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Member Bio

David Orleans 

Greensboro, NC
earthsinger@comcast.net

Contact Information

5742
Greensboro, NC
earthsinger@comcast.net
2/4/2020

Personal Information

Mar 26

Additional Information

1947

Biography

I heard my first folk music on “Jerry White’s Hootenanny” on WJRZ.AM in 1962.

By 1964 I had learned, as a lefthander, to play a few upside-down chords on a borrowed baritone uke, and a lifelong folkie was born, writing songs in the style of Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, etc.  In college I learned to play songs by the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkle, Cat Stevens, the Beatles, top 40 hits, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Sam & Dave, Sam Cooke, and the Temptations.

 

After a Masters degree in Environmental Education from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), I worked as a naturalist in Camden County, NJ for 31 years, retiring in 2005. While volunteering at the Philadelphia Folk Festival from ‘76-’04, I got to see folk greats, Elizabeth Cotton, Pete Seeger, Oscar Brand, Bill Staines, & countless others. I performed many times at the Philadelphia Folk Fest, both as a volunteer and as a paid performer.

 

Inspired by Pete Seeger and the Clearwater crew, I performed environmental song programs as “The Earthsinger” for schools and families in NJ, PA, IL & OR from1986 to 2019.

 

I have been an active Executive Board member of Alliance For New Jersey Environmental Education, and served as president of the Whitesbog Preservation Trust.


Presently I am a Board Member of PFS, and a member of the Virtual Song Circle Committee and the Archive Committee.

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