I’d wanted to wind up my N.A. touring career in a place that meant something to me as an artist. Philadelphia has always loomed large in my life. I took the bus from East Orange to spend weekends with my older friend Merka when I was 12, and she’d hide me in her Temple U. dorm room. She and her friends Bif & Graham introduced me to coffee houses. I saw Dave van Ronk for the first time.

My first out-of-town “real gig” was at the Main Point when I was barely fifteen. I came back from being a child star at the Philly Folk Festival with “Stars”, and got to hear Bob Dylan tell me it was “One of the great songs”. I traded opening and closing slots with Billy Joel at the Academy of Music, watched Bruce Springsteen and his band in a small club before he began recording, and learned to put on makeup from Odetta at that same club.

I fled to the Philly area after “Society’s Child”, and recovered there. I learned to drive, to handle a checking account,  all the things I’d missed being on the road through my teens. I became a real writer, and realized my life’s intention there.

Years later, along with Odetta, Ronnie Gilbert and a host of others, I paid homage to Pete Seeger at the Keswick. I sat in with the 4 Bitchin’ Babes. I hosted a birthday party for Odetta. It’s a great hall, a big hall, and I’m just hoping to fill it with joy.

It means a lot to me that I get to say “Thank you” and “Goodbye” there. Hope you can join me.