Greetings again:

Eric Levine's family is in the process of organizing a memorial service for him on Sunday, June 15, starting at around 2:00 PM. It will take place somewhere in New York City, either in Manhattan or Brooklyn. As soon as the site is confirmed, I will post it to this thread.

Note that Ron Olesko and I are the only non-guests who have posted messages so far. I believe that's because of an unfortunate divide between what I call the "politicos" and the "traddies." Make no mistake about it: Eric Levine was a GIANT in the New York folk music scene. But in spite of the fact that he played and sang lots of traditional music (including African-American, Irish, and Old-Time), Eric saw himself and was seen by others as part of the strictly political folk music scene. And much of his comrades-in-song are either unaware of the Mudcat website, or else feel that it is unwelcoming and/or irrelevant.

Eric himself believed that the divide was unfortunate, but he had little time and sympathy for those traditionalists who he saw as stuck in the past. By that Eric meant those who wax ectstaic over a 19th century union song, but who would never listen to (or who had never heard of) Anne Feeney or Jon Fromer. Eric also meant those who somehow believe Irish history and music stopped in 1922, and react negatively when Lorcan Otway and Gina Tlamsa sing about contemporary issues (other than The Troubles). And he especially meant those who celebrated the political songs of both Pete and Peggy Seeger, but never those of David Rovics, Sue Jeffers, Pat Humphries, Ethan Miller, Kate Boverman, Evan Greer, Bev Grant, Matt Jones, Fred Stanton, Luci Murphy, Emma Graves, Charley King, Sarah Pirtle, the late Jolie Rickman -- well, the list can go on and on.

Come to think of it, how often are any of those musicians discussed here on Mudcat?

--- Steve