Tom Chapin will perform at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon on Saturday (March 8) to celebrate his 80th birthday and a new album, The Make a Wish Songbag.
How many times have you played the Towne Crier?
It’s impossible to count. I go back to the early Pawling days. I’ve been there for my birthday for the last eight or 10 years. The move to Beacon upgraded the restaurant and the venue itself — it’s one of the truly great rooms on the East Coast. It’s amazing that Phil [Ciganer] has kept it going for more than 50 years.
What do you recall of Pete Seeger?
He was a hero and mentor of ours. When I was 10, [my brother] Harry was 13 and Steve was 9, we heard The Weavers at Carnegie Hall. The recording of the concert, released in 1957, spawned the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters and Peter, Paul and Mary. We said the same thing — “We can do that” — and became The Chapin Brothers for 10 years. We lived in Brooklyn Heights, two subway stops from Greenwich Village, and we started doing open mics at The Bitter End.
You’ve won three Grammy Awards for your children’s albums. How did you get into that genre?
When my daughters were 6 and 8 years old, they’d outgrown “little kids’ music” — even Pete’s early children’s records. I was doing a family-oriented TV show [Make a Wish on ABC], and we figured I needed a record that catered to the 4-to-10 set. The girls weren’t ready for love songs or rebellion, but they understood humor and irony, and you can write songs that their parents like, as well. That’s the deal: kid-friendly and adult-safe. I released a record with Judy Collins singing three songs [Life is Like That] and, all of a sudden, I had another career playing for families, not the kids up front and adults in the back.
Do you have a favorite opening-act story?
I got a phone call: “If you can get down to Maryland tonight and open for Charlie Daniels, it’s $1,500 plus airfare.” I’m ready to go onstage and the announcer says, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Charlie Daniels show.” People went nuts. They didn’t hear my name at all. When I came out, they started booing. After a couple of songs, I said, “Look, Charlie Daniels isn’t even in the building, so it’s you and me for the next half hour, let’s make this work” — and we pulled it off.
What’s your take on the future of folk?
The time when singer-songwriters topped the charts is long gone. Folk music isn’t on the radio. But when I do concerts, no matter what age people are, the idea of someone playing real songs about real people doing real things will always resonate. A folk song is a ballad with a story verse and a repeated chorus. Pete said that he wasn’t a folk singer, he was a singer of songs. Same with me.
