Filmmakers

Mike Seeger (1933–2009) was an American folk musician, folklorist, and cultural documentarian. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, he mastered the autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Born in New York and raised in Maryland and Washington, D.C., he was the son of composer and ethnomusicologist Charles Louis Seeger Jr. and composer Ruth Crawford Seeger, and the half-brother of Pete Seeger.

In 1958, he co-founded the New Lost City Ramblers, an old-time string band dedicated to preserving and performing the traditional styles of early 20th-century rural American music. Over his career, Seeger produced more than 30 documentary recordings, appeared on over 40 others, received six Grammy nominations, and was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2009. He was a frequent performer at traditional music festivals and gatherings, influencing generations of musicians, including Bob Dylan.

Seeger died at his home in Lexington, Virginia, on August 7, 2009. In 2018, he was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. His archives are preserved in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Photo of Mike Seeger by Ann Savoy