Biography
Si Kahn was born on April 23, 1944, in State College, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family with deep commitments to social justice. His father, Benjamin Kahn, was a rabbi at Penn State's Hillel, while his mother was a talented artist working in oils and aquatints. Both parents instilled in him a strong sense of justice and humanitarian values that would shape his entire life's work. When Kahn was 15, his family relocated to the Washington, D.C. area, where he graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. He began his organizing career in 1965 as a volunteer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Forrest City, Arkansas, living in an abandoned funeral home alongside other civil rights workers during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
Throughout his career spanning nearly 50 years, Kahn has seamlessly integrated his identities as both a musician and activist, using folk music as a vehicle for social change. He is particularly renowned for his labor anthems and songs about working families, most notably "Aragon Mill" (1974), which emerged from his 1972 work with the United Mine Workers of America in Harlan County, Kentucky. Kahn founded and served as executive director of Grassroots Leadership, a non-profit organization advocating for prison reform, improved immigration detention policies, and violence prevention, retiring from this position on May 1, 2010. Most profits from his musical performances have benefited this organization. He has also been actively involved with Save Our Cumberland Mountains, an environmentalist group opposing strip mining in Appalachia. Critic Robert Christgau described him by 1979 as "the most gifted songwriter to come out of the folkie tradition since John Prine," praising his "understated colloquial precision" and his ability to capture the emotional dislocations of working people.
Kahn's musical legacy encompasses 19 studio albums and numerous collaborations that have established him as a vital voice in American folk music and social activism. He typically accompanies himself on a steel-string acoustic guitar played with brass fingerpicks, creating an intimate and distinctive sound. His work has influenced generations of musicians and activists, demonstrating the enduring power of folk music to inspire social change and collective action. Living in Charlotte, North Carolina, Kahn continues to be recognized as a bridge between the folk music tradition and grassroots activism, with his songs serving as anthems for labor movements and social justice causes.
Fun Facts
- During his 1965 civil rights work in Forrest City, Arkansas, Kahn lived in an abandoned funeral home that civil rights workers had renovated. At night, African American veterans of World War II and the Korean War would sleep on the roof with rifles to protect the nonviolent activists from potential violence.
- Kahn's most famous song, "Aragon Mill," was written in 1974 after he was called to respond to a textile mill closure in Aragon, Georgia, in 1972. He was working for the United Mine Workers of America at the time and was asked to spend a couple of days organizing there until a permanent replacement could be sent.
- Kahn has maintained a practice of dedicating most profits from his musical performances to Grassroots Leadership, the non-profit organization he founded, demonstrating his commitment to using music as a tool for social change rather than personal enrichment.
- Music critic Robert Christgau noted that by 1979, Kahn possessed an "understated colloquial precision" in his songwriting and identified his greatest asset as living among ordinary people rather than within the folk music subculture, giving his work authentic grounding in working-class experiences.
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Benjamin Kahn (Father) - Rabbi and Hillel director at Penn State who instilled strong values of justice and social responsibility (Family influence on all of Kahn's work) [1944-childhood]
- Southern Civil Rights Movement - Formative influence during his 1965 volunteer work with SNCC in Arkansas; learned the power of collective singing and social organizing (All subsequent activist and musical work) [1965 onwards]
Key Collaborators
- John McCutcheon - Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with whom Kahn frequently writes songs and occasionally performs (Signs of the Times (1986)) [1986 and ongoing]
- The Looping Brothers - German bluegrass band founded by Ulrich Sieker and Matthias Malcher; collaborated on bluegrass interpretations of Kahn's work (Aragon Mill - The Bluegrass Sessions, It's A Dog's Life (2019)) [2010s-2019]
- Liz Meyer and Joost van Es - Collaborative partners on community-focused album (We're Still Here (2004)) [2004]
Connection Network
Discography
Albums
| Title | Release Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Afraid to Die | 2023-08-23 | Album |
| Sol - Instrumentals | 2021-07-20 | Album |
| Sol | 2020-03-31 | Album |
Top Tracks
- Prove (with Sikán) (Prove (with Sikán))
- G.I.L.T.A.Y. (Afraid to Die)
- Como te Quiero (Afraid to Die)
- Se me hace (Se me hace)
- Tu Secreto (Tu Secreto)
- Plz Dnt Go (Remastered) (Afraid to Die)
- Intro (Afraid to Die) (Afraid to Die)
- Lento (Pacific Coast Heina) (Afraid to Die)
- Sleep Alone (Remastered) (Afraid to Die)
- Sé Que Te Fallé (Afraid to Die)
External Links
Tags: #folk
References
Heard on WWOZ
SI KAHN has been played 2 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.
| Date | Time | Title | Show | Spotify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 2026 | 10:25 | NEW YEAR EVEfrom SI KAHN HOLLIDAY | Old Time Country and Bluegrassw/ Hazel The Delta Rambler | |
| Nov 30, 2025 | 11:54 | HUTTOfrom COURAGE | Old Time Country and Bluegrassw/ Hazel The Delta Rambler |