9-11

These are surely times when people are asking questions, questions that often do not get satisfactory answers from our leaders and news media. These are the not the who-done-it, or what are we going to do questions. People are asking deeper questions about themselves, and their personal emotional response to loss and uncertainty. These are the times when many people look to our troubadours for words to rally around, for images to break numbing reality into cryable bits of human experience.

In light of this I would like to draw your attention to some recent additions to MMReview. Slaid Cleaves has been among the performers who have been on the road, performing through the weeks surrounding 9/11/01. He has added some verses to Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," in response to his country's needs in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Please check out the two new Slaid Cleaves concert reviews listed below for a report.

Long Island singer-songwriter James O'Malley has released the song "No Place I'd Rather Be" on CD-R. This is not just a good 9-11 song, this is a good song. It is from the point of view of a rescue worker at the site of the World Trade Center, who not only feels that he is where he should be, but he is in the only place he wants to be. It's a powerful exploration of an unusual aspect of the complex emotions of people working at the site of a tragedy. O'Malley captures the loyalty of the human spirit in a way that will be relevant long after the events of 9-11 fade from the front page of our consciousness. Click here to listen to this song. All proceeds from the sale of this song are being donated to the Twin Towers Fund. In this spirit, please contact Karen Finkenberg for information on contributing.

One of the finest albums to come to my attention recently is The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2. To hear Pete Seeger's songs performed by some of the finest sing-songwriters of this generation is to rediscover them as songs. Seeger's words are still one of the truest things in this world.—Michael Devlin, Editor