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Video premier for “1920” by Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves

Mar 23, 2020

On Monday, March 23, The Bluegrass Situation debuted “1920,” co-written by Si Kahn, Saro-Lynch Thomason, and Sam Gleaves. Saro and Sam recorded it for their forthcoming album of Si’s songs about women, I Have Known Women.

Check out the premier and the “1920” video at https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/watch-saro-lynch-thomason-sam-gleaves-1920/

The year 2020 marks exactly 100 years since women in the United States after decades of organizing, standing up and fighting for justice; after years of beatings, torture and jail, finally won the right to vote. Don’t you think this is a perfect year for an album that celebrates not just women’s suffrage becoming part of the the Constitution of the United States but all women?

That’s why award-winning singer Saro Lynch-Thomason and Appalachian artist Sam Gleaves will present an album celebrating the triumphs and struggles of women on the 100-year anniversary of the ratification of U.S. women’s suffrage. Utilizing a blend of old-time, country, and folk, Sam and Saro artfully weave together portraits of women who resist enslavement, cross literal and metaphorical borders, and take to the picket lines. This collection features nine previously unreleased songs by Si, three previously recorded songs (“Truck Driving Woman,” “Nobody’s Body But Mine,” “The Border”) plus “1920,” written for the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment by Saro, Sam and Si.

The album features top-notch musicianship by Liam Purcell (multi-instrumentalist whose band Cane Mill Road won a 2019 IBMA Momentum Award), Hasee Ciaccio (bassist who performs with Sister Sadie and Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands), and percussionist John Gardner. Fierce, funny, and mournful, this album bears witness to the historic struggles of women and testifies to their ongoing fight for safety, autonomy, and freedom.

In Honor of Si’s 80th Birthday Today, April 23,

Please Join Us in Launching the Si Kahn Living Legacy

Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, John McCutcheon

The goal of the Si Kahn Living Legacy is to build awareness of, support for, and public access to the amazingly large body of Si’s creative work that no one except Si has ever seen, and ultimately to keep it alive and easily accessible after he’s gone.  Si has been recognized internationally as one of the most important English language social justice songwriters, connecting his cultural work and social activism like so many before him, including Pete Seeger (with whom he worked, toured, and recorded) and Woody Guthrie.  

Nora Guthrie and others started the Woody Guthrie Archives long after Woody’s passing. As Si turns the corner to his 80th birthday, it’s a perfect time to think ahead, to gather, catalog, and make available those of his songs, stories, book manuscripts, poems, and other creative works that have never before been seen or heard by anyone except Si. The time to do this is now, while he’s healthy, still actively creating, and available as a friendly resource to the Living Legacy’s growth and development. 

It of course takes funding to build and maintain a major project like this. Your contributions are tax-deductible, as the project is managed by and part of the 501(c)3 non-profit Generations: Music for Justice (EIN 87-1647310).

Let’s do this together, recognizing the importance of Si’s life not just as an organizer and musician, but as a humane, generous, deeply kind person, who has spent his entire life trying to make this tired world a kinder, gentler, more just place for all of us.