Indie Folk-Rockers and Fascist-Repellers: Thank You XXVIII

My mom is a guitar player and has been in various informal folk groups on and off, and probably because of that early exposure, I just love a song with a nice strum. My tastes run a little more to the "urban folk," or indie-esque guitar-centric pop-flavored — oh, screw it, there’s no way to categorize this sort of thing without a list. So for this penpenultimate expression of gratitude:

Thanks, Dar Williams, Indigo Girls, John Prine, Bree Sharp, Nanci Griffith, Richard Shindell, Weeping Tile, Patty Larkin, Eddie from Ohio, Lucy Kaplansky, Jewel, Bill Staines, Stan Rogers, Michelle Shocked, Leadbelly, K’s Choice, Bill Harley, Voices on the Verge, Ani DiFranco, The Pogues and The Weavers!

Pete Seeger gets special gratitude, both as a Weaver and for his perfectly brilliant testimony to the communist-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era. If you’ve never read it, you should. Here’s part:

"I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this. I would be very glad to tell you my life if you want to hear of it."

How cool is that? Talk about a hero.

in A Month of Thank-Yous,heroes ·