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Musicians celebrate 90th birthday of legendary folk singer

Karen Jeffers Tracy will play her autoharp for the Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration in Dayton. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Karen Jeffers Tracy will play her autoharp for the Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration in Dayton. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

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By Joanne Huist Smtih, Staff Writer Updated 10:33 AM Tuesday, May 5, 2009

If you don’t have a ticket to join Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp and others headliners in New York City for Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration on Sunday, May 3, there’s a party here in Dayton to pay tribute to one of the most influential folk musicians of the last century.

The event is free and yes, there will be cake.

Local artists will perform original work and some of Seeger’s most beloved ballads at the Dayton International Peace Museum’s “For Pete’s Sake, Sing!” from 2 to 6 p.m. in the University of Dayton’s Kennedy Ballroom.

“You won’t get to hear Pete himself, but you will get a good variety of what his music arrangements are like,” said musician Bob Sammon, a featured performer.

If you’re inspired by Seeger’s strumming, the Guitar Center at the Dayton Mall has donated a banjo that will be given away at a silent auction during the event to benefit the peace museum.

“I think what is most compelling about Pete Seeger as a musician, is that he has always used music to pull people together,” said Kate Johnson, event organizer. “I hope through this experience people come to understand that he is not just another folk singer. He’s a part of our social history as a country.”

Threaded throughout Seeger’s lyrics are stories of America’s struggles for fair wages, for peace, an end to wars, the civil rights movement, and protecting the environment.

“Seeger is a person who inspires people to get out and make things better in their community, their country and the world,” Johnson said. “He’s been doing it for 70 years.”

Proceeds from Seeger’s star-studded, sold-out 90th-birthday concert in New York City will benefit the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a nonprofit organization created to restore the Hudson River.