Quick Q and A with Fay Baird from the Short Sisters
 by Kathy S-B  ·  12 May 2007

I understand that you had a pretty remarkable evening at a Pete Seeger celebration show recently. Can you tell us a little bit about that event?

The event was a day-long symposium in March at the Library of Congress, ending with an evening concert, to celebrate the contribution of 3 generations of the Seeger family to American music. Kate would have been invited anyway, being the granddaughter of Charles Seeger and niece of Pete, Peggy and Mike. But Pete asked that all three of us come and help him with his contribution to the evening concert, which was held in the Coolidge Auditorium of the wonderful historic Jefferson building right on Capitol Hill. We accompanied Pete on a few of his choices, and during our own set we sang a couple of Pete’s own songs and also some that we had picked up from Library of Congress recordings over the years. It was an incredible experience to be part of a concert in such a high-profile location and with such fine partners in music on the stage. There’s an article about it on our website (shortsisters.com) if you want to read more.

What’s in store for the Short Sisters in the future? Any new projects coming up?

We’re planning to begin our next recording project in the fall. We have a few extremely timely songs that Me and Thee fans will probably get to hear on May 18th, and it’s time to record them!

What keeps the three of you performing and making music after nearly 30 years?

Well, the first thing is, people keep asking us to come and play for them. We feel incredibly rewarded by the reactions that people have to what we do. We also can depend on enjoying each other’s company and having fun with old rehearsing rituals, like eating Lyndells of Somerville macaroons and drinking much too much tea, and trying to remember details of our early days together. It is a huge comfort to spend time with old friends and in doing so to also bring something to our audiences.

Fay, I think it’s safe to say that you’re probably the only hydrologist in folk music. What led you to that career? Can you tell us in layperson’s language what you do in the water resources industry?

Growing up, I always enjoyed watery landscapes and was an avid birdwatcher, which brought me out into rivers and swamps and estuaries. After I earned a master’s degree in hydrology I went for an interview at an environmental consulting firm, and the people at the interview were very interested in the fact that I was a musician, amazingly enough — and over the years my hydrology co-workers have been great Short Sisters fans! In consulting, you are hired by people trying to solve problems, so what I do is a mixture of analyzing data and helping to guide decisions about water resources. I am doing some work now for the state of Florida to promote programs and actions to protect the incredible freshwater springs that we have here, which is some of the most interesting work I’ve done.