Founded by Pete Seeger, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (The Clearwater Festival) Announces Lineup Featuring Lake Street Dive, the reunion of Cry Cry Cry (Lucy Kaplansky, Richard Shindell & Dar Williams), Los Lobos, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Osborne, Josh Ritter, Tommy Emmanuel, Alejandro Escovedo and many more.
Tickets on sale now at www.clearwaterfestival.org.
(Kids 12 and Under Free)
BEACON, NY– Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (Clearwater Festival), the country’s oldest and largest music and environmental festival, brings together major musical acts and Clearwater’s own brand of green activism for a unique weekend every June. Clearwater Festival 2017, which takes place on June 17 and 18, on the banks of the Hudson River at beautiful Croton Point Park, Croton-On-Hudson, NY announces its final line-up.
Confirmed headliners include: Lake Street Dive, the reunion of Cry Cry Cry (first performance in more than nineteen years), Los Lobos, Arlo Guthrie. Richard Thompson, Joan Osborne singing a set of Bob Dylan’s songs; Josh Ritter, Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Purdy and many more.
Fist time performers include: British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe, Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel; innovative Montreal based folk-rock band The Barr Brothers; singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June; modern day songster, minstrel and bluesman Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton; the throat-singing, slide guitar playing one-man-band The Suitcase Junket; cellist, singer, and former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops Leyla McCalla; husband and wife team Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams; brass band Lucky Chops, John Trudell’s Bad Dog with Joel Rafael.
Longtime Clearwater friends joining us for the weekend include Tom Paxton, Toshi Reagon & BIGLovely, Holly Near, Tom Chapin, Guy Davis, David Amram, Josh White Jr., Joanne Shenandoah, The Kennedys, Martha Redbone’s Roots Projects and The Vanaver Caravan.
Founded by musician and activist Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi, this year’s Great Hudson River Revival promises to be a special celebration. In keeping the Seeger’s legacy alive, it has always been a goal for the Clearwater Festival to have a musically and culturally diverse line-up. “With all that is going on in the country this year, it has never been more important to come together to celebrate diversity,” said Steve Lurie, Clearwater Festival Producer.
As part of the Clearwater Festival’s mission to present artists from around the world, these acts will also be making their Clearwater debut – salsa band Jimmy Bosch Y Su Sexteto del Otro Mundo;
A-WA who are three Israeli sisters that combine Yemenite folk singing with electronic dance music; the great Puerto Rican plena and bomba group, Plena Libre. Indie Mambo band Orkesta Mendoza; Cuban songstress Daymé Arocena.
There will be a number of tributes at this year’s festival including ones to Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Oscar Brand and Buckwheat Zydeco. Joan Osborne will be singing a set of Bob Dylan’s music and Brother Joscephus & The Love Revolution will perform a special New Orleans’ arrangement of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which celebrates it 50th anniversary on June 2.
New to the Clearwater Festival this year will be “Standing Rock on the Hudson,” a 90 minute program of ceremony, speaking and song featuring Native American performers and River activists. They will join together to connect the issues surrounding the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the damming of the Missouri River to the challenges that the Hudson River faces. Featured artists include: long-time Shinnecock activist/singer Margo Thunderbird, multi-instrumentalist David Amram, Evan Pritchard (Mi’kmaq), Quiltman from John Trudell’s Bad Dog, Joan Henry (Cherokee/Apache/Arawak), Matoaka Little Eagle (Tewa, Apache, Chickahominy), Shannon Rothenberger Flynn, (Ojibwe/Bear Clan descent), Tim Trew (Water Protector), singer-songwriter Jay Mankita , John Cronin III (Founding Riverkeeper), Fidel Moreno (Huichol/ChiChimeca/Mexican-American), Etaoqua (Tunxis) and singer-songwriter Paul McMahon.
The sloop Clearwater will embark from the festival on a historic sail to Washington, D.C., just like Pete Seeger did in 1970, to bring a message that clean water is a right, not a privilege for all. There will be a ceremony featuring performers and speakers to wish the Clearwater well on its journey.
Visit www.clearwaterfestival.org for a complete list of performers.
Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival is a destination for music fans and families alike, offering a plethora of family-oriented programming and activities and vendors for kids, including special performances on the Family Stage, juggling and roving artists, Children’s Area, storytelling, river beach combing and net seining, and lots of kid-friendly activities. Kids 12 & under get in for free.
Other offerings that make the Revival experience unique and memorable include the Working Waterfront, offering rides on small boats and tall ships including the sloop Clearwater and the schooner Mystic Whaler. The Handcrafters’ Village showcases over 50 crafters and folk artists with quality hand-made items, demonstrations and workshops. The Green Living Expo is the place to learn about sustainable products, services, concepts and technologies for informed lifestyle and business choices. The Discovery and Tideline tents feature Clearwater’s original hands-on environmental education programs and Hudson River research. The Environmental Action Tent highlights Clearwater’s watershed and environmental justice initiatives in our Hudson Valley communities. An expanded Artisanal Food & Farm Market offers food sourced from the Hudson Valley.
The Clearwater Festival is wheelchair accessible and most stage programming is staffed with American Sign Language Interpreters.
The Clearwater Festival is dependent on our 1,100+ volunteers. To learn more about volunteering, please visit www.ClearwaterFestival.org/volunteer.
Tickets are available for purchase now at www.ClearwaterFestival.org. Clearwater members receive a 20% discount off regularly priced advanced tickets. To become a Clearwater member, visit www.clearwater.org or call Clearwater’s membership office at (845)265-8080 ext. 7119.
To stay up to date on all Clearwater Festival news, please visit ClearwaterFestival.org and the official Facebook and Twitter pages.
Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival is produced by the nonprofit, member-supported, environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. All proceeds go directly to support Clearwater’s environmental education and advocacy.
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History of the Great Hudson River Revival, (Clearwater Festival)
Back in the mid-sixties, after centuries of accumulated sewage pollution and industrial dumping of toxic chemicals, the Hudson River, like many of America’s most important estuaries, was declared “dead”. The river’s fragile ecological system was devastated. Not a single fish was found in many areas, and the level of commercial fishing had dropped so dramatically as to be regarded as nonexistent. Recognizing this incredible social and environmental tragedy, in 1966, Pete Seeger decided “to build a boat to save the river” by holding small, fundraising river concerts throughout the Hudson River Valley where he opened his banjo case to collect contributions to build the sloop Clearwater, a tall ship that would become recognized as America’s Environmental Flagship and a symbol of environmental advocacy. Since the 1960s, the Clearwater Festival has grown into the country’s largest annual environmental celebration, its music, dance and storytelling, education and activism attracting thousands of people of all ages to the shores of the Hudson River.
About Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Inspiring, educating and activating millions of people for over 45 years, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champion of the Hudson River, working to pass landmark legislation like the Clean Water Act, providing innovative educational programs, environmental advocacy, and musical celebrations, including the renowned annual Clearwater Festival. To date, more than half a million people have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard the sloop Clearwater. The organization’s strong connection to youth, environmental education, and its agenda to create the next generation of environmental leaders are all part of building and strengthening a Green Cities Initiative for a green economy and a more inclusive and diverse environmental movement. Utilizing the greatest natural resource in the region, the Hudson River, Clearwater has become the grassroots model for producing positive changes to protect our planet. For more information, visit www.clearwater.org.
