Pete Seeger plays another banjo

A one-of-a-kind Deering banjo that has been signed and played by Pete Seeger will be auctioned off this month to benefit the Emergency Relief Fund of American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 1000, the traveling musicians union.

The autographed Pete Seeger-style long-neck Vega banjo will be put up on eBay on June 14 and the online auction will run for 10 days. Proceeds will help provide assistance to musicians who fall onto hard times due to illness, natural disaster, and economic problems, and will also help fund the local’s organizing efforts to bring union benefits (such as health care and pensions) to working musicians throughout the acoustic music world.

“Pete Seeger was one of Local 1000’s founding members and has been a generous supporter of the union local designed especially for the folk music community,” says John McCutcheon, the local’s president and a noted singer-songwriter and musicians in his own right. “Likewise, the Deering Banjo Company has been a great friend,” McCutcheon continues. “Thanks to the generosity of these old friends, we’re able to generate funds for the Local’s organizing efforts and, especially, for our Emergency Relief Fund.”

John McCutcheon

McCutcheon informs AcousticMusicScene.com that “Local 100’s Emergency Relief Fund was established to help musicians who find themselves in unforeseen need.” He notes that there have been members with terminal illnesses, members who lost their homes due to Hurricane Katrina, and others who have experienced health or economic problems. “It’s what unions are supposed to do: look after the welfare of members in our field, cradle to grave,” McCutcheon continues. “It’s actually an anachronistic idea in today’s world, not enough unions do it anymore. But Local 1000 is that unusual combination of something entirely new and something that retains what we feel is best about old-fashioned unionism.”

More information on the auction and a video of Pete Seeger signing the banjo may be viewed at http://local1000.com/auction-for-pete-seeger-signed-banjo.