Jody Joseph and her band close out the musical entertainment on the Seeger Stage when the 42nd annual Clearwater Festival returns to the Brookdale campus this weekend.
The Clearwater Festival is a “party with a purpose,” in the words of Ben Forest, environmental policy/coalitions liaison for the Red Bank-based nonprofit New Jersey Friends of Clearwater. And when the purpose is the care of the coast that’s our home, the mission remains the main attraction of the environmental awareness fair, which returns to Brookdale Community College for its 42nd annual edition this Saturday and Sunday.
Shore music legends Paul Whistler and Vini Lopez team up as Dawg Whistle, while fellow famed musicmakers Glen Burtnik and Bob Burger (below) suit up for the Weeklings, when the 41st annual Clearwater Festival returns to the Brookdale campus this weekend.
It’s all about the message, when you get right down to it, one of care and respect and vision for this coastal place where we make our home. But when the Clearwater Festival returns to Lincroft for a frankly amazing 41st annual edition this weekend, attendees might be forgiven for thinking that it’s equally about the music — an attraction that’s drawn the participation of some pretty awesome figures over the years.
Clearwater Festival founder Bob Killian, seen here with folk legend Pete Seeger, makes two anniversary appearances this weekend. (Photo by Mike Berry)
Updated from previous post on redbankgreen‘s All Good page.
It began back in the mid-1970s as a free festival of music, food and environmental awareness at Sandy Hook.
Inspired by the work of the iconic folk singer and pioneer activist Pete Seeger and his Hudson River excursions with the sloop Clearwater — and founded by Bob Killian, a Shore-based singer and songwriter best known for his hyperlocal anthem “I Like The Jersey Shore” — the all-volunteer Clearwater Festival has soldiered on through the years in several locations, most recently at Long Branch’s Pier Village.
The works of legendary folk musician and activist Pete Seeger (left) and Clearwater Festival founder Bob Killian (right) are celebrated during the 40th anniversary edition of the annual free music and environmental education event, coming to Brookdale Community College for the first time on Saturday, September 12. Killian returns to Monmouth County for the occasion, as well as a September 13 event honoring Seeger’s legacy, at the Unitarian Meetinghouse in Lincroft. (Photo by Mike Berry)
From press materials furnished by New Jersey Friends of Clearwater
It began back in the mid-1970s, as a free festival of music, food and environmental awareness; hosted at the Fort Hancock area of Sandy Hook and sponsored by the organization then called Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater. Inspired by the work of the iconic folk singer and pioneer activist Pete Seeger and his Hudson River excursions with the sloop Clearwater — and founded by Bob Killian, a Shore-based singer and songwriter best known for his hyperlocal anthem “I Like The Jersey Shore” — the all-volunteer Clearwater Festival has soldiered on through the years in several locations, most recently at Long Branch’s Pier Village.
On Saturday, September 14, the re-branded New Jersey Friends of Clearwater presents the milestone 40th annual edition of the summertime event; a one-day happening that unfolds at a brand new host venue: the Larrison Hall Commons area at Lincroft’s Brookdale Community College. Dedicated to the pioneering efforts of Seeger (who passed away last year at age 94) and Killian (whose return to Monmouth County for the occasion is a highlight of this year’s festival), Clearwater 2015 is an eight-hour burst of activity (11 am – 7 pm) that promises three stages’ worth of live music, kids’ activities, arts and crafts vendors, environmentally themed informational displays, and plenty of free parking on the sprawling BCC campus.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jim Scott —seen at right accompanying his friend, the late Pete Seeger — hosts a singalong tribute to the late folk music master Saturday evening at the Unitarian Meeting House.
He counted among his friends and admirers a certain homegrown recording artist whose farmhouse Sessions helped spread the folk gospel chapter and verse to more than one new generation of fans. He was guest of honor at the annual music festival hosted by New Jersey Friends of Clearwater, the Red Bank-based nonprofit inspired by the man’s vanguard work on and around the Hudson River. And when Pete Seeger passed away earlier this year at the age of 94, he left this world not as the larger-than-life icon you’d expect him to have become, but as an extended family member and neighbor who touched the lives of millions.
Among those affected by the folk music master’s time on Earth was Jim Scott — a singer, songwriter, guitarist and collaborator who Seeger himself referred to as “some kind of magician.” A former member of the Paul Winter Consort (he co-wrote their “Missa Gaia/Earth Mass” and sang their anthem song “Common Ground”), and the editor of the anthology Earth and Spirit Songbook, the recording artist and educator comes to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County in a special “songs and stories” tribute to Seeger that takes place this Saturday night at 7 pm.
Jody Joseph and her band close out the musical entertainment on the Seeger Stage when the 42nd annual Clearwater Festival returns to the Brookdale campus this weekend.
