Pete Seeger singing at Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival in 2008. Photo by Jim Capaldi, via Flickr.
Clear the decks, folk music fans -- this weekend is Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, the granddaddy of New York folk music festivals. This year's line-up features a staggering crush of bands just in time for Father's Day. As always, the festival's patron saint, Pete Seeger, will be performing, as will various folk legends such as Arlo Guthrie, Dar Williams, Suzanne Vega, and Peter Yarrow.
But it's not just folk bands amongst the scores of musicians planning to play this weekend. Everything from alt-rock to klezmer and Mexican ballads to country music will also be represented. In fact, making an accurate list of which bands and what kinds of music will be playing is impossible: The booked acts are so numerous that even the festival's website doesn't list them all.
Right now, a dedicated crew of volunteers is setting up the venue, located in Croton Point Park in Westchester County. Delaware County storyteller and folk singer Laurie McIntosh, who makes a yearly pilgrimage to the festival, snapped a photo (below) of some of the volunteers on the set-up crew hard at work yesterday. Behind them is a mural depicting the festival, painted by volunteer Sheila Trautman.
