Friday, July 18, 2003
A trio of troubadors
(full article) Peter, Paul & Mary to headline Summer Symphony 2003 by Robyn Israel

Yarrow, along with band mates Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, will headline "Summer Symphony 2003," an annual benefit concert for the Children's Health Council, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit dedicated to assisting children with complex behavioral and developmental challenges. Peter Paul & Mary's appearance at this year's concert seems a perfect fit, given the trio's 40-year-old history of aligning their music with social causes and solutions.

A newer song in their repertoire, entitled "Don't Laugh At Me," should appeal to youngsters in attendance on Sunday at Frost Amphitheater. Penned by Bay Area songwriter Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin, the tune laments the situations of disenfranchised individuals, such as "the little boy with glasses, the one they call a geek, who cries himself to sleep" to "the single teenage mother" to the "cripple on the corner."

"It relates very powerfully to the crisis in the nation," Yarrow said, breaking into song during the interview.

The recent turmoil in the world has spurred Peter, Paul & Mary to perform songs that relate to the current global situation, such as "Have You Been to Jail for Justice," by Anne Feeney, 30-year-old acquaintance of Yarrow's.