Mike Seeger
1995 RALPH J. GLEASON AWARD
Mike Seeger (1933-2009) devoted his life to singing and playing what he often called “Music from True Vine” – the home music made by American southerners before the media age. As he described it: “Music from True Vine grows out of hundreds of years of British traditions that blended in our country with equally ancient African traditions to produce songs and sounds unique to the United States. For the peoples of the rural South, their great variety of music, song, and story provided their Shakespeare, their dance music, their news, and the fabric of their daily lives. This music in time became the roots of today’s country, bluegrass, and popular music and remains as ever, enduring and refreshing listening.”