As music lovers make their way this Saturday, March 9, 2019 inside Long Branch, NJ’s Pollak Theatre — located on the campus of Monmouth University — many stop and smile the instant they notice there is a folk music icon sitting and chatting with folks in the venue’s outer lobby.
His name?
Peter Yarrow.
Fans come up and introduce themselves to Mr. Yarrow — a founding member of the legendary folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary — who graciously signs autographs and poses for pictures with them before it’s time for him to get ready for tonight’s show, a New Jersey performance of the folk group, Lonesome Traveler, in concert.
Declares Susan from Freehold, who received an autograph from Peter Yarrow, “This is such a thrill for me! I’ve never met Peter Yarrow before.”
Continuing, “Peter, Paul and Mary were my favorite musicians back in the day. I used to go to Greenwich Village to see them. They sent such a message out to the world,” Susan recalls, “We would perform their songs all the time — my friend would play guitar and we would all sing. We went through the whole movement with this music,” before concluding, “It’s sad to think that some young people these days aren’t familiar with folk music — in my opinion, it’s so important to our society.”
We also chat with Paul from Freehold who recalls, “I’ve always been a fan of Peter, Paul and Mary’s music. Back in the day, we saw the three of them perform live, and a just few years ago, we saw Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey when they played at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove,” before acknowledging, “I’m really happy I got a picture with Peter Yarrow tonight.”
We enter the beautiful Pollak Theatre auditorium where the stage is set with seven vocal microphones, a grand piano, a string bass, a violin, a mandolin, and several guitars.
The lights dim as the nine members of Lonesome Traveler take the stage — musical director John on piano and guitar, Audrey and Charlotte on vocals, Cassidy on violin and mandolin, Brian on acoustic guitar and vocals, Jamie on bass and vocals, Isaac on banjo and vocals, and Evan and Serena on vocals.
Whereas some of the musicians are barefoot and some wear boots, all wear outfits which have a folky vibe to them.
Opening with all of the members of Lonesome Traveler vocalizing together, the group’s clear voices ring out on “How Can I Keep from Singing.”
In the middle of the number, Brian and Isaac announce that American folk music is “of the people, for the people, and by the people” — as our American Constitution states — and they continue by asserting, “Music connects us to our past and it shapes our futures.”
At this point, Lonesome Traveler introduces tonight’s special guest — Peter Yarrow.
Yarrow addresses the crowd stating, “This is an exercise in community — in being together because music allows us to do so. That is the legacy of folk music: reaching into each other’s souls.”
His voice sounding clear and strong, Yarrow performs his classic Peter, Paul and Mary folk tune, “Weave Me the Sunshine,” before inviting the members of Lonesome Traveler and the audience to sing along.
A sense of community fills the air as voices from the audience merge with the voices coming from the stage to create a unique surround sound experience, the folky vibrations creating a bond between everyone in attendance tonight.
Following heartfelt applause from the appreciative crowd, Yarrow exits the stage and Lonesome Traveler features Audrey who handles the lead on The Limeliters’ “Lonesome Traveler,” accompanied by mandolin, bass, piano, guitar, banjo, and harmonies from no less than seven vocalists.
Opening with a slow, soulful arrangement, the group’s rendition ultimately morphs into an upbeat picking version of the tune.
The audience joyfully claps along on the group’s next number, a lively version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Following an a cappella interlude, instrumentalists join in along with members of the audience who happily sing along with these talented young performers.
A poignant version of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportees” — a song about a 1947 California plane crash involving Mexican migrant workers — has the Lonesome Traveler singers crying out the story and bringing a voice to these forgotten souls. Isaac follows up by singing lead on “Do Re Mi,” a Woody Guthrie tune which explains how one must have money in order to move to California.
Evan is featured on Leadbelly’s “The Midnight Special” — an upbeat country blues song.
Then, bass player Jamie comes to the foot of the stage to harmonize with Brian on acoustic guitar and Isaac on banjo on a spiritual entitled “There’s a Meeting Here Tonight.”
Audience members are delighted by Lonesome Traveler’s rendition of The Kingston Trio’s “M.T.A.”— a story song about Charlie, a Bostonian who didn’t have enough money to pay both the entrance and exit fees on the city’s M.T.A. subway so he was forced to spend the rest of his existence forever riding the train!
Evan is featured yet again on “Zombie Jamboree,” an upbeat novelty song with a Jamaican feel where he jumps off the stage and runs into the audience, sitting on patron’s laps and singing directly to them.
Following large applause, The Lonesome Travelers welcome back Peter Yarrow who states, “I’ve been sitting out in the audience, and what strikes me is these songs feel so beautiful coming out of the mouths of these young people!”
Dedicating his next number to Pete Seeger, Yarrow and the Lonesome Travelers perform a lovely rendition of Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” With Yarrow on guitar, accompanied by piano, bass, and violin, various voices in the group are each featured handling a verse.
The Travelers supply beautiful vocal harmonies to Yarrow’s impassioned performance of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Day is Done.”
As Yarrow sings, he simultaneously speaks the powerful words and feeds them to the audience in order to enable them to join him in singing with ease — a lovely gift that leads to participation by everyone in the room as they join in on, “If you take my hand, my son/All will be well when the day is done.”
Following this true folk art experience from this musical master, Yarrow exclaims, “Now that’s called singing folk music!”
Yarrow helps to orchestrate yet another Peter, Paul and Mary staple — Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” — as he directs both the Lonesome Traveler musicians and the audience members to take turns performing the classic melody. The experience of singing together in this fashion creates a unique musical community which heightens civic awareness through Dylan’s Nobel-prize winning poetry.
Yarrow concludes Act I of tonight’s concert by inviting “any children in the audience” — whom he defines as “anyone under the age of 80” — to join him onstage for a performance of his classic composition, “Puff the Magic Dragon.” At this point, singers of all ages and abilities make their way onto the stage to sing along on the number’s famous “Puff the Magic Dragon/Lives by the sea” refrain with Peter Yarrow and the talented Lonesome Traveler singers and instrumentalists’ folky refrains filling the Pollak auditorium with a joyful sound.
During intermission, we take a moment to chat with Ann from Forked River, who joined Mr. Yarrow and Lonesome Traveler on stage for “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Declares Ann, “Singing with this icon and these talented performers was a one-of-a-kind experience! Peter was so generous to invite the audience to come onstage and sing with him, and it was amazing to hear all of the instruments coming through the speakers, as well as experience the music live all around you. Doing so truly awakens your senses and sensibility where the words have more meaning and the music sounds a little sweeter while standing next to this folk icon,” before concluding, “It was just awesome!”
Act II has the Lonesome Travelers returning to the stage dressed in flowing ’60s/’70s garb.
The ensemble rings out clear and true on their rendition of Bob Dylan’s 1961 classic, “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
Isaac and Charlotte begin Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with banjo accompaniment before announcing, “And then folk music took a little turn,” where they continue to perform the song with electric guitar and electric bass.
According to the members of Lonesome Traveler, “Folk and folk rock shared the stage at Woodstock in 1969.” At this point, they launch into an authentic arrangement of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s music is featured next with Lonesome Traveler’s performances of Graham Nash’s “Teach Your Children” and “Ohio,” Neil Young’s moving account of the tragedy that took place on the Kent State University campus.
Lonesome Traveler also highlights the women’s movement, reminding the audience how songwriting was a male-dominated endeavor until artists like Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King had success with their brands of folk and folk-rock music.
Here, the group performs a trio of Joni Mitchell songs which features Charlotte singing lead on a lovely version of “Both Sides Now,” the entire ensemble performing a poignant arrangement of “The Circle Game,” and Serena featured on “Big Yellow Taxi.”
The music of Simon and Garfunkel is represented with Isaac and Brian’s acoustic performance of “The Sound of Silence” — their voices crying out clear and strong with a message unencumbered by extraneous instruments — before Audrey impresses the crowd with her impassioned rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
The audience cheers and then Serena beautifully handles the lead while playing guitar on Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust,” her dynamic performance clearly pleasing this crowd of folk music lovers.
All of the Lonesome Traveler vocalists are featured on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” perfectly blending their voices in a dramatic and moving arrangement.
Evan leads the crowd in a good old fashioned sing-along rendition of Arlo Guthrie’s “City of New Orleans,” where all join in together on the famous “Good morning America, how are you” chorus.
Following avid cheers from the crowd, Peter Yarrow returns and introduces the audience to each of the Lonesome Traveler musicians. Then, Yarrow teaches the audience to sing his anti-bullying anthem, “Don’t Laugh at Me,” which the crowd quickly learns and faithfully performs with him and the Travelers.
Segueing into a more recent Peter Yarrow composition, the audience joins Yarrow on a rendition of “The Children are Listening” where all sing together, “The children are listening/The children are listening/If we say something cruel and harsh/They will do the same.”
Next, Yarrow and Lonesome Traveler perform an upbeat version of Pete Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” before ending tonight’s concert with a wonderful and inclusive rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” in which Yarrow and Co. welcome all of the different races, ethnicities, religions, and orientations to this great land which is “made for you and me.”
The audience reacts with an enthusiastic standing ovation and Peter Yarrow and the cast of Lonesome Traveler take a well-deserved bow as one audience member joyfully yells out, “This was fun!”
As music lovers make their way out of the Pollak Theatre auditorium and back into the lobby, we chat with several members of the crowd who share their opinions with us of tonight’s concert.
Comments Andre from Harding, “This concert was great! I knew all the songs, the musicians were tremendous, and I thought the pianist was awesome!”
Renate of Monmouth Beach agrees exclaiming, “All of the music was just beautiful!”
Felecia from SeaBright calls Peter Yarrow and Lonesome Traveler’s performance tonight, “a gorgeous and intimate concert.”
Donald from Middletown agrees remarking, “I love this type of music. The simplicity is so very relaxed,” before noting, “I’ve seen Peter Yarrow many times. In fact, it was after seeing Peter, Paul and Mary perform that I bought my first acoustic guitar — and now I have a collection of 48 of them!”
Bob from Wall explains to us how he believes folk music is integral to our nation when he contends, “We need the messages of folk music to be passed on — the sounds and the feelings. There’s a message to folk music, and it’s the feeling and intent that makes the difference,” before concluding, “Our problems today need it!”
Lastly, we chat with banjo player and vocalist, Isaac — the newest member of Lonesome Traveler — who shares his feelings about performing on stage with such a legendary folk artist as Peter Yarrow.
Reveals Isaac, “Working with Peter Yarrow has just been incredible! I only joined the cast a couple of months ago, and everyone was talking about working with him — and now I can tell you that he’s really something!”
Continuing, “He’s experienced the course of music from acoustic to electric,” Isaac declares, “The wealth of knowledge and experience he has is just amazing,” before concluding, “I’ve learned a lot from him about how the changing times and music can have an effect on the entire world.”
To learn more about Peter Yarrow, please go to peteryarrow.net. To find our more about Lonesome Traveler, click on lonesometravelermusical.com. For further information on upcoming performances at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre — including Stray Cat Lee Rocker on April 13 — please go monmouth.edu/mca
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