The father of American folk music
Seeger’s influence in the revival of American folk music and song was immense. Along with writing some of the most celebrated protest songs of a generation, he spearheaded the arrival of singers’ circles, folk clubs and folk festivals.
Seeger got his first introduction to American folk music at the Asheville Square Dance and Ballad Festival in 1935. He was 16, and later described the experience he had there of falling in love with the five-string banjo: “I liked the rhythms. I liked the melodies, time-tested by generations of singers. I liked the words.”
