Celebrating Tom Paine's Birthday

CELEBRATING TOM PAINE'S BIRTHDAY
by Vic Sadot

Thomas Paine, 1737 – 1809, was America’s famous revolutionary writer. We will celebrate his 276th birthday with spirited singer/songwriter Vic Sadot and his musical friends! Vic will sing his "Ballad of Tom Paine" which tells Tom Paine’s life story in a style inspired by Phil Ochs’ "Ballad of Joe Hill" and Woody Guthrie’s "Ballad of Tom Joad" (based on Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath). Quotations from key writings of Tom Paine will also be featured — short readings from "Common Sense," "The Crisis Papers," "The Rights of Man," "The Age of Reason," and letters to friends. Tom Paine’s writings remain acutely relevant, particularly to the Occupy Wall Street and ongoing truth and justice movements.

Vic Sadot has been recording songs for a new CD that will likely be named for his song in support of Bradley Manning: "Courage To Resist." Other songs that need to get out on an official CD release are: "No Nuke Blues" with a new Fukushima verse; "An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King" based on the book by the same title by William Pepper, the King family lawyer who won a unanimous trial victory in Memphis in 1999; "Selling Futures;" "The Kidnapping Coup," the story of the 2004 U.S. overthrow of democracy in Haiti; and finally some love songs like "Harbor of Love," "Lori," and "Dearest Lady." All of these recordings feature the super-talented violin, viola, and ukulele of Eric Golub. See Vic Sadot videos at TruthTroubadour and get free mp3′s at BroadsideBalladeer. This celebration on the 29th is a fundraiser for Vic Sadot’s new music! Come out and give him BIG SUPPORT for his creative songwriting!

A quote from Tom Paine adorns the banner above the stage at Humanist Hall: “The world is my country. To do good is my religion.“ This gigantic wooden banner was hand made by a Wobbly, William Henkelman, in 1958.

Wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street

$10 — $20 donations are accepted