I just got the September calendar for the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. On September 17th, there's going to be a 90th birthday celebration for Faith Petric, the grand old woman of the Bay Area (make that West Coast, make that US, make that world) folk community. Here's some info from the site:

FAITH PETRIC 90th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. Tonight the Freight is proud to host a truly impressive historic event: Faith Petric's 90th birthday celebration! Come join in the fun and help us honor the amazing Faith -- and be inspired and invigorated by the great music, bracing wit, and boundless energy of this oldful sparkplug and grande dame of the West Coast folk scene. A folk singer with a staggering repertoire, Faith has been an invaluable resource and influence for several generations of musicians, often through the San Francisco Folk Club jam sessions she has hosted at her home in the Haight for over four decades.

Faith takes the stage for the first half of the show, performing songs with personal significance to her, with guitar and harmonies provided by singer and multi-instrumentalist, Peter Kessler. The second set features numerous special guests, musical cohorts from Faith's long and illustrious career including Estelle Freeman, Laurie Vela, Don Burnham, Van Rozay, Ronnie Gilbert, Ed Bronstein, Aileen Vance, Nancy Schimmel, Bob Reid, and members of the Freedom Song Network. And the entire evening is hosted by that font of wit, wisdom and tall tales, Utah Phillips, himself.

Born in a log cabin on a homestead in Idaho in 1915, Faith first learned music from her father, an itinerant Methodist preacher. She discovered cowboy and country songs in the mid-'20s, and protest songs during the Spanish Civil War. She marched for civil rights in Selma, took the helm of the San Francisco Folk Club in 1962, and helped found the Portable Folk Festival a decade later. These days, Faith continues to host the Friday night San Francisco Folk Club jam sessions, as well as writing a column in Sing Out! magazine, singing at demonstrations with the Freedom Song Network (which she co-founded), and enlivening festivals, clubs, and protests around the world with her songs of peace and justice.

I hope all the California 'Catters and those visiting the area will be able to make it. Faith's a rare gem, and I consider it a privilege to have met her and sung with her over the years. Unfortunately, it's the same weekend that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be teaching in Tucson, and I made plans many months ago to be there, so I'll have to miss it. (I can't think of anyone else who could make me miss Faith's 90th.)

Aloha,
Mark