Original, folk and grassroots activist musicians have been the heartbeat of Clearwater’s musical community; and over two dozen artists from around the country will be performing in a 12-hour Mother’s Day Tribute to Toshi Seeger on Sunday, May 10th from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The event will be curated by a favorite Clearwater Festival performer, Fred Gillen Jr.  

Tribute to Toshi Seeger

This Mother’s Day event will be a special tribute to Toshi Seeger, whose creative vision and environmental work made an enormous impact in the Hudson Valley, which lives on in Clearwater’s traditions still today. Beyond being an organizer, mother, road manager, photographer, and camera woman, Pete often credited his wife Toshi as being "the brains behind the operation.” Toshi also served on the Newport folk Festival board from its inception, insisting that they bring the musicians to the stage that were the mentors to the popular folk musicians of the ‘60s. She helped found Folklore Research Films, worked on the Rainbow Quest TV Series, produced by Sholem Rubenstein. Toshi was also the Executive Producer of "The Power of Song." She booked many musicians for Clearwater’s Great Hudson Revival, started the groundbreaking Litter-Picking & Recycling initiative and ensured wheelchair accessibility and ASC Interpretative Signing at the Festival. 

Story tributes to Toshi Seeger will happen throughout the day by musicians, Seeger family members and others.

Facebook Live Concert Lineup

The Facebook Live concert will raise much needed funds for Clearwater’s critical environmental action initiatives and educational programming.  Performers and presenters include: David and Jacob Bernz, Laura Bowman, Tom Breiding, Sarah Browne, Kitama Cahill-Jackson, Julie Corbalis, John Cronin, Moraya DeGeare, KJ Denhert, Emma's Revolution, Susan Fisher Wright, Lori Frazer-Gross, Fred Gillen, Jr, Shirl and Steve Kaplan of Great Blue, Manna Jo Greene, Lisa Gutkin, Reggie Harris, Markley & Balmer, Mel and Vinnie, Rick and Donna Nestler, Tinya Seeger, Carolann Solebello, Spook Handy, and Matt Turk. 

Click here to see the full schedule and concert lineup —  https://www.facebook.com/events/3086082568081247/

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis and leaves many of us unable to be together on Mother’s Day.  We hope to bring families together and share some music in the spirit of Clearwater’s folk and grassroots tradition.

This concert and other Clearwater fundraising efforts support the important environmental work, which includes:

• promoting safe decommissioning of nuclear power plants, including Indian Point. Clearwater sponsored the ground-breaking Fall 2019 Regional Decommissioning Forum whose information was the foundation of legislative policy in 2020 for a state-wide Decommissioning Oversight Board of New York State agencies; 

• opposing new fossil fuel plants such as the proposed Danskammer expansion;

• participating in the investigation of industrial runoff into the Hudson River from riverfront communities;

• promoting the cleanup of PFOS, which contaminated Newburgh’s drinking water supply, from the source at Stewart Air National Guard Base; 

• ensuring accountability in the ongoing participation in the Hudson River PCB remediation;

• and building a renewable energy future with the development of a seven-county Mid-Hudson Regional Renewable Energy Implementation Plan. 

More information about this Mother’s Day Tribute to Toshi Seeger fundraising event will be available at https://www.facebook.com/events/3086082568081247/.

About Hudson River Sloop Clearwater 

Launched in 1969 by legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champions of the Hudson River. To date, more than half a million people have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard the sloop Clearwater.   Clearwater has become the grassroots model for producing positive changes to protect our planet. For more information, visit www.clearwater.org.