Mike Seeger, an American folk musician and archivist of traditional music, died of cancer Friday night at his home in Lexington,Virginia at the age of 75.
The younger half-brother to Pete Seeger, Mike was an accomplished performer on several instruments including the guitar, banjo, autoharp, fiddle, dulcimer and mandolin. Seeger was both a solo artist and a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers with John Cohen and Tom Paley in 1958.
Seeger’s love of “old-timey” music inspired his audience and other artists to rediscover the roots of American music. Among the musicians he influenced was Bob Dylan who wrote about Seeger in his book, Chronicles.
During his career, Seeger earned six Grammy nominations. In 2007, he played autoharp on the Grammy Award winning album Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
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