Deborah Van Kleef
Deborah Van Kleef has performed her brand of rootsy rustbelt folk music for over 20 years, at concerts, festivals, coffeehouses, schools, rallies, conferences and special events, mainly in Ohio, with occasional appearances in New York, Washington, DC and California. Her “has appeared with” list includes John McCutcheon, Pete Seeger, Rosalie Sorrels, Holly Near, emma’s revolution, Laura Love and more. Her repertoire includes biting topical satire, anthems for a better world, saucy country blues and heartstring-tugging old-time songs, plus sing-along, clap-along, rhyme-along songs for audiences of all ages. She plays guitar, Appalachian dulcimer, pennywhistle and assorted noisemakers, and often sings a capella. Her song, “The Great Fast Food Strike,” was performed by Pete Seeger at the Carnegie Hall concert for the 50th anniversary of Folkways Records. She and the song were featured on the documentary, “Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin’,” which aired on over 160 public radio stations across the U.S. Deborah served for 10 years on the Executive Board of American Federation of Musicians Local 1000. She will be touring during 2009 to mark the release of her first CD, WORK IN PROGRESS.