Tag Archives: Will McLean

Florida cleans up after Hurricane Matthew and experts say remember past history

Update November, 2016: Florida’s East coast experienced serious beach erosion from Hurricane Matthew and many businesses and homes suffered severe damage from the huge tidal wave associated with the hurricane.  In particular, Florida Highway A1A in Flagler County was washed out and many homes along North A1A from Vilano Beach northward have been declared uninhabitable because the sand dunes were washed away underneath the homes. Many streets in St. Augustine are filled with debris piles waiting to be removed.  Several businesses along the waterfront in downtown St. Augustine have not yet reopened as they are still under rennovation from the water that pushed through during high tide during the storm.  Below are pictures of just some of the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew just north of St. Augustine on North A1A as well as on South A1A. See also pictures of the hired road crew working feverishly to fix the highway on Flagler Beach that gave way during the hurricane.  Not only is the highway up and running, but dump trucks and shovels are putting down large rocks alongside the highway to help hold the sand and roadway in place.

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Additional footage and information about the overal impact of Hurricane Matthew can be viewed on this Weather channel link.
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Original story: Friday, October 7th, 2016

214531w5_nl_smAt 5 p.m. the National Hurricane Center reports extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew is causing devastation on Florida’s northeast coast.  Matthew is located at 30.2 N, 80.7 W.  Winds are 110 (175 km). Jacksonville reports indicated wind gusts up to 82 mph at times.  The storm is 948 mb (28.0).  Hurricane Matthew is expected to turn toward the N/NE and then NE on Saturday.  Matthew should begin to weaken in the the next 48 hours. Meanwhile Matthew is continuing to bring high winds inland and serious storm surge to beaches on Florida’s northeast coastline.

214531The National Hurricane Center reports Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward to 185 miles (295 km).  The minimum central pressure recently reported by reconnaissance aircraft was 947mb (27.97 in).  Matthew is expected to remain a hurricane until it begins to move away from the U.S.

huirFloridians and visitors can go to FloridaEvacuates.com or download the Florida-Evacuates app to enter their location and see shelters available in their area.

Damage from Hurricane Hermine (Photo Credit CNN)
Damage from Hurricane Hermine (Photo Credit CNN)

Following the most recent update from the National Hurricane Center on

Hurricane Matthew, Governor Scott has activated an additional 1,000 National Guard members. 3,500 members have now been activated.  This is over half of the available troops that may be activated.  Governor Scott has continued to activate more members to help with important life-saving operations, including evacuations and preparing for search and rescue missions.  Governor Scott is requesting President Obama to send additional federal resources to Florida, including generators and pumps, that the state can preposition to help impacted areas.

The Florida Department of Health will be updating hospital evacuation information at FLHealth.gov

TOLLS

  • Governor Scott directed DOT to suspend all tolls in the affected areas of the state, which includes the entire Florida Turnpike, Alligator Alley, Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.

Many beach communities are being evacuated because of expected storm surge.  Governor Scott says people need to have a plan, know where evacuation centers will be located and have food and supplies to last at least 3 days including water, medicine and batteries.  Scott says gather together important documents such as insurance papers.   Make plans for how to deal with your pet in an emergency evacuation.  A complete list of disaster planning suggestions are located on the Florida Division of Emergency Management Website.

Boats washed ashore from Hurricane Hermine (photo credit AP)
Boats washed ashore from Hurricane Hermine (photo credit AP)

Even though Hurricane Hermine hit on Labor Day Weekend this year, it’s been 12 years since Florida experienced a major tropical system. That’s when Hurricane Wilma struck South Florida.  Just a year before Wilma, 2004 became one for the history books as Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan wreaked their havoc on the Sunshine State.

It was 11 years ago on August 29th when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near Buras, Louisiana and took its toll on New Orleans and the Mississippi coastline, becoming one of the most costly storms in U.S. history.  According to NOAA, the damage estimates from Katrina reached $108 billion dollars.  The official death toll from Katrina is 1,200 making it the 3rd deadliest storm in history behind the 1900 hurricane which hit Galveston, TX leaving 8,000 dead.  The 2nd deadliest storm was the Lake Okeechobee storm in Florida in 1928  killing approximately 3,000 people.

galveston
Scene from the aftermath of the 1900 hurricane that struck Galveston, TX

For Floridians who lived in South Florida during Hurricane Andrew, the thought of any tropical system possibly heading toward the Sunshine State brings back painful memories.

Hurricane Andrew, August 1992
Hurricane Andrew, August 1992

It was on August 24th, 1992 when the catastrophic storm struck Homestead and South Florida with winds of 150 miles an hour with gusts up to 175 miles an hour.  Andrew is listed as the 4th worst hurricane to hit the United States with a damage total of more than 25-billion dollars.  Nearly four dozen people were killed.

In 2011 Homestead resident (and former mayor) Steve Bateman, talked with Donna Green-Townsend about living through Hurricane Andrew and how Homestead has worked toward economic recovery.  At the time of the interview, Hurricane Irene was churning in the Atlantic. (from Donna’s audio archives).


truck carrying victims of 1928 hurricaneFlorida has experienced many devastating hurricanes through the years.  Some of the worst storms didn’t even have names.  The 1928 Category 4 storm that pushed Lake Okeechobee over its banks offically killed 3,000 people, but is believed by many to have drowned 4,000 souls.  Many were migrant workers who ended up in mass graves following the storm….some marked and some unmarked.  There are many accounts from people recalling the storm describing how they were tied to trees by their families so they wouldn’t be swept away.

The late singer songwriter Will McLean wrote his most famous song about that tragedy.  “Hold Back The Waters” has become somewhat of a Florida anthem in folk circles.  McLean was the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. See a video of the late singer-songwriter singing his famous song below:

The 1928 storm was before television and the weather channel so there was no real advance knowledge about the hurricane. It’s been written that the Seminoles living in Florida may have warned the storm was coming but people didn’t pay attention.  This storm is the reason there is now a dike all around Lake Okeechobee in South Florida. As the category 4 hurricane moved inland, the strong winds piled the water up at the south end of the lake.  Ultimately the weaker earthen levee gave way flooding an area 6 miles wide and 75 miles long.

 

2004_frances_satillitenearhispanilacat4_noaa
Hurricane Frances as a Category 4 storm off the coast of Hispaniola. Source: NOAA

Closer to North Central Florida residents who are watching the current track for Tropical Storm Hermine can’t help but remember the chaos wreaked on the area from Tropical Storm Frances and Jeanne in 2004.  Many residents and businesses lost power for days causing grocery stores to lose fresh and frozen food products.  ATMs were down.  Traffic lights were out.  Trees fell across many streets and homes and houses were flooded in low lying areas.

 

 

From her audio archives here’s a snippet of what the community was experiencing just after Frances moved through North Central Florida in September of 2004.

An early report on flooding in Northwest  Gainesville after the rain from Tropical Storm Frances in 2004.

A few weeks before Tropical Storms Frances and Jeanne came through North Central Florida, Hurricane Charley wreaked havoc on Southwest, FL, especially Charlotte County.   Many firefighters, law enforcement officers and medical personnel travelled to the area to give relief and assistance.  Here’s another audio archive story from 2004.

Will McLean Festival to Feature Some of the Best Songwriters In Florida

Will McLean logo 2016Mindy Simmons, Passerine, Grant Peeples, Frank Julian, Jordan Cherkinsky, Amy Carol Webb, Brian Smalley and Still Friends are the Friday and Saturday night headliners who will grace the Main Stage of the Will McLean Music Festival which runs March 11th, 12th, & 13th 2016 at the Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville. The festival, in its 27th year, will feature more than 70 Florida acoustic musicians, with young performers to artists who have been with the festival since its inception.

 

Mindy Simmons
Mindy Simmons

Mindy Simmons from Sarasota has been called the “Sarasota Songbird.”  She is a consummate performer who brings a polished, professional show to festival stages, concert halls and other performance venues. Her quick wit and warm approach charms audiences and puts them in a relaxed frame of mind to sit back and be entertained. “Mindy Music” includes original songs as well as classic blues, jazz, and folk. Mindy also performs with Lisa Bohn, a duo of musical talent that provides awesomely blended two-part harmony and fun-filled camaraderie.

 

Passerine
Passerine

The band Passerine from Sarasota features a distinctive sound combining 3 and 4-part vocal harmonies, the crisp rhythms of an acoustic guitar, the haunting voice of the dobro (resonator slide guitar), and the resonant lows of an acoustic bass. With this unusual arrangement of voices and instruments, Passerine offers a fresh take on traditional folk and bluegrass music as well as a repertoire of original songs that range from sweet ballads to the edgier side of contemporary Americana.

 

 

Grant Peeples
Grant Peeples

Grant Peeples is from Sopchoppy, FL.  His style of music has been described as “Leftneck” folk.  A voice that No Depression said “sounds like a ’57 Chevy with glass mufflers” and lyrics that 3rd Coast Music Magazine calls “unusually literate…unusually honest” and a self-proclaimed style of “leftneck”.  Peeples, a self-described  “vegetarian that  watches NASCAR and a tree-hugger with a gun below the seat,” is known for his axe-sharp socio-political tunes, raucous humor and heart-gigging ballads.  In 2014 he was the recipient of the Focus Foundation Award for Creative Excellence, which cited the “humor, compassion and wisdom of his songs,” as well as their “unflinching social insight and cultural acuity.”

 

Frank Julian and Jordan Cherkinsky
Jordan Cherkinsky and Frank Julian

Julian/Cherkinsky is a new collaboration between Jordan Cherkinsky and Frank Julian. Jordan Cherkinsky who lives in Coral Springs hails from the Detroit area, but his musical influence is taken from Gram Parsons, Clarence White, Townes Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Tony Rice, Gillian Welch, and others. He has been playing guitar and mandolin for almost 52 years, performing with a variety of Florida folk artists at venues across the state. Frank Julian, who lives in New Port Richey, is originally from upstate New York.  Julian has also appeared at Folk Festivals and various venues throughout the state of Florida. Frank’s award winning lyrical talents, his wonderful vocals, and rhythm guitar playing coupled with Jordan’s melodic maneuverings and elaborate finger-stylings create a unique musical energy that is quickly garnering acclaim in the Americana scene. Frank and Jordan have written a surprisingly eclectic mix of songs that are gaining attention across the spectrum of the genre. Two of their songs just finished in eighth and tenth places in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest.

 

Brian Smalley
Brian Smalley

Brian Smalley‘s songs borrow from folksy flat-pick guitar and new-grass.  He also demonstrates a touch of new-age acoustic music. He sings with a soulful, earthy, yet energetic voice and his live performances tend to be just that: Lively!

 

 

Amy Carol Webb
Amy Carol Webb

Amy Carol Webb from Miami Springs has been defined as a “beloved song weaver.” She is passionate, powerful, and poignant. She’s the girl next door and no ordinary woman. Born and reared in Oklahoma, Amy traces her heritage back to Native Americans through her Great-Grandmother who settled Oklahoma when it was still a territory. Amy’s music reflects the same pioneering spirit, tenacity, integrity, and never-quit grit. Her joy is infectious, her courage inspiring, her songs gifts of literate, humorous, and often profound poems of one woman’s remarkable journey from precious child, to woman, to mother, to “Songweaver.”

 

Still Friends
Still Friends

Still Friends” features former members of the celebrated group Steve Blackwell and Friends from Southwest Florida.  The group performs original acoustic music with a unique and memorable delivery.  Combining strong songwriting with elements of folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz, and soul music.   Still Friends is a favorite of audiences throughout Florida.  Band members include Reed Coffey on lead guitar, banjo, bass and vocals; Japhy Blackwell on saxophone and vocals; Carrie Blackwell Hussey on vocals and percussion and Tiffiny Coffey on vocals and guitar.  Their influences include the Wood Brothers, Scott Jacobs, Frank Desguin, Wampus, Lawton Chiles, Stetson Kennedy, Bone Mizell, Totch Brown, Townes Van Zandt, Buddy Miller, Indigo Girls, Steve Earle and Donna the Buffalo.

 

Margaret Longhill 2
Margaret Longhill

This year the Will McLean Festival is honoring Margaret Longhill, from Dunnellon, FL, who has been the gentle, guiding hand and inspiration for hundreds of musicians who have found their voices for Florida. Since she first met Will McLean (1919-1990), the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, she has continued to keep the flame burning of Will’s desire to “Save Florida Through Music.”

“Music is a magical way to teach the value of our blessed, flowered land,” says Longhill. Whether it’s her support for the young performers or the annual ‘Best New Florida Song Contest,’ Longhill possesses the ability to nourish and encourage songwriters across the state simply with her incredulous smile and engaging enthusiasm. As a result, the library of songs about this “Land of Flowers” continues to grow.

“I’d like to be known as a lover of Florida and promoter of music, especially about Florida. And I was a convert because I’m from Tennessee and I love Tennessee too, but you know, when you live in Florida you just adopt Florida,” says Longhill.

The presentation will include a live interview with Longhill on stage interspersed with performances by three former “Best New Florida Song Contest” winners as well as a song by two young performers who represent Longhill’s passion for supporting the musical talent of youth at the festival. The presentation gets underway at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night, March 12th on the Magnolia Stage followed by performances from musicians Brian Smalley at 8:45 p.m., Amy Carol Webb at 9:30 p.m., and Still Friends at 10:00 p.m. The complete schedule of performers for the three-day festival is available at www.willmclean.com.

Will McLean Finale PhotoThe weekend event kicks off Friday, March 11th at noon with musical performances at four covered stage areas plus a variety of workshops. Winners of the Best New Florida Song Contest will be featured on the Magnolia Stage on Saturday, March 12th at noon. This year’s winner is Lauren Heintz from Winter Park, FL with a song called, “Florida Born and Bred.” The 2nd place finishers are Paul Garfinkel from Jacksonville and Pete Price from Ozello, FL with, “Florida Rain.” The 3rd place finisher is Ray Sealey from Quebec, Canada with his song, “The Turpentine.”

This year there will be a battle of the bands by the young performers on Sunday. The young musicians will also showcase their talents throughout the weekend on the Shooting Star Stage and Azalea Stages.

mandolin workshop
Red and Chris Henry leading a mandolin workshop

Festivalgoers can also participate in a variety of workshops throughout the weekend set in the shade of the towering oaks. Workshop sessions include fingerstyle, flatpick and slide guitar, banjo, fiddle, flute, harmonica, autoharp, dulcimer, mandolin, yodeling, harmony singing, percussion, a gospel sing, and songwriting. It is an excellent chance to pick up pointers regardless of your level of expertise.

 

 

Gramma Toni's Coffee Shack

 

 

 

 

 

The Will McLean Music Festival features outstanding original arts and crafts and a variety of delicious food.

Maw & Paw's Kettle CornAttendees may camp alongside performers for the weekend, or come for the day. Pets are welcome (on leashes). Bring your chairs for a one of kind experience of fun and entertainment. There will also be activities for children.

Sertoma Youth Ranch is located at 85 Myers Road, Brooksville, FL 34602. Weekend admission is $40 at the gate. Children under 12 are free. Daily admissions are $20 (Friday), $25 (Saturday) and $15 (Sunday). For information about camping and all aspects of the Will McLean Music Festival, visit www.willmclean.com. Also, “Like” the festival on Facebook to receive the latest Festival updates!

Will McLean Festival web cover

 

 

Will McLean: The Father of Florida Folk

Click here to hear full length archival interviews with Will McLean  (recorded by Donna Green-Townsend in 1985 & 1987)

CD cover for a live recording by WUFT of Florida's Black Hat Troubadour, Will McLean, just 5 years before his death in 1990.
CD cover for a live recording by WUFT of Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour, Will McLean, just 5 years before his death in 1990.

Will McLean is considered the “Father of Florida Folk.”  The “Black Hat Troubadour” travelled all across his beloved state writing hundreds of poems, songs and stories.  After his death in 1990 he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.  Each year Florida singer songwriters gather at the Will McLean Folk Festival to honor him.  McLean wanted to save Florida through his music.  Each year the Will McLean Foundation holds a Best New Florida Song Contest to keep McLean’s mission alive.

Don Grooms sings 3 of his best songs late 70s or early 80s.mp4.Still005To watch archival video of Will McLean CLICK HERE:

Will McLean waiting to perform
Will McLean waiting to perform

Donna Green-Townsend interviewed McLean 5 years before his death in 1985 and again in 1987.  She also talked with some of the musicians who were inspired to write about Florida because of Will McLean.  (Scroll down to see the full feature transcript.  You can also hear Will’s most popular songs below)  

In 1988 Will McLean joined storyteller Cousin Thelma Boltin and his music buddy Gamble Rogers in Cross Creek, FL for the 50th Anniversary of “The Yearling” celebration at the farm of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  See a few snippets from a rare video recorded at that event below:

Doug Gauss Gamble Rogers and Sanda Jemison 1 24 1990Here is the audio of the eulogy given by the late Gamble Rogers (inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1996) at the memorial service for Will McLean in January of 1990 at the Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL.

Sign dedicated to Will McLean at Gore's Landing
Sign at Gore’s Landing

On January 24th, 1990, following the memorial service at Gainesville’s Historic Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL, friends gathered at Gore’s Landing to disperse Will McLean’s ashes into the Ocklawaha River.  Before he died, McLean told Margaret Longhill that he had hoped to light a small campfire one last time at Gore’s Landing by the Ocklawaha River in Marion County, his favorite campsite.  Some of those in attendance were Margaret Longhill, Don Grooms, Dale Crider and family, Donna Green-Townsend and family, Wayne Martin and Bobby Hicks to name a few.  In this brief recording, you will hear a small portion of that special ceremony at the river.

Will McLean0058
Gamble Rogers speaking at the dedication at Gore’s Landing

A few months after the memorial service for McLean, friends gathered once again at Gore’s Landing for a special dedication. A special sign was placed at the site marking the place considered as Will’s favorite camping spot.  Speakers included Margaret Longhill, Gamble Rogers, Frank Thomas and Bobby Hicks among others. See additional pictures from the ceremony below.

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Margaret Longhill at McLean Hall of Fame Induction 1996In 1996 Will McLean was officially inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. He was the first folk musician given this honor in Florida. Margaret Longhill accepted this award from then Secretary of State Sandra Mortham in Tallahassee. Performing some of McLean’s songs that day were Frank Thomas (who is also now in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame), Mary Ann Dinella and Wayne Martin. See additional pictures from the ceremony below.

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Transcription of the feature above:

Will McLean performing
Will McLean performing (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)

Will McLean, “It’s very important that Florida keep her past and I’m but one of the few writers and I have not even scratched the surface of the richness and the deepness of the lore and legends of Florida.” (Florida Sand)  

Singer Songwriter Pete Seeger, a good friend of Will McLean
Singer Songwriter Pete Seeger, a good friend of Will McLean

Musician Pete Seeger once wrote,  “Will McLean’s songs will be sung as long as there is a Florida.”  McLean lived a simple life, always steering away from fame and fortune just when it seemed he had achieved it.  Most of the time he travelled the state in dilapidated vehicles, only taking with him a bag of taters and onions, a fishing hook and a bottle of cheap wine, pawning many of his guitars.  In a never-before aired interview, McLean shared his story in 1985, just five years before his death.

Will McLean, “I’m a millionaire a million times over.  I’m not talking about money rich.  I’m rich in the beauty of Florida and nature.”

That earthy spirit lives on today in many of the Florida songwriters attending the annual Will McLean Music Festival named in his honor. Singer Songwriter from Windsor, Dale Crider, “I think he made a lot of people in Florida aware that they could write and sing and dance and perform Florida.”

Will McLean years ago holding something
Will McLean by his travel van (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)

Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour was known for his genteel manner, but his voice thundered on the marble stage of the Florida Folklife Festival in White Springs as he captured stories in song about green turtles laying eggs on the shores of St. Augustine (Conch Island)

and Sandhill Cranes in Payne’s Prairie, and some not so pretty stories about a wild hog in Gulf Hammock  (Wild Hog) 

and a panther chase resulting in a deadly encounter with a snake in Tate’s Hell. (Tate’s Hell)  

Don Grooms & Will McLean
Don Grooms & Will McLean sitting on stage. (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)

Singer-Songwriter Don Grooms was one of Will McLean’s closest musical buddies, “Will liked songs about individual human beings and if you pay attention to his repertoire of songs there was Cush Holston, Scotty the drummer, the guy in Tate’s Hell, Osceola.”  (Osceola)  

Will McLean inspired many songwriters to explore the heritage of the state and themselves.  Grooms, a Native American, remembers how McLean encouraged him to write the story of the bloody skirmish between the Spanish explorers and Native Americans in Payne’s Prairie.

Don Grooms,  “I came up with a five minute song called “Vitachuco” and I played it for Will and he said play that for me again and after I finished he said, ‘Grooms you have finally justified your existence.”  (Vitachuco)

Dale & Linda Crider years ago
Early performance photo of Dale and Linda Crider after he started writing Florida songs inspired by Will McLean. (Photo courtesy of Dale Crider)

One of the first singer/songwriters to carry on Will McLean’s love for Florida through song is musician and wildlife biologist Dale Crider.  Crider has entertained national and international audiences with his wildlife and wilderness songs, and he credits his beginning to Will McLean:  (Hold Back The Waters)  

Dale Crider,  “Hold Back the Waters was the song that started my whole career in writing about the environment.  Will was singing that on stage at the Florida Folklife Festival and I said, ya, ya, if it can be that good you know to sing about a place or a region or an object in Florida, I can do that.”

Both Dale Crider and Don Grooms helped to disperse Will McLean’s ashes into the Ocklawaha River on January 18th, 1990.  Dale emotionally recalls how his friend’s last wishes coincided so well with his on-going desire to return to the land where the wind is born.

Dale Crider,  “And I envisioned that that night there were herons and egrets that caught minnows that had Will’s ashes in them and flew him up to the tree tops and roosted him that night and actually his soul could have been transferred to something like a hawk.” (My Soul Is A Hawk)

 

Painting of Will McLean by Mary Ann Dinella
Painting of Will McLean by Mary Ann DiNella

The Will McLean Music Festival honoring the Father of Florida Folk is held each March at the Sertoma Youth Ranch located seven miles west of Dade City in Central Florida.  For more information go to the website www.willmclean.com.

Will loved to watch the Florida Sandhill Cranes “dance and prance” on Payne’s Prairie near Gainesville, FL.  One of his more beloved songs described the experience.  Here’s a video recorded of sandhill cranes produced by Donna Green-Townsend with Will singing his “Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Crane” to music played by musician and luthier David Beede and Kate Kennedy (music recorded at one of Will’s last live recorded concerts at the historic Thomas Center in Gainesville in Nov. of 1985).

Will McLean and Cousin Thelma Boltin Share Christmas Memories  (aired on WUFT in December of 1987)

Lottie and Will McLean at young ages
Early photo of Will McLean and his sister Lottie (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)

Transcription of the Feature:  (Oh Christmas Tree)  Computerized teddy bears and video cassette recorders are a long way from the gifts of fruit and simple toys of Christmases past.  Folklorist Cousin Thelma Boltin and singer song writer  Will McLean share some of their most memorable Christmases.

Cousin Thelma Boltin:  “In early times everybody went out and cut their own Christmas trees.  It was unthinkable to buy a tree and there was no such thing as an artificial tree.  That would have been disgraceful to have an artificial tree.  And it was always a great day when we decided we’d go get the tree and we didn’t get it too long before Christmas.  But in the early days we’d go out with the horse and wagon and then in modern times we’d go out in the model T or in the Coca Cola Truck because my daddy was the Coca Cola man.  And we loved to get a Cedar, that was our favorite kind. But if we couldn’t find a Cedar, as they got scarce, um, we’d get a shortleaf pine.  It smells so wonderful in the house.  It’s a little more difficult to decorate than the Cedar and a Cypress was pretty but boy it was sticky and hard to handle and do anything with.  And once or twice I can remember, and this was before our Cedar was protected, and thank goodness it is protected, it’s against the law to cut Cedar down anywhere, I mean cut Holly, and we would get a Holly tree. And of course that was sticky, but it was beautiful because especially if it were full of berries.” (OH CHRISTMAS TREE).

Cousin Thelma Boltin
Cousin Thelma Boltin (photo courtesy of Will McLean Foundation)

Cousin Thelma Boltin:  “We never did decorate our tree until Christmas Eve and we used the parlor on state occasions and this was a state occasion so the fire would be built in the fireplace and the candles put on the mantlepiece and then we’d decorate our tree.  In early days, I don’t believe, we never did put candles on our tree.  Momma considered that too dangerous and we hailed with delight the day when we could get strings of electric lights to put on the tree.  And of course, it was easy to get pretty ornaments from Woolworths and from what was the other ten cent store, we had two in town, McCrowry’s  and get beautiful ornaments.  We never did string popcorn to go on our tree but we put ropes of tinsel on it.  And oh we just thought our tree was the prettiest one in the neighborhood of course.  A child asked me today if we ever slept in the living room you know with the tree and we said ‘oh no, Santy Claus couldn’t come if we stayed with the Christmas tree.  But of course we were up long before day to see what Santy had left us.” (Jolly ‘Ole St. Nick)

Early photo of Will McLean's grandparents
Early photo of Will McLean’s grandparents

Will McLean:  “Well, my first recollection is of a contraption bought that you could ride on.  I got a little ‘ole bitty, tiny kind of like a kitty car thing.  It was all painted up good uh, kind of a tricycle and I don’t know why I thought about that.  It was the first thing that came to my mind.  And of course over the fireplace we’d hang uh an old knit, Thelma you remember those old socks that uh they used to cost about a nickel a pair, old red and blue socks.  Kind of cotton socks.  We’d nail them up over the mantel and this was Christmas Eve.” (Silent Night)

Will & puppy
Will McLean, Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)

Will McLean:  “Lady Boltin asked me once about if I could recall shootin’ firecrackers on Christmas.  And uh, I couldn’t remember ever at that early stage, early Christmases, shootin’ any kind of a firecracker or explosives.  But to get back to the stockin’ and Christmas mornin’, uh most the times I would have a little ‘ole 25 cent American Ace harmonica in the stockin’ wrapped in tissue paper and I’d have a piece of ‘ole peppermint stick candy and usually an apple, and an orange and a banana and I hope this won’t create any problems, three little nuts that uh, they were Brazil nuts.  You remember what we used to call them?(laugh) But anyway, that was Christmas and of course on Christmas Day the big ‘ole table in the dining room.  There’d be about 25 or 30 people there.  And kids runnin’ around everywhere.  All the families and mothers and their children there.  Uh, lord you could just smell the wonderful, wonderful and that, those were my Christmases up until I was about nine years of age.  And it’s good to go back there and think about it in time and place, be with my granddaddy and the people that I loved and who loved me.” (Chesnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

Cousin Thelma Boltin, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean 1988 50th Anniv of The Yearling in Cross Creek (photo by Iris Greenfield)

Cousin Thelma Boltin:  “One of the things that we always got, we wore them out one year to the next were skates. We loved Skates and always asked Santy to bring us skates (laugh).  And always on Christmas Eve for supper we had oyster stew.  That was the Christmas Eve supper ‘cuz it was easy to fix and everybody liked it.  We could do it in a hurry and get in the living room to fix the tree (chuckle).  And that went on for many, many years.  And then I went off to college and I shocked the neighbors by not going to FSU or Florida State College for women in those days.  They weren’t allowed.  Ladies didn’t go to the University until the late 40s you know.  So I went to Emmerson College in Boston and that was truly Yankee land in everyway and so I had my first White Christmas up there.  (White Christmas) I was such a long way away that I stayed up there for the Christmas holidays and I had made friends with a fellow freshman.  Her name was Juliet Phillips and she took pity on me and invited me out to her home in Jamaica Plain and oh it was a thrill.  Everybody in Jamaica Plain it seemed to me put lighted candles in their windows from the attic to the basement and to get out on the street and see all those candles just after dark was a thrilling thing.  And we decided that we would go into Boston.  This was on Christmas Eve and up on Beacon Hill there was a tradition of having carol singers and bellringers and no cars were allowed up there.  Everybody walked.  And uh, many homes up there had open house and they’d be serving oh hot cider and goodies, doughnuts and the carol singers would be first on this corner and then on that corner.  And then we’d come upon the bellringers.  Then right at midnight over on the piazza a beautiful old Trinity church uh trumpeters stepped out and played ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’.” (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)

Many of Will McLean’s stories, poems, music recordings, correspondence and photos are now being housed in the Special Collections area of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida.

Gallery of Photos below are courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation

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Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Crane

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Sandhill cranes near McIntosh, FL (photo by Donna Green-Townsend)

The Father of Florida Folk, Will McLean, penned hundreds of songs about Florida. McLean, who was the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame loved to watch sandhill cranes. In Florida there are migratory sandhill cranes and cranes that stay in the state all year long. Below is a video produced by Donna Green-Townsend of migratory cranes incorporating one of Will McLean’s most popular songs, “Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Crane.”  Accompanying Will McLean are Kayt Kennedy on bowed psaltry and David Beede on hammered dulcimer.  The music was recorded at McLean’s concert in 1985 at the Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL, just five years before his death.

The Winner and Finishers of the 2015 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest Named

Hank Mattson 2 jpegThe first place award for the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest goes to poet Hank Mattson from Lake Placid, FL and musician Dana Robinson from Cabot, VT for the song, “When This Old Hat Was New.”  Mattson says the poem depicts the dogged determination of Jacob Summerlin, a famous Florida Cracker of the 1800’s, to preserve a culture that for over 400 years has been raising cattle.

Mattson is a working cowboy and poet specializing in Florida’s Cracker Cow Hunter History.  He has performed at poetry gatherings and pioneer events across the state and beyond.  In 2011 he won the Laura Rider Award for excellence in folk poetry.  Mattson is a member of the Florida Cattleman’s Association, the Pro-Rodeo Hall Of Fame Society and the Friends Of Florida Folk and says it’s his mission to chronicle and preserve the life and times of the myriad of Florida Folks who for more than 400 years have been “working’ cattle.”

The two musicians who perform on “When This Old Hat Was New,” Dana and Susan Robinson, describe themselves as “two guitar-playing, banjo-frailing, fiddle-sawing, and harmony-singing interpreters of the American experience.”  They perform a unique blend of contemporary songwriting and traditional Appalachian music.  A few months ago poet Mattson met the Robinson couple at the Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring, FL.  The result was magical.  Within a month Dana and Sue created a melody for Mattson’s poem.

Dana and Sue Robinson 1 
 
 
 

Here’s Hank Mattson saying a few words at the Will McLean Festival on March 14th, 2015 about winning the contest. 

John Butler
2nd place John R. Butler

The second place finisher of the 2015 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest is John R. Butler from Estero, FL with his song, “O Miami.”  Butler describes his song as “a musical series of snapshots of the great city, taken through the decades.”

Here’s John Butler and his band performing his song on March 14th, 2015 at the Will McLean Festival

Butler has played in a number of bands and as a solo performer throughout high school, college and beyond. His songwriting achievements include a first place finish in the 2011 North Florida Folk Festival Americana songwriting contest, a first place award in the 2014 “Hope by Song” songwriting competition in southwest Florida, and a win (as one of three co-equal winners) in the 2015 South Florida Folk Festival. One of Butler’s songs was included in the soundtrack of the 2013 feature film, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3-D.”  Butler says these days he spends most of his performing time as a member of The Honey Creepers, a southwest-Florida based trio.

 

Lauren Heintz
3rd place Lauren Heintz

The third place finisher of the song contest is Lauren Heintz from Winter Park, FL.  Heintz describes her song, “Bluer Skies,” as “a lifelong search for a home, and the exultation that results when it is discovered Florida is that place.”

On Saturday, March 14th, 2015, Lauren performed her song on the Magnolia Stage at the 2015 Will McLean Festival

Lauren is the recipient of many songwriting awards including the 2014 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter (live) competition and recipient of the Vic Heyman songwriting award, the 2013 Walnut Valley Festival Song Contest, and has won fourth place in the 2013 and 2014 Will McLean Song Contest.  She also received honorable mention in the 2014 Woody Guthrie Song Contest.

Lauren’s original music has been compared to Gordan Lightfoot, Jim Croce and John Denver.  In 2012 she released the album, “Feels Like A Miracle” and has another project in the works with Gatorbone Studios.

There were 42 entries in the competition for 2015.  The winning songs from the top three contestants were all featured at the 2015 Will McLean Folk Festival the weekend of March 13th-15th at the Sertoma Youth Ranch, 7 miles West of Dade City. Will McLean is considered to be the Father of Florida Folk. McLean who wanted to save Florida through music was the first folk artist inducted into Florida’s Artists Hall of Fame.

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Will McLean Archival Audio Interviews from 1985 and 1987 (never before published)

Will McLean waiting to perform
The Black Hat Troubadour Will McLean

(Raw Interviews from 1985 and 1987 featured below)

(all photos courtesy of Margaret Longhill and the Will McLean Foundation)

In November of 1985 Will McLean showed up at my office at WUFT-FM on the University of Florida campus.    McLean, known to many as the “Black Hat Troubadour”  penned hundreds of songs, stories and poems about what he called his “beloved Florida sand.” McLean, who died in 1990, was the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

As I documented in earlier posts, McLean wanted to hang up some fliers about his November 17th, 1985 concert at the historic Thomas Center in Gainesville.  I had only lived in Florida about a year and a half at that point.  Though I had never met him and didn’t know a lot about him I did know one of his songs very well.  “Hold Back The Waters.” It was about the 1928 Hurricane that killed between 3,000 to 4,000 people.  The song had become very popular in folk music circles.  That fact alone enticed me to ask Will to sit down for an interview in 1985.  A couple of years later, after I’d gotten to know him better, I asked Will to come in for a second interview.  The two interviews have been in my personal audio archives for nearly 30 years.  I thought it was about time I shared them on my website.

Author’s note:  My voice sounds very young in these old interviews.  Also, the interviews below are from cassette dubs from the original reel to reel tapes.  Some of the 1985 cassette dubs have gotten a little scratchy over time.  I am anxious to see how the original reel to reels will sound if I can get my hands on a reel to reel machine.  The 1987 dubs from the cassette below sound much better.  I’m including both years for the sake of archival history).

I’m posting the interviews in a couple of different ways.  You can either listen to the interviews in their entirety or listen to them in separated segments (see below).

scan0004Will McLean Interview in 1985

1985 Full Interview

 

Early photo of Will McLean's grandparents
Early photo of Will McLean’s grandparents

Segment 1:  Will shares stories about his grandfather and mother

Segment 2:  Will talks about the public radio Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor

 

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Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour, the late Will McLean

Segment 3:  Will shares the story of his song “Hold Back The Waters”

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(l to r) Dale Crider, Will McLean and Gamble Rogers

Here’s the song Hold Back The Waters:

Segment 4:  Will shares the story of performing at Carnegie Hall in NYC with Pete Seeger

Will McLean0024Segment 5:  Will talks about giving his music away and his song Macclenny Farewell

Here’s the song Macclenny Farewell:

Will McLean 1981Segment 6:  Will shares the story of his wife Alice’s cancer battle and finding new love

 

Segment 7:  Will talks about environmental concerns

 

(left to right) Paul Champion, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean
(l to r) Paul Champion, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean

Segment 8:  Will talks about his friends Gamble Rogers, Paul Champion and Cousin Thelma Boltin

 

 

 

 

Cousin Thelma Boltin, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean 1988 50th Anniv of The Yearling in Cross Creek (photo by Iris Greenfield)
Cousin Thelma Boltin, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean 1988 50th Anniv of The Yearling in Cross Creek (photo by Iris Greenfield)

Segment 9:  Will talks about the Florida songs he’s written that he’s most proud of

 

 

 

Lottie and Will McLean as children from Chipley, Florida
Lottie and Will McLean as children from Chipley, Florida

 

 

Here is Will’s song Florida Sand:

Here’s Away O’ee:

Segment 10:  Will shares more about his Carnegie Hall performance in NYC

 

Will McLean0048Will McLean Interview in 1987

Full interview with Will McLean in 1987 Part One

Part Two of the full interview in 1987 Will addresses whether he’d ever go back to Rosewood to try and gather material for a song

Shorter separated segments:

Will McLean0206Segment 1:  Will shares the story behind his song The Ballad of Scotty

Here’s the song Ballad of Scotty

Will McLean (14)Segment 2:  Will talks about the inspiration for his song Wild Hog

Here’s the song Wild Hog:

Will McLean (12)Segment 3:  Will shares the story of Cush Holston

Here’s Will’s song Cush Holston:

Will McLean (20)Segment 4:  Will gives the background on Tate’s Hell

Here’s Will’s song Tate’s Hell:

 Segment 5:  Will talks about his grandfather

Will McLean performing on a set with audience on stage
Will McLean performing on a set with audience on stage

Segment 6:  Will talks about “who” he is and why

Segment 7:  Will shares the story of being run out of Rosewood (he refers to it as Rosehill)

Will McLean (3)Segment 8:  Will talks about the 1928 hurricane and his song Hold Back The Waters and his relationship with the Seminoles

Here are Will’s songs Seminole and Osceola’s Last Words:

Lais doing dance interpretation while Will McLean performed at the Florida Folk Festival
Lais doing dance interpretation while Will McLean performed at the Florida Folk Festival

Segment 9:  Will talks about his dream for a ballet featuring his songs of Florida

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The late Cousin Thelma Boltin with Will McLean circa 1988 in Cross Creek

Segment 10:  Will talks about what he’s been writing lately

Segment 11:  Will talking about whether he would go back to Rosewood to try and gather song material

Segment 12:  Will talks about environmental concerns for Florida

2014 Will McLean Song Contest Winner and Finishers

Here are the winner, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers of the 2014 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest:

Here’s a look back at the top 3 winners of the 2014 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest along with video clips of them performing their winning song on the main stage at the 2014 festival.

Jane Fallon Song Contest Winner 2014 A
1st place winner Jane Fallon

The 2014 first place winner was Jane Fallon from Brookline, NH.  Her song entitled “Before the Fire (Rosewood)”  captures the emotional story and resulting fear from the 1923 Rosewood tragedy in North Central Florida.   Jane has been a finalist in several songwriting competitions such as SolarFest , the Ossipee Music Festival and the prestigious Rose Garden Coffeehouse Competition. Her songs have placed 2nd and 3rd  respectively in the Neuse River MusicFest competition and the West Coast Songwriters Competition.

Larry Mangum
2nd place Larry Mangum

The 2014 second place finisher Larry Mangum is from Jacksonville.  His song entitled “Florida” describes the beauty of the Sunshine State and why he’s proud to call it home. Mangum has given nearly 3000 performances over 4 decades as a folk, rock, country and Americana artist. He’s released 8 albums of original music and 2 live albums since 1980.  In 2006 he won third place in the Will McLean Song contest with his tribute to Gamble Rogers, “The Last Troubadour.”  He is also host and co-founder of “The Songwriters’ Circle” in Jacksonville, a monthly program featuring many of the best regional and national touring acts.

Sealey Guitar colour
Third place Ray Sealey

The 2014 third place finisher was Ray Sealey from Harrington, QC.  His song “Kissimmee Prairie Dream” gives the flavor of Central Florida’s early years in the Kissimmee area. Ray was born in England and received a degree in English Literature after emigrating to Canada.  He was involved in folk music in his early years but then turned to classical guitar. He eventually taught music at the Universities of Western Ontario and Ottawa. He also worked in radio at the CBC and later in arts management being involved in music festivals, summer music centers and orchestras.  Now, later in life, he has returned to those early folk roots and spends summer in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal and winter in Florida.

Back to the list of winners by year
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Festival montage photo by Gail Carson

Jan Glidewell
The late Jan Glidewell

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the Will McLean Folk Festival which ran from Friday, March 7th thru Sunday, March 9th. The 2014 festival honored Jan Glidewell, a longtime columnist for the Tampa Bay Times who died in 2013 from cancer. Glidewell was an avid supporter of the festival. The 26th year for the 3-day festival gets underway at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Dade City on March 13th, 2015. The winner and 2nd and 3rd place finishers of this year’s song contest will be featured on Saturday, March 14th.

The Will McLean festival features four stages, including a young performers stage, a variety of music workshops, arts and crafts, food and more.  McLean, known as the “Black Hat Troubadour,”  is the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2014 one of the newest folk musicians inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, Frank Thomas,  also performed at the Will McLean Music Festival. In the clip below recorded on the Cypress Stage at last year’s festival you’ll see Frank singing one of his most popular songs, “Cracker Cowman.”

Frank Thomas was accompanied by members of the band Roadside Revue featuring Dawn DeWitt on bass, Bari Litschauer on banjo, Ron Litschauer on guitar and Stan Geberer on harmonica.

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Pete Seeger’s ties to Will McLean, the “Father of Florida Folk”

Singer Songwriter Pete Seeger, a good friend of Will McLean
Singer Songwriter Pete Seeger, a good friend of Will McLean

One of the most enduring and loved folk singers in the U.S. has died.  Pete Seeger, who had America singing such iconic tunes as, “If I Had a Hammer” died January 27th, 2014 at the age of 94 at a hospital in New York.  President Barack Obama issued a statement saying, “Pete Seeger believed deeply in the power of song, but more importantly, he believed in the power of community …to stand up for what’s right, speak out against what’s wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be.  Over the years, Pete used his voice, and his hammer, to strike blows for worker’s rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation.  And he always invited us to sing along.  For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger.”

In March, 2014 Singer Songwriter from Delray Beach, Rod MacDonaldasked several other musicians and the audience at the Will McLean Folk Festival to join him in a tribute to the late Pete Seeger:

Florida's Black Hat Troubadour
Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour

While most people will be recalling the dozens of classics he helped make famous, like Turn, Turn, Turn, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, and Woodie Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, among others, there are many in the Sunshine State who will remember how Seeger reached out to the “Black Hat Troubadour” in Florida, the late Will McLean.  The two songwriters shared a deep respect for one another.

“Will McLean’s songs will be sung as long as there is a Florida.”  That’s how Pete Seeger described his friend.  That quote was shared at the 1990 memorial service for McLean who was the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.  President Emerita of the Will McLean Foundation, Margaret Longhill, says, Seeger and McLean were both genuine people with a great songwriting connection.  They both liked to write songs about everyday people and they both liked to have their audiences sing along.  “Pete Seeger’s songs will live forever in the hearts of those who seek truth, justice and love,” says Longhill.

the late Will McLean considered to be the "Father of Florida folk"
The late Will McLean considered to be the “Father of Florida folk”

Longhill remembers attending a Pete Seeger concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater with McLean in the mid 1980s.  Prior to the concert Seeger and McLean chatted as friends backstage.  During the concert Seeger said to the audience, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to know  in this audience tonight is America’s greatest living songwriter, Will McLean.  Will McLean stand up,” recalls Longhill.

Longhill says the story that’s been passed down is that McLean and Seeger  became acquainted after McLean wrote a letter to Seeger saying, “I’m a Florida folk singer and I don’t have a guitar.”  Soon after Seeger sent him a 12-string guitar.  During McLean’s memorial service in 1990 many of his musician friends recalled with humor how that guitar was pawned as were many other guitars that followed.

While Pete Seeger will always be remembered for his part in the folk music revival in the 1960s, many in Florida will also think of him for providing McLean and the late Gamble Rogers the opportunity to perform at a folk music concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Seeger loved Mclean’s earthy songs about unique characters and places in Florida such as Wild Hog, Tate’s Hell and Osceola’s Last Words.

Though Seeger travelled and wrote songs all around the country, McLean wasn’t interested in seeking fame and fortune and preferred to remain in Florida and write about his beloved “Florida Sand.”  But the two songwriters continued to have great respect for one another. Seeger even performed one of McLean’s best known Florida songs about Chief Osceola during the nationally televised “Johnny Cash Show” in 1970.

Here’s a segment from a November 1985 interview with Donna Green-Townsend where McLean shares the story of performing at Carnegie Hall in NYC with Pete Seeger

Here’s more about that special trip to Carnegie Hall in NYC from the November, 1985 interview with Donna Green-Townsend

The Will McLean Foundation continues to hold a festival each year in honor of the state’s “Black Hat Troubadour.”  The festival is held each March at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Dade City.  The festival features three stages along with various music workshops and the winners of an annual songwriting contest.  

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