Woody Guthrie, Walt Whitman, the Beatles, Shel Silverstien, Isiah Thomas, Irma Thomas, Barbara Lewis, Brenton Woods, Sam Cooke, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Breathe Owl Breathe, Hank Locklin, Jimmy Cliff, Sari Brown, Roy Orbison, Howlin' Wolf, the Wilson Brothers, Jr. Wells, Drew Howard, Mike Shimmin, Mike Lynch, Luke Winslow-King, Bob Dylan, Michael Hurley, Jimi Hendrix, Stovetop, Jimi Reed, Jen Sygit, the Rolling Stones, Dominic Suchyta, Bob Wills, Michael Anne, Ali Akbar Khan, Joshua Davis, Yo-Yo Ma, Darlene, Bikini Kill, Crass, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welsh, so many more and so many musicain friends of mine inspire us every day!
Michigan has, for some time now, been a deep resource for songwriters and roots musicians. Two favorites, Seth Bernard and "Daisy" May Erlewine, well-known to audiences as single acts, have been performing and recording together for almost six years. Before they teamed up, they each paid their dues traveling across the land playing their music and sharing stories with everyone they met. Now, they are in constant demand playing festivals all over the country and at venerable folk institutions such as the Ark in Ann Arbor and Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion".
Already seasoned songwriters with five solo records each and two duo albums to their names, Seth and May draw from a deep well of American folk, country, blues and soul music. May Erlewine plays guitar and violin and is a songbird reminiscent of Patsy Cline and Patty Griffin. Her songs have been recorded by artists across the country and sung in schools and places of worship. Samuel Seth Bernard has drawn comparisons to Woody Guthrie and Neil Young as a shape shifting folk rocker, community organizer, and communicator of ideas. They harmonize their voices and instruments beautifully, believing music can bring people together and proving so at every performance. Like all the best folk musicians, they have the ability to get everyone's attention and still a room. With their band, they can captivate and electrify an audience and ignite a dance floor.
Seth and May's common belief in music to strengthen communities and to be a part of positive change has led to collaborations with numerous schools, farms and non-profit organizations. They partnered with best selling author and famed environemtalist Bill McKibben and contributed songs to the www.350.org movement for Climate Change action. They have also fostered the creation of the Water Festival, a series of events in the Great Lakes region dedicated to music and education about preserving water quality and universal access.
The best way to find out what Seth and May are about is to listen to their music, either at www.earthworkmusic.com, or better yet in person.
Daisy May and Seth Bernard's Friend Space (Top 19)
Hey guys! It's been a long time. Just checking in to see how you're doing and to listen to Shine On again. I love that song! I hope that you've been making a lot of good music since we last saw you out in St. Paul. xoxo Emily and the sweetbacks
I hope everyone can come to my going-away show before I move to Vermont! I need you all there to help me create a Joyful Noise and a Big Love to vibrate all around us & send up to heaven.
Even more importantly, this is a benefit for an awesome organization called Re-Member, which is providing crucial humanitarian aid as well as engaging in healing cultural exchange with the Oglala Lakota people of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Pine Ridge is the second poorest county in the US and has the lowest life expectancy outside of Haiti in the western hemisphere. It is time to stop ignoring the horrible injustice our Lakota brothers and sisters have experienced and continue to experience today, and I hope you'll join us in doing all that we can to stand by them. Please click here to see a video about Re-Member's work on Pine Ridge.
You make wonderful music together. Can't wait to see you at Dunegrass! I wonder why I'm unable to add your song to my profile? I'd love to share it with anyone who happens to listen there.
OH come to Indiana... come come come here to see me please. I would sing and dance... jump up and down. I heard you on A Prairie Home Companion and feel in love with your beautiful music. I was sad to see that I could not put your music on my page... but there is a price to pay to listen to good music.
