Annie & Peter (brief bios)
Annie:
Annie is a singer songwriter, old timey banjo player and jazz vocalist with the swing trio, Girls from Mars. Her most recent recordings are “Step by Step” and “Fearless: Celebrating Women Singers”.
She is sometimes referred to as “folk royalty” because of her role in creating the popular songbooks Rise Up Singing and its sequel Rise Again. From her work on these books (with her husband Peter) she has played a central role in helping create a quiet revolution of group singing in North America.
Annie tours the U.S. & Canada leading singing, giving concerts and speaking with a variety of communities about music, hope and courage in these trying times. She is a master songleader and her concerts always include active audience participation. She has performed with over 70 musicians who have songs in their songbooks including John McCutcheon, Tom Chapin, and Tom Paxton. She and Peter are also the subject of a new documentary film called “We Began to Sing” that focuses on their and Pete Seeger’s work in creating peace and social justice through communal singing.
Annie & Peter:
Annie Patterson and Peter Blood are co-creators of the popular songbook Rise Up Singing and their newer sequel Rise Again. Together, they have played a central role in helping create a quiet revolution of group singing in North America. Their sing along concerts have a performance feel with an audience participation component.
Peter worked closely with Pete Seeger to edit his autobiography Where Have All the Flowers Gone and when not doing environmental and racial justice work keeps their Rise Up and Sing website and online store up and running. Besides being a music educator (teaching voice and banjo), Annie also divides her time performing as a solo artist, old timey banjo player, jazz vocalist and is in the swing band Girls From Mars and the Joni Mitchell tribute band Big Yellow Taxi.
Peter and Annie have made a lifelong commitment to social justice. They see their songbooks and sing along concerts as an extension of that commitment. “Singing together builds community, helps us feel hope and gives us courage to speak truth to power. We need that now more than ever.”
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Co-creators of the popular songbook Rise Up Singing and their new sequel Rise Again, Annie Patterson & Peter Blood have played a central role in helping create a quiet revolution of group singing in North America.
Annie is a singer songwriter, old timey banjo player and vocalist with the swing trio, Girls from Mars and the Joni Mitchell tribute band, Big Yellow Taxi. Peter worked closely with Pete Seeger to edit his autobiography Where Have All the Flowers Gone.
Currently, Annie performs across the U.S. & Canada - sometimes with Peter and sometimes on her own or with other musicians - leading singing, giving concerts and speaking with a variety of communities about music, hope and courage in these trying times. Their sing along concerts have a performance feel with a sing-along/audience participation component. Annie and Peter have been joined on their concerts by over 50 musicians who have songs in Rise Again (published by Hal Leonard Publications) and Rise Up Singing.
