“Not even Rip Van Winkle could sleep through the cultural clarion of today’s Hudson Valley. The legendary snoozer in Washington Irving’s tale might descend from his Catskill Mountains hollow to find some of the country’s best folk musicians at the Clearwater Festival in Croton-on-Hudson. Founded by now 93-year-old Pete Seeger, the festival marks its 35th anniversary in 2013.”-National Geographic Traveler

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View slideshow: David Amram Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (fondly known as the 'Clearwater Festival') returns once again June 15-16, 2013. This veritable musical institution, founded by iconic folk artist and activist Pete Seeger in 1978, annually unites major musical artists and "green" activists world-wide, helping to build a creative community in one of the most visually stunning areas on the Hudson River: Croton-on-Hudson.

Every year, this exciting and inspiring event, declared "One of the top 4 music festivals in the United States” by Outside Magazine, features an eclectic mix of many of the world's leading musical artists, all coming together in a spirit of celebration and positive action/participation on behalf of one of the most beautiful and important rivers in the United States: the Hudson River.

Renowned composer, conductor, musician, singer and author David Amram is among the featured performers at this year's Clearwater Festival. Photo credit: Photo courtesy of the artist. Copyright 2013. The event began in 1978, when folk music legend Pete Seeger first looked at this beloved, once vital river and observed with genuine disdain that it had become a "heavily polluted, half-dead sewer." Seeger, refusing to let this beautiful and culturally important waterway decline any further, joined together with like-minded friends and raised enough money to build an old-fashioned sloop. Seeger chose this particular mode of transportation due to its historical significance for centuries upon the Hudson’s waters.

Unable to locate an original ship to restore, Seeger and company discovered a highly skilled Maine shipbuilder who created for them the sloop "Clearwater". It was with this vessel that Seeger and his compatriots began their endeavor to change the seemingly dismal fate of the Hudson River. It was their sincere hope that the sloop would help bring locals back to their riverfronts, allowing them to see first hand exactly what ecological disaster had befallen the Hudson, after years of indiscriminate waste and industrial sewage had been dumped into its once thriving waters.

The "Clearwater" functioned as a kind of "floating classroom" for both youth and adults during those early years: a boat journey with musical stops along the way, complete with strawberry shortcake for those early participants to enjoy!

From this humble beginning, the festival has today evolved into a world renowned, stationary, outdoor music and environmental festival. Thirty five years later, it has grown to encompass a potent mix of community spirit and real hope, with many of the local organizations accomplishing their most effective work at organizing and outreaching to their community during this two day annual event.

The event proudly boasts top quality performers from the best of the folk revival scene to more edgy and experimental genres of music, while also providing a springboard for exciting new artists. On this matter, festival organizer Steve Lurie observes, "The most important thing is the artists’ artistic value."

Pete Seeger: "We keep the festival's atmosphere open and relaxed, while offering many activities for festival goers to choose from. They can join our community sing-alongs,which I will be leading this year, enjoy the river from the deck of the sloop, taste a variety of wonderful local dishes and homemade treats (sold at the many booths) and so much more!"

Notes Seeger: "We especially encourage families to participate, offering free admission for kids under 12! There’s a family stage, face painting, juggling, a hands-on musical petting zoo and workshops designed to help young folk who are aspiring musicians to build their very own instruments from recycled materials!"

Always modest, Seeger added, "I'll be leading the sing-alongs this year. I don't have the voice I once had: I've lost a lot of my range and sometimes my voice gets croaky,lol! But the important thing is to just do it, as the sing-alongs-perhaps more than anything else-really pull people together into one beautiful, united voice! This year, more than ever, we are encouraging everyone to participate in the sing-alongs!"

This year, the festival continues its long tradition of featuring an eclectic mix of thrilling musical artists from around the world. Cutting edge "Americana" artists Patterson Hood and Jason Isbell will be performing alongside country music legend Kris Kristofferson, gospel soul legend Mavis Staples, an unplugged Hot Tuna and seminal folk artists Judy Collins and David Bromberg.

Native American artists Buffy Sainte-Marie, Joanne Shenandoah, and roots-soul vocalist Martha Redbone are presenting their vibrant, indigenous music to this year's audience.

Among its newcomers will be the "Virginia mountain-top chamber pop" band The Last Bison and the Brooklyn-based country music of The Lone Bellow.

World music has always been a central feature of the performance stages at the Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival, and this year is no exception. Antibalas, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, Red Baraat, Vieux Farka Touré, and the unique and funky Celtic-Asian fusion band Delhi 2 Dublin will light up the stages with their exotic music, rich in various aural textures and exciting in its beat.

Pete Seeger will be performing with his long-time collaborator Lorre Wyatt, in a special festival appearance. Also returning this year is the ever-popular "Renaissance Man": American composer, conductor, musician, "scat" singer and author David Amram.

David Amram: "The 'Hollywood' idea of reconstructing your appearance, your music, your persona by the use of plastic surgery defies the old principle of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' So the wonderful thing about the Clearwater Festival is it's not a festival of cultural 'reconstructive surgery', nor is it a gathering of musical 'anthropologists' who want to take music out of a bottle of formaldehyde and give it to you one drop at a time, nor is it a 'screamfest' of political rhetoric. But rather, it's a welcoming gathering that's celebrating basic human values and how we can have a better, healthier world for everybody by using various forms of music that are created with high ideals-both artistically as well as socially."

Notes Amram: "There's so many gifted people today-singer/songwriters, instrumentalists, players-that you could have festivals like Clearwater in every community in the country, every week; there would still be thousands of gifted performers and and millions of folks who would like to be part of it. True music of lasting value always has to do with that, and it can't be put in a bottle and it can't be labeled, and it's always something that touches your heart when you are able to be close to it; seeing it performed in the way that the people who are doing it like to have it done."

When Examiner asked Amram about the festival's founder, he offered this touching recollection, "Pete (Seeger) sent out a wonderful postcard about a year ago. In it, he said: 'Because of getting older, and because of my wife Toshi not being in good health, I spend more time at home now than I ever have, and except for working with kids in the Beacon (New York) area where I live, I do very few concerts or appearances anymore...except in my community. But I do spend a preponderance of my time with people with whom I do not agree, and I recommend that you all do the same.'

The famous song that came from the time that Pete and Woody (Guthrie) first met way back was "Which Side Are You On, Boys?": the 1930's labor song that was used by coal miners. Today, the answer to that song's question would be 'I'm on the side of humanity', therefore not falling into the trap of saying 'This is for one side; therefore the other side is not to be included.' The fact is there are no sides. We're all on the side of humanity, common sense and decency."