Ross Altman

Ross Altman

May Day is the international worker’s holiday, dating back to 1886 and the Haymarket Square strike in Chicago. This May Day, Skylight Books welcomes LA labor troubadour Ross Altman to lead a program of sing along labor songs, with a little history behind the songs, for t...hose who want to carry on the tradition of Joe Hill, the IWW and Woody Guthrie—now in his Centennial year. This is the closing activity in Skylight's show of support for worker's rights and a fair economy this May 1st - check out skylightbooks.com for updates in the next week to see how you can participate. Ross will tell the story of how May Day came to be and teach some of the classic labor songs going back to coal miner struggles in Harlan County, Kentucky and West Virginia, auto workers in Flint, Michigan, mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts that gave rise to the Bread and Roses strike of 1912, now in its Centennial, and the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union. Learn about the anthem of American labor, Solidarity Forever, the Internationale, Joe Hill, and more. Ross will have you singing these picket line classics in no time at all. Ross is a member of Local 47 of the Professional Musicians’ Union—AFL-CIO and writes for FolkWorks (www.folkworks.org). He recently performed in the Grammy Museum tribute to the legendary Ash Grove folk music club.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 1, 2012.