Pete Seeger, the Folk Revival & the Old Made New

Pete Seeger, the Folk Revival & the Old Made New

With John Cohen and Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton

John Cohen joined Duke’s Forum for Scholars and Publics for a conversation and concert celebrating the legacy of Pete Seeger and the ongoing vitality of American folk music.

John Cohen is a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers as well as a musicologist, photographer and filmmaker of note. He has been one of the most important “discoverers” of traditional musicians and singers, finding and recording Dillard Chandler, Roscoe Holcomb, and many banjo players, most notably on the album High Atmosphere. Read more here.

The Down Hill Strugglers (Walker Shepard, Jackson Lynch, and Eli Smith) are an old time string band based out of Brooklyn, NY. They have released an album on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and are featured on the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film, “Inside Llewyn Davis” produced by T-Bone Burnett. The Down Hill Strugglers are extending the legacy of the New Lost City Ramblers by presenting the authentic sound of old time music to a new generation.

Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton is an American multi-instrumentalist blues musician and vocalist from Los Angeles. With a strong interest in blues and jazz music before World War II, Paxton’s sound is influenced by the likes of Fats Waller and “Blind” Lemon Jefferson. Read more here.

Sponsored by the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Center for Documentary Studies, and the Master of Fine Arts in Experimental & Documentary Arts at Duke University; Black and Global Banjo Roots Concerts; and the National Endowment for the Arts.