Folk icons Peter, Paul carry on

The famous folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary hasn't stopped bringing music to generations of fans despite the death of Mary Travers in 2009.

Rather than try to fill her shoes with another singer, Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey ask their audiences to celebrate Travers' life.

"The audience sings Mary's part," Stookey said. "Peter and I sing harmony."

Yarrow and Stookey, both 73, are the headline act in a week of concerts at this year's Evergreen State Fair.

Monday's kick-off concert is planned to be a celebration of five decades of folk music, and a tribute to Travers' memory.

Stookey said he and Yarrow plan to sing many of the Peter, Paul and Mary favorites, which include, "If I Had a Hammer," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff the Magic Dragon."

Despite urban legend to the contrary, Stookey insists the ballad about Little Jacky Paper has no hidden meaning and offers no veiled references to drugs.

"It is a song about coming of age," Stookey said.

The trio hit the folk scene in the early '60s and soon began rallying for peace and racial equality. In 1963, they played at the March on Washington and watched from the wings as Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech.

Stookey, who lives on the Maine coast and has been working to create new music curriculums at the Public Domain Foundation, said he has never considered himself a performer.

Instead, he believes in singing songs that have meaning.

"I'm not performing, but articulating a mutually held concern," he said. "Folk music is one of the last bastions of meaningful music."

To take a break from the Peter, Paul and Mary part of Monday's show, both Yarrow and Stookey plan to share some of their newer songs during solo sets.

Stookey has a new piece that takes a critical look at some of today's music-industry superstars and pays tribute to Pete Seeger and others. The tune is simple and spare.

"It's not that kind of music, he said with a smile," Stookey sings. "It's more about the message and less about the style."

Flip through your music collection and pull out the old Peter, Paul and Mary albums. Then get ready for a trip down memory lane, and a wonderful night of music.

"We really trust our audience," Stookey said. "They've trusted us for a long time."

Peter and Paul are scheduled to play Monday night.

Tuesday night's music comes from The Band Perry, a trio of siblings famous for their country music.

On Wednesday, Cheap Trick comes to the fair with their hits, "Surrender," "I Want You to Want Me" and "Dream Police."

Plead the Fifth is the opening act Wednesday. Band member Ivan Peck has Snohomish County roots.

Thursday's music is scheduled to be rockers OneRepublic.

Concerts from Monday through Thursday are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets range from $10 to $37.

The week concludes on Sept. 2 with the NW Rockfest, a daylong festival featuring Jar of Rain; Arisen from Nothing; Quickie; Nether; Syztem7; Klover Jane; Superfekta and Riverbend.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the fair.

All tickets are available at evergreenfair.org or at the fairgrounds.



Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.