Activist and Protest Songwriting

With the Occupy Wall Street movement having reenergized the American Left, and 2012 being the centennial year of the birth of Woody Guthrie, the progenitor of activist-protest folk music, the time is especially ripe for a panel/workshop on activist songwriting. The coordinators of this panel are the songwriter-members of the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, founded by Pete Seeger in 1984. They have frequently performed and recorded with Pete and other well-known folk musicians, and have performed their songs at rallies throughout the Northeast and in Germany. The session will present the panelists' own songs, discuss songwriting techniques and include participation by attendees.