David Rovics Show - February in History and Song (made with Spreaker)

With a plethora of voices from across the acoustic spectrum representing the great and the good, young and the old, seasoned and emerging all on the same single this is a true community project. Recorded in the vein of 'Perfect Day' the Armistice Pals 'super group' have created a folk rock version of Pete Seeger's anti war classic, which has over 50 voices woven together, including Pete's step sister, Peggy Seeger. When Peggy heard about the project she was keen to add her voice to what she described as one of her favourite of Pete's songs. She revealed that it was Pete's legacy to get everyone singing and that to use the song to bring the folk community together as one voice and unite people with one song, was something that gave her great pleasure.

OUR MISSION

* To record a song which Pete Seeger loved, in honour of his memory, in the year of his passing
* To release an anti war anthem which involves a cross section of the musicians immersed in the folk world, all singing the same song, in this commemorative year 
* To raise money for charities who support peace, equality and peaceful solutions to conflict
* To achieve radio play across the BBC Network and the community radio stations across the country/internet and hopefully be played/play listed on BBC Radio Two
* To ignite the interest of the general public regarding their local folk scene, to enable more people to enjoy a communal singing experience and encourage them to express themselves through song.

 Commemoration with a difference – all folk/dance clubs and singers sessions across the land are invited to take part in a grass roots community celebration of the folk scene. It is spearheaded by the organisers of the 'super group' Armistice Pals, and is taking place during October and November. It is hoped that the project will draw much needed attention to the club scene and the unsung heroes who run them in order to help keep the circuit alive and kicking.
All a club or group needs to do is nominate an evening for Armistice themed songs within October or November, round off the evening with a rousing communal rendition of 'Where Have All The Flowers Gone' and let us know the date so we can add it to our growing list of clubs and groups from all over the country.
The single will be released on our Armistice Pals website on 9th October and as a physical cd and on iTunes on November 17th,  with all proceeds going to peace keeping and anti war charities (The Red Cross, Malala’s Fund, The Peace Foundation and Peace through Folk). The grass roots initiative was conceived by Merry Hell’s manager Damian Liptrot who organised the ambitious project with Folkstock Arts Foundation’s Helen Meissner.
The single will be released on Folkstock Records.

If you want to take part in the biggest country wide club and singers grassroots project we’ve seen in recent years, please contact Damian Liptrot or Helen Meissner via email 
armisticepals@hotmail.com
Or our website http://www.armisticepals.com/

Massive thanks to John Kettle for producing the track.
Thanks to the following for lending their time and talents.

David Swarbrick, Judy Dyble, Linda Simpson, Johnny Coppin, Merry Hell, Lucy Ward, Reg Meuross, Jess Vincent, Ray Cooper, Flossie Malavialle, Said The Maiden, Eric Bazilian, Robb Johnson, Siân James, Richard Ryall (Littmus), Peter Robinson, Dave Mather, Kellie While, Kelly Oliver, Patsy Matheson, Gavin Davenport,  Christine Collister, Ninebarrow, Luke Jackson, Peter Knight's Gigspanner, Gren Bartley, Chris While, Julie Matthews, Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger, Edwina Hayes and the Armistice Pals Chorus.

ARMISTICE PALS - WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE ?

Sleep For Weeks

Tomorrow - Peggy Seeeger

Right To Life - Peggy Seeger

The words "collateral damage" have come to mean dead civilians. This song puts those words in context.

Collateral Damage

Hammer

David Rovics 8/11/2008 gig at Beginnings, Briceland, CA produced by Andy Caffrey

This piece was inspired by Conlon Nancarrow; not that I'm very familiar with his work, but his method was enough to inspire me to create a piece in a similar style to his own. It was made using one note, replicating it and dragging it to exactly the right place as many times as I needed, for both piano and harpsichord. That is, until I added in a new sound at the end, giving a lot of distortion to it.

I did not expect it to become as popular as it has, given that it was a rather momentary, on the spur, and random creation, and it is less conventionally accessible than many of my other pieces. My only regret may be that this has overshadowed my other work in terms of popularity.

I've created a sequel, and am currently working on a third Conlon Nancarrow inspired piece, but so far they've not measured up to the original. However, there are some interesting and exciting twists in the second piece, 'The Next Level', and I've put the third piece to the side, 'Piano Madness: The Spirit of Conlon Nancarrow Returns', having been unsatisfied with it, though I may attempt it again at some point.

Conlon Nancarrow Tribute

There are various causes of deadly new novel viruses, as I have recently learned, along with many of you.  One of them is climate change, so we can be sure we'll be seeing more of them.  But whatever the reasons for the fatality rate of Covid-19, we do know why the last global pandemic, the so-called "Spanish Flu" in 1918 was so extremely deadly.  It was a pandemic caused by the particular conditions of the trenches of World War 1, and the movements of troops around the world at the end of the war.  This war virus ultimately killed more human beings on planet Earth in six months -- in every corner of the globe -- than the carnage of World War 1 caused in four years.

Recorded live as part of the Viral Solidarity Concert project at Big Red Studio on April 2nd, 2020.

The Pandemic of 1918

While clearing out their late mother's belongings in August 2020, two siblings discover a package suggesting a possible romantic link between their grandmother and Paul Robeson, dating back to 1949.

As they watch coverage of protests at the latest police shooting happening down the road from them, they recall their mother telling them of protests at a Robeson concert outside Peekskill NY in 1949.

They realise that as a child, she had witnessed the best and the worst of their country in violent conflict in the same way as was unfolding now in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Contains some racist and anti-Semitic language.
www.tayoalukoandfriends.com/paul-robesons-love-song/

Note: This is an imagined story based around the Peekskill and Kenosha happenings.

Image courtesy of the Paul Robeson House & Museum, Philadelphia.

Paul Robeson's Love Song (trailer)

Touring singer/songwriter, frequent contributor to Counterpunch, host of the podcast, This Week with David Rovics.

David Rovics Show - February in History and Song (made with Spreaker)

davidrovics

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