Rhythm Rebels

Rock the vote: Emma’s Revolution, featuring Sandy Opatow (left) and Pat Humphries,

performed Oct. 3 at Clinton’s Kirkland Art Center.

Humphries, 48, dislikes being described
as a protest singer, even though she and her partner proudly wear their
political ideologies on their chests. Her trademark purple shirt
carries the words for “peace” in Arabic, Hebrew and English; indeed,
their song, “Peace, Salaam and Shalom,” has gained a worldwide
following. Meanwhile, her partner Opatow wore a black T-shirt that
said, “Barack ‘08. Vote Hope.” In Clinton they staffed a table to sell
these shirts, banners and buttons next to their CDs at intermission and
again after the show.

“I don’t worry about turning people
off,” Humphries said, “I’m more worried about not turning people on.
It’s not about protest. Our songs are about real people, their economic
struggles, their loves, their desires. We want {people} to become
better at solving problems and conflict without resorting to violence.” 

One of the pair’s songs, “Preaching to
the Choir,” gently pokes fun at their fans, who identify with the
ideology of the veteran performers. “When you have progressive music
like that, you expect your audience to be left-leaning,” remarked Shirley Swan, a longtime follower who lured the duo to Clinton to benefit the Upper Mohawk Valley Chapter of the United Nations Association.
In fact, Emma’s Revolution took the Kirkland stage in front of a huge
United Nations banner, with the flags of many nations hanging overhead. 

“I first heard them in 2003 at an
anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C.,” Swan recalled. “I saw them
again in Syracuse last fall. They sang at a march one day and then the
next day they appeared at the May Memorial Unitarian Church. That’s
when I invited them.” 

The duo’s name Emma’s Revolution pays
tribute to labor activist and women’s suffragist Emma Goldman
(1869-1940), whom they said was considered a “dangerous woman” for her
radical views. (J. Edgar Hoover got her deported as an anarchist.) When
one of her fellow “revolutionaries” complained about her enjoyment of
dance, Goldman retorted, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of
your revolution.”

Humphries’ activism dates back to her
Ohio childhood. One of her older sisters was attending Kent State in
1970 when the National Guard fired into a crowd and killed four
students who were protesting the Vietnam War. Humphries credited
“Ohio,” Neil Young’s song about the Kent State massacre, for sparking
her career; she started performing in 1977, and added songwriting
duties in 1984. 

Humphries’ spiritual mentors from the
1960s also include folkies such as Holly Near and the iconic
89-year-old Pete Seeger of “If I Had a Hammer” fame. Emma’s Revolution
has performed with Seeger and received his high praise in return. “He’s
got some huge shoes to fill,” said Humphries. 

Opatow was born in Philadelphia and
raised in a musical family in New York City. She had her own career as
an independent singer-songwriter, but felt drawn to Humphries. They
hooked up about 15 years ago, and eight years later they married “as
outlaws,” they remarked, in a state (New York) that doesn’t sanction
same-sex marriage. So it’s no surprise that Opatow and Humphries claim
they “are committed to a radical new social order, to freedom, to
self-expression, and to the power of every individual to enact critical
change.” 

Humphries considers her music inclusive, despite her political views. “They really are our
songs,” she said after the show. “I really would be glad to not have to
write about war, about torture. But now this is really an important
time to bring those stories into context and into people’s
consciousness.”  

—P.J. Malin