love will linger on: the ballad of peggy seeger
by kelle olwyler

Now, now when the moon is high in the sky
Now, now when the moon is low;
A song sung by the small bird deep in the dark wood rings.

World traveler, one-time magazine editor, plays 6 instruments, but claims to be a failure at the fiddle.  Mother of three, author of a songbook of her own songs, has participated in award-winning radio programs.  Teacher, resident of Asheville, NC. She’s one of North America’s finest female folk singers.  She’s Peggy Seeger.

You’ve probably heard her at one of the festivals you’ve attended, or in a spontaneous session down at Pyper’s Place.  Or perhaps you heard her lecturing and playing at a local college.  You’ve probably laughed or cried at her stories and recollections that accompany her songs, memories that put context to the words and melodies from long ago, or from not so long ago at all.

Born in New York and raised in D.C., Peggy had the richness of a musical childhood. Her mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger (1902-1953) is now recognized as one of the major female modernist music composers of the 1900s. Her father, Charles Seeger, a key figure in American music as a composer, theorist and musicologist, took Ruth on as a pupil in 1929. They fell in love and married.  Charles brought his children from a previous marriage, including Pete who went on to become America’s best known folk singer. Her parents developed a keen interest in folk music, and passed it on to their four children.  When Peggy and her brother Mike were born, it was a sure bet they’d succumb to the language of music.  It already flowed through their veins.

. . . Dawn will follow dawn,
Love will linger on
And on till the end,Till the end.

Now in her 60s, Peggy doesn’t take for granted the greatest influences in her life.  “My mother was the first one.  She taught me piano, theory, and improvisation techniques.  I didn’t know my mother was a feminist at the time.  But her interest in folk affected mine as well.”  Growing up, “Exciting people were always dropping in—Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, John Jacob Niles, Bess Hawes, Henry and Sidney Cowell, John and Alan Lomax, Lee Hays, composers and writers, assorted refugees from Hitler’s Germany...and, of course, beloved Pete, our tall, exotic half-brother.”  Her mother said Pete was better for Peggy and Mike than their teachers and kept them home from school whenever he turned up.

Pete was the second person to become a big influence. She loved the times he visited and the time she and Mike spent with him. “Pete always had had time to stop and show me something new on the banjo.”  It was a magical time.
After two years of college, she went to Holland to live with her older brother Charles. From there she went to England where she met Ewan McColl, political activist, play-write, songwriter, and her fate was sealed.  They became life partners in 1956 and had 3 children together, two of them who became musicians in their own right.  “Ewan was the greatest influence in my life.  We were in each other’s company 24/7 for 35 years. We had a tremendous compatibility.”  They wrote, they researched; they traveled together, performed together, and together they developed the techniques for a form of radio documentary that won several awards.  It was for Peggy that Ewan wrote the classic song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. It was he who gave her an unprecedented understanding of politics and influenced the middle class views she grew up with.  

“My brother Mike was an influence, too.”   Mike kept her supplied while in England with good guitar music and tapes of old songs she might like to learn.  “Mike kept me aware I was an American.”

“Irene Pyper-Scott was the fourth person who most influenced me.” They first met on a concert stage in Belfast in 1964.  “It was because of Irene that I moved more toward eco-feminism.  Ewan’s politics were male politics geared to make a male dominated world work better. Irene’s politics were that a male dominated world does not work.  Women are 52% of the populations and should have 52% of the say.  When Ewan succumbed to heart trouble in 1989, Irene was the friend and support that made the difference in how she got through the loss and the starting a different life.  For four years they toured together as “No Spring Chickens” and made one of her favorite albums, Almost Commercially Viable.

. . . Now, now as a flower turns to the sun,
So now I turn to you;
The song sung by the living soon to be dead and gone.

Peggy’s perspective is a bit different from that of most Americans, having lived in Europe and having been married to an Englishman for many years, raising children who are English, and traveling and performing all over the world to this day.  She has stood up for her beliefs and been politically active through her songs.  She’s learned things, and then some.  “Learn how to object to everything that is wrong,” Peggy says, “and learn to do it in a way that doesn’t alienate those people with opinions different than yours.”  That’s helpful advice, and takes a lifetime of practice that is never too late to get started on.  

Peggy’s intrigued by how Americans define themselves and their country and by how other people in other nations see us.  “No other country to my knowledge defines their country by an adjective the way we do, “the American way of life.”  How does she keep from feeling horrified by current events that effect the things she has cared about and worked toward?  “I look at what HAS actually changed, and feel good about that.”

. . . Now our tide of love runs high,
Now the tide is low.
The song sung by a flood whose tide will forever roll.

 —“Love Will Linger On; “from the “Love Will Linger On” Album, Appleseed Recordings, 2000; APR1039
—words and music by Peggy Seeger; © 1997 Peggy Seeger

Not too long ago, Peggy asked her children what they would like to see her do musically and was astounded by their answer.  “They wanted old ballads and unaccompanied songs, even though two of my children are instrumentalists.” Peggy hasn’t made a traditional album in over twenty years, that is until now. In mid October, her new CD put out by Appleseed Recordings, Heading for Home, will be released into the world. “It has been a wonderful experience working with all three of my children. My sons produced, directed and played on the album and my daughter did the cover and booklet artwork,” says Peggy. “They appreciate the sparse accompaniments, the stories, and encouraged me to open the traditional album with a song of my own, Heading for Home.”

Peggy will be at Malaprops on November 3rd to sing, play and talk about why it is important to put voice to these songs and understand what they are really about.
For more information about Peggy Seeger, go to pegseeger.com

Kelle Olwyler, a management consultant based in Asheville, facilitates companies and executives in the implementation of their strategic plans and initiatives. She is an author and columnist, and is an avid collector of human stories that deeply effect the human heart. [ Kel Bergan Consulting; 828-254-8049; kelbergan.com ]