Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (born 1972) is an American contemporary

folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

. A founder of

The Mammals The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, in the United States. The band tours internationally and consists of founding members and principal songwriters Mike Merenda (guitar, banjo) and Ruth Un ...

, he is the grandson of folk musician

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica and sings in English and Spanish.

Biography

Rodríguez-Seeger is the son of Mika Seeger and Emilio Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican filmmaker. After his father was invited by the

Sandinistas The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...

to document the nation's civil war, Seeger spent nine years of his childhood in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. In 1986, Rodríguez-Seeger started performing with his grandfather,

. In 1999 he was a member of the band RIG, with Sarah Lee Guthrie and

Johnny Irion Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

. In 2001, he founded

with Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar. In 2006 he recorded an album, ''¡Que vaya bien!'', with Puerto Rican folk singers Roy Brown and

Tito Auger Alfonso "Tito" Auger Vega (born 3 March 1968, in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican musician best known for being the lead singer of the Rock en Español band Fiel a la Vega. Auger is also the band's main songwriter, together with Ricky ...

of the Puerto Rican rock band

Fiel a la vega Fiel a La Vega is a Rock en Español band from Puerto Rico formed in 1994. The band consisted of members Tito Auger and Ricky Laureano (vocals and guitars), who come from the northern city of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, along with brothers Pedro and ...

and he formed the Anarchist Orchestra (now known as the Tao Rodriguez-Seeger band) with Jacob Silver, also of the Mammals, Laura Cortese and Robin McMillan. Seeger had a radio show "The Tao of Tao" on

WAMC WAMC is a public radio network headquartered in Albany, New York. The network has 12 broadcast radio stations (transmitters) and 16 broadcast relay stations (translators, repeaters). The two flagship stations in the WAMC network are WAMC-FM 90 ...

Barack Obama inaugural celebration

On January 18, 2009, Seeger performed with his grandfather

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

and a youth chorus at the We Are One Inaugural Celebration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. They sang

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

's famous song "

This Land Is Your Land "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Fam ...

" during the finale, before an audience estimated at 400,000. The performance included two of Guthrie's original verses to the song that have often been omitted; one verse mentions "private property" and the other refers to a

depression era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

relief office. On October 21, 2011, Seeger was part of The Pete Seeger March which walked in solidarity with

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...

to Columbus Circle. There he performed with his grandfather Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, David Amram, and other musicians.

Discography

With the Mammals

*''Born Live'' (2001); *''Evolver'' (2002); *''Migration'' (EP)(2004); *''Rock That Babe'' (2004); *''Departure'' (2006).

With Roy Brown and Tito Auger

*''Que Vaya Bien'' (2006)

With the Anarchist Orchestra/the Tao Rodriguez-Seeger Band

*''The Anarchist Orchestra'' (EP) (2006)

With the Tao Seeger Band

*''Rise and Bloom'' (2010)

Notes

External links

Official site
*http://www.themammals.net
''Que Vaya Bien''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez-Seeger, Tao 1972 births Living people Musicians from Poughkeepsie, New York American people of Puerto Rican descent American banjoists American folk musicians American folk singers American harmonica players American multi-instrumentalists American male singer-songwriters Seeger family American musicians of Japanese descent 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)