Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 11/30/2025
PHOTO: New Jersey Folk Revival Music: History & Tradition © Arcadia Publishing; Spook Handy © Econosmith
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Princeton Folk Music Society, celebrating its 60th anniversary, presents a double feature on folk music history, with an emphasis on New Jersey on Friday, December 12, 2025 at Christ Congregation Church. The program opens with a presentation by Michael Gabriele, the author of New Jersey Folk Revival Music: History & Tradition (Arcadia Publishing, 2016). New Jersey-based folk musician and Pete Seeger collaborator Spook Handy follows up with a concert in the second half. Showtime is 8:00pm.
Michael Gabriele’s presentation, based on his book, focuses on the evolution, traditions, and history of folk revival music throughout New Jersey. He says that folk revival music is a “living history” that builds upon time-honored traditions, and mix the cultural influences of Africa and Europe. Michael documents the Garden State’s vast contributions to this musical genre and examines the life changing effects of folk revival music on local history and culture. Many of his sources recall how their lives were unexpectedly “enchanted” when they first heard the sound of a guitar, mandolin, fiddle or banjo.
The Garden State, in all its regional and cultural diversity, has infused its language, imagery, personality and rhythm into songs that make up an important chapter in the folk revival canon. New Jersey’s geography and “sense of place” as a fertile corridor and crossroads has shaped its musical traditions. The history and contributions of community organizations, such as the Princeton Folk Music Society and The Folk Project are part of the picture.
Author, journalist, and freelance writer Michael Gabriele has published five books on New Jersey History. He serves as a member of the executive boards of the New Jersey Folk Festival, Allied Artists of America, and the Nutley Historical Society.
Spook Handy will be presenting his Remembering Pete Seeger concert. Originally from New Brunswick, Spook performed alongside Pete more than 50 times in the last 10 years of Pete’s life, learning many of his songs and the stories behind them.
His goal in presenting the concert is to keep alive the tradition he learned from Pete of using songs as a tool to build and nurture community Spook intends to show that the tradition of singing songs with social value is alive and well today. He says that “while the concert will have a nostalgic quality to it, it will also present a look at the world we live in today and the world we can create for tomorrow. Everyone will learn something new about one of America’s most important and influential musicians of the past 100 years.”
Spook has released a CD, Pete, Woody & Me, Volume I – Keep the Flame Alive,” a collection of 12 songs that influenced Pete, that Pete wrote himself or that Spook wrote with Pete’s influence.
"Spook Handy has created a record that certainly rests on the shoulders of the past but is unmistakably steeped in the present." – John Weingart, Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio, WPRB, Princeton.
Tickets are $25 ($20 members, $10 students) and are available for purchase online. A livestream is also available. Christ Congregation Church is located at 50 Walnut Lane in Princeton, New Jersey. Doors open at 7:30pm. Ample free parking.
The Princeton Folk Music Society has encouraged the growth of folk music in central New Jersey for over 60 years. As they continue to explore new ways of presenting and promoting folk music while ensuring a Covid 19-safe environment for their audiences, their concerts this season will available for viewing by live streaming, as well as on-site in Princeton. They welcome everyone to join them, in person or virtually for their concerts.
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