Si Kahn
b. 23 April 1944, Pennsylvania, USA. With an artist mother and Rabbi father, Si Kahn has been active in the field of civil rights, and labour and community organization in the Southern states for over 25 years. Initially, he was a volunteer with the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee, but since then, having graduated from Harvard in 1965, Kahn has gone on to become involved in both African-American and white Southern communities. He is also an activist in the Jewish community, and a founder of the Jewish Fund for Justice. Kahn started performing in 1979, at the age of 35, his first appearance being at the Chicago Folk Festival that year. Apart from his own recordings, Si has recorded with Pete Seeger and Jane Sapp, CARRY IT ON (SONGS OF AMERICA'S WORKING PEOPLE), a collection of civil rights, women's and labour songs. Aside from the USA, Kahn has toured Europe and Britain, playing at festivals, and regularly gives lecture tours to community groups. In 1989, Kahn provided both narration and songs for an accompanying cassette to two children's books, GOODNIGHT MOON and THE RUNAWAY BUNNY. A third children's project, this time a recording called GOODTIMES AND BEDTIMES, was completed around 1986, but, held up due to a number of problems, is scheduled for release in 1992. The 1993 release, IN MY HEART, was recorded live in Holland in April 1993. Kahn's songs, in particular Aragon Mill, and What You Do With What You've Got, have been covered by other singers, resulting in an increasing interest in his work.