Pete Seeger – Part 2” I share the very first conversation I had with Pete, and how it set me on the road to conquering Founders Disease. Pete described the malady this way:
“Founders Disease is when the same people who founded an organization thirty years ago are still running it today.”
* Skipping ahead to “The Story behind my Kentucky Coffee Bean Necklace,” I reveal that I wear this necklace as a constant reminder that we must:
Always be alert to find ways to help conquer Founders Disease.
* “The Last Time I Sang with Pete Seeger - Part 1,” includes a video of Pete’s last concert. If I were to describe Pete’s greatest attribute in one word, it would be what shines forth in this performance:
Humanity
* In “Pete Seeger on This Land is Your Land – Part 1,” we see “the folk process” applied by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence when he excluded the word “property.” We also see Pete describe Woody Guthrie’s philosophy and how it led to his discovery that:
“Stop me” rhymes with “property”
* Post 11 introduces:
“The Wisdom Catchers” - people who recognize, learn, adapt, and pass along pearls of wisdom so that others may benefit
* Post 12 takes place at Rutgers University and Central Park as it recounts the personal and shared story of shock, loss, and worldwide unity in reaction to
* In “Announcing the ‘Time to Heal’ Tour,” I share that my upcoming tour will include concerts that:
Recognize people are struggling to make sense of today’s world,
Good news needs to be reported – and there is plenty of it,
We’ve made a difference before and we can do so again,
We can be Brave Agents of Change, and
Music can bring together allies of positive change.
I also shared lyrics to my song “The Compass”:
We will know the tool is worthy if the needle always points to love
* In post 15, I share three stories of how my father, who passed away at age 94, on December 21, influenced the musician I have become. They include:
One of the many times I was suspended from school,
The rumor that Paul McCartney died in 1966, and
Living in a haunted house.
* In last week’s post, “Wouldn’t it be Nice to Re-Balance the Seesaw in 2024?” I tell Pete Seeger’s story of the “Seesaw and the Spoons.” I suppose the “moral” of the story is:
If enough people make little contributions, we can tip the scales of things back to a more sane balance
There’s so much more to tell, so stay tuned. Feel free to share this post with your friends. Until then,
Keep the Flame Alive!