Si - Companion

Is Si Kahn a professional songwriter? He is not sure, wrestles with the idea, and even seems to resist it. This despite a 28-year recording career spanning eleven albums on four labels, including an acclaimed 1995 retrospective, 'In My Heart,' celebrating his music. One thing he does know is that he is a professional labor and community organizer, a life-long occupation and mission fueled by his concern and respect for mill workers, coal miners and other down-trodden communities in the American South. With his song writing inspired by the very communities with whom he works, he has become one of the preeminent figures in contemporary topical song, ranked with writers like Malvina Reynolds, Joe Hill, Aunt Molly Jackson, Utah Phillips and Woody Guthrie in the pantheon of this politically charged musical genre. Si Kahn compositions have been covered by well over 100 performers and include such folk and bluegrass standards as 'Aragon Mill,' 'Gone, Gonna Rise Again,' and 'Wild Rose of the Mountain'. This soul stirring new collection was his first in three years and is comprised of 14 all-new songs...each one a tribute to an inspirational comrade who has walked with him awhile on his journey of life. Si is joined on most tracks by the CD's producers, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, a well-known recording and performing duo in their own right, as well as by guest John McCutcheon on hammer dulcimer on 'We Have Come a Long Way.'