Annie and Peter

Peter Blood and Annie Patterson have played a central role in helping to create a quiet revolution of group singing in the U.S. in recent years. They have spent decades honing their skills as songleaders in schools, camps, churches, conferences, folk song clubs and festivals. Groups in all these settings have treasured their uncanny ability to choose songs that are fun and inspiring, to teach these songs to groups of all ages, and to get them engaged in spirited group singing.

They used this wealth of songleading experience to create a completely unique song collection entitled Rise Up Singing. Their book contains a wonderful mix of 1200 songs from Beatles to Broadway, from spirituals to carols, and from kids songs to songs of peace and justice. A true underground best-seller, the collection has sold over a million copies since its publication in 1988 with a minimum of publicity, promotion or marketing. Pete Seeger (who in Japan would be known as a “Living National Treasure”) has said that their songbook is making "a qualitative difference in music in America."

As many schools in America have cut back on their music programs, hundreds of community groups have sprung up getting together regularly for monthly sings using the Blood-Pattersons' songbook. Churches, schools, camps and social change groups use the books to build community, have fun and teach values around peace and a better world. In the decade since it has been published, the songbook has taken on a central role in the folk music community through out North America.

In addition to traveling through out North America, the Blood-Pattersons have taken their songleading to New Zealand, Hawaii and Great Britain. They accompany their songs with guitars, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, African drum and pennywhistle.

Biography

ANNIE is a music educator and professional singer. She has performed as a solo folksinger at coffeehouses, clubs and folk festivals. She has been a vocalist and performed for twenty years with the swing bands "Big Nite Out" and Girls from Mars, performing widely at folk festivals, swing dances, swing camps, weddings and clubs through out the Northeast and appearing on three swing recordings by these bands.

Annie is producer and chief vocalist for the series of teaching recordings that accompany the songbook, Rise Up Singing. Annie plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, autoharp, pennywhistle and djimbe (West African drum).

Annie is an alumni of Carnegie Mellon University, and Moore College of art and has worked as a graphic artist and retreat leader.

PETER has been leading group singing for over thirty years, accompanying himself on guitar, autoharp, fiddle and the djimbe (West African drum).

Peter developed a number of singalong resources over the years culminating in Rise Up Singing (published in 1988 by Sing Out Publications.) As Sing Out's Publications Director from 1988-92, Peter served as managing editor for four other songbooks and is the editor of Pete Seeger’s widely acclaimed autobiography/song collection entitled Where Have All the Flowers Gone.

He has also worked as a religion teacher, social change organizer, health administrator, marriage & family therapist, a retreat and workshop leader and currently works as an advanced practice psychiatric nurse.

PETER & ANNIE are active members of the Religious Society of Friends. They consider their performing and songleading to be a form of music ministry, under the care of their local Friends Meeting (Middletown Monthly Meeting, located in Lima, Pennsylvania). They live with their son, dog, turtle & 4 cats in a farmhouse & barn near West Chester, Pennsylvania.

They have been leading singing together since 1981, performing and songleading in a wide variety of settings through out North America, as well as performing extensively in England and New Zealand. They are members of American Federation of Musicians Local 1000, the Traveling Musician’s Union.

They are the co-creators of Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook and are currently playing a central role in the creation of a sequel entitled "Spread Your Wings."

Performances

Folk Festivals:

Augusta Heritage Festival (Elkins, WV)
Auckland (New Zealand) Folk Festival
Clearwater Hudson River Revival
Islands Folk Festival (British Columbia)
New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)
Teddy Bears Picnic (Children’s Festival, Wellington, NZ)
Vancouver Folk Festival
Folk Music Clubs & Societies:
Canal Club Coffeehouse (Tallahassee, FL)
Claremont (CA) Folk Music Center
Corvalis (OR) Folklore Society
Edinburgh Folk Club (Dunedin, NZ)
Folklore Society of Greater Washington
Madison Folk Song Society
Oberlin College Folk Music Society
Palm Beach County Folk Music Society
La Peña Cultural Center (Berkeley)
People's Voice Cafe (New York City)
Portland (OR) Folklore Society
San Diego Folk Heritage Society

Benefit Concerts:

Alternatives to Violence Project
Amigos Construction & Community Development Corp
Bucks County Peace Fair
Central American Sanctuary Alliance (CASA – Miami, FL)
Friends for a Nonviolent World (Minneapolis)
Michigan Friends Center (Ann Arbor)
Northwest AIDS Foundation (Seattle)
New Hampshire Peace Action
Peace Center of Delaware County (PA)
Philadelphia Community School
Quaker House (Chicago)
Resource Center for Nonviolence (Santa Cruz)
Tallahassee Boys Choir

Camps:

Camp Onas (Ottsville, PA)
Camp Celo (Burnsville, NC)
Farm & Wilderness Camps (Plymouth, VT)

Community Concerts: (among many others)
London, Kendal & Reading, England
Arcadia, Berkeley, Chico & Palo Alto, CA
Miami, Orlando & St. Petersburg, FL
Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch & Dunedin, New Zealand
Haddonfield, Atlantic City & Mullica Hill, NJ
Dover & Wilmington, DE
Buckingham, Doylestown, Falsington, Harrisburg & Kennett Square, PA
Indianapolis, IN
Atlanta, Santa Fe
Belfast & Portland, ME
Madison & Milwaukee, WI
Easton, MD
Chapel Hill & Boone, NC
Honolulu & Hilo, Hawaii
Vancouver, BC

Retirement Communities:

Crosslands
Kendal at Longwood

Retreat/Conference Centers:

Burlington Conference Center, Burlington, NJ
Friends Lake Community, Chelsea, MI
Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA
Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA
Powell House, Old Chatham, NY
Woolman Hill, Deerfield, MA

Public Radio Appearances:

Minnesota Public Radio
Maine Public Radio
WERU (Blue Hill, ME)
WLRN (Miami)
WMNF (Tampa)
WUOM (Ann Arbor)
WXPN (Philadelphia – Annie with Big Nite Out)
KUSP (Santa Cruz)
Community Radio in Dunedin, NZ

Conferences & Gatherings:

American Friends Service Committee
(National 75th Anniversary Celebration)
Britain Yearly Meeting 1999 Summer Gathering
Over 25 FGC annual gatherings
Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology
Friends & the Vietnam War Conference
Friends World Committee for Consultation annual meeting (Section of the Americas)
Girl Scouts conferences
Journal of Christian Healing annual conferences
Men & Masculinity Conference
Meeting for Construction (Wanganui Friends Settlement, New Zealand)
New Zealand Yearly Meeting Summer Gathering
Quaker in Pastoral Care & Counseling
Palmetto Friends Gathering (South Carolina)
Pendle Hill 70th Anniversary Celebration
Roothbert Fund
World Gathering of Young Friends
Young Friends of North America
Yearly Meetings of Friends: Iowa (Conserv.) YM, Illinois YM. Lake Erie YM, New England YM, New York YM, Pacific YM, Philadelphia YM.

Schools:

Arthur Morgan School (Burnsville, NC)
Brooklyn Friends School
Carolina Friends School (Durham, NC)
Chicago Montessori School
The Community School (Adelphia, MD)
Community School of Philadelphia
Friends Select School (Philadelphia)
The George School (Newtown, PA)
Guilford College
Haverford College
Haverford Friends School
Honolulu Montessori School
Horizon School (Canterbury, NH)
Media-Providence Friends School
The Meeting School (Rindge, NH)
Moses Brown Friends School (Providence, RI
New East Ward Elementary Sch (Downingtown, PA)
Olney Friends School (Barnesville, OH)
Princeton (NJ) Friends School
The School in Rose Valley
Stratford Friends School (Del. Co., PA)
Swarthmore College
Toddy Pond School (Belfast, ME)
Wilmington (DE) Friends School