SERFA (SouthEast Regional Folk Alliance) Annual Conference Videos

Wisdom of the Elders

One of my most fulfilling annual activities involves hosting the Wisdom of the Elders session on Saturday morning at SERFA. Sonny Ochs created the Wisdom of the Elders program at the NERFA conference. In 2013 it spread to both the Folk Alliance International Conference and to SERFA. Wisdom of the Elders provides a structured opportunity for us to learn from and about our senior leaders and for the Elders to talk among themselves as well. Wisdom of the Elders has rapidly become an essential feature of our Folk Alliance gatherings. Elders over age 60 participate in a panel with questions posed by SERFA historian Art Menius, each other, and audience members.

The 2016 Elders on May 21 are Peggy Seeger, Freebo, and Lowell Levinger (“Banana”of the Youngbloods)

2015: Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin, Marian Leighton-Levy, Alice Gerrard, Si Kahn

2014: Alice Gerrard, Margo Blevins, John McCutcheon

2013: Sonny Ochs, Ralph Lewis

Poet Tyler Johnson reads “Ode to a Tenor Banjo” on my “ArtSpot” radio show on WCHL-FM 97.9 Chapel Hill and Carrboro

2015 SERFA Presenters Panel

I served as moderator.

WCHL-FM 97.9