United States singer-songwriter George Mann is a former union organiser and activist, based in Ithaca, New York. He has been visiting Australia regularly, sharing his songs and his enthusiasm for the songs and stories of workers’ struggle.
Mann is currently touring Australia, performing at gigs in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, including the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, Helensburg Festival, Ballarat Music Festival, Majors Creek Music Festival as well as the Ballarat Regional Trades Hall and Victorian Trades Hall.
Mann has produced albums featuring folk music legends such as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton and has organised national tours of the US and Australia in honour of The Almanac Singers (2013) and Joe Hill (2015).
The Sydney Trade Union Choir (STUC) has been a regular feature at protests, union conferences and peace rallies, as well as May Day and International Women’s Day events and will be supporting Mann on his tour.
Mann will be performing at the Older Women's Network, in Sydney’s suburb of Newtown on October 25, where he'll be supported by the STUC and acapella group 40 Degrees South, featuring Margaret Walters, Don Brian and Chris Maltby.
Mann released his previous album This Chain last October and toured folk clubs and festivals in Australia. He has just released Labor Day, an album of US folk musician Si Kahn’s songs to honour Kahn’s 80th birthday.
Several songs on Labor Day are performed by Kahn and Mann. Others were contributed by renowned singer-songwriters from the labour history music tradition, such as Billy Bragg, John McCutcheon, Peggy Seeger, Tom Chapin and Joe Jencks.
Khan writes in the liner notes: “[G]reat union songs connect us across time … The union does make us strong. The truth will make us free. We shall live in peace. And we shall overcome.”
[For more information on George Mann's Australian tour, visit georgemann.org. For more information and to book tickets for his October 25 gig in Newtown, visit Green Left’s events calendar.]