The Mission

SPOOK HANDY
WEBSITE LINK

FACEBOOK LINK

Spook Handy was No Musical Genius As a Kid ~ He played no instrument, owned no records, and didn’t even have a radio until he was in high school. In fact, he didn’t make the first cut when he tried out for Glee Club in 5th grade.

But he Had a Dream ~ His love for music dates back to his first time watching the Beatles perform on TV and listening to the only contemporary album in the house – “Peter Paul and Mary in Concert.” A seed was planted – a vision, a possibility of still being a fun loving person when he grew up. And little was anyone to know that one day that seed would sprout.

And The Dream Grew ~It happened on a stiflingly humid New Jersey morning the summer after graduating Rutgers University (Phi Beta Kappa) with a major in Math and Business. Spook had been offered several lucrative jobs in the actuarial field. He had been groomed for this career by his parents and teachers because he was good at math as a child. This day was to be his orientation day at Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. But…

Spook Always Carried with him a Lust for Living “Outside the Box”~ His “what if” and “why not” questions raised many eyebrows. His unorthodox religious perspectives got him kicked out of Catholic school after 1st grade. And somewhere in the back of his mind he never gave up on the dream he had when he first saw the Beatles and heard Peter Paul and Mary. So, on that fateful morning as he stood in the mirror hopelessly trying to tie his tie, a sudden and unforgiving truth overwhelmed him. The world of convention was not his fate. Sure, math came easy. But his lessons were to be learned through his heart, not his mind. So he put his suit in storage – eventually giving it to the local thrift shop – bought a used Yahama guitar for $50 and set out to follow his heart’s dream.

Today, Spook has 5 full length CDs to his credit with his new CD, “Pete Woody & Me, Volume I – Keep the Flame Alive charting at No.3 on the International Folk Radio Charts in both June and July 2016. ~The CD charted just behind Joan Baez and just ahead of Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle with three songs in the top 20. Spook has written for film and theatre. His original songs have charted as high as #2 on the Folk Radio Charts. He has toured throughout North America playing over 3000 concerts in 47 U.S states and 4 Canadian provinces. And he has MCed over 1300 events including open mics and festivals, facilitated scores of workshops and presented lecture/concerts on the Power of Song at colleges and universities. He has performed with the likes of Peter Yarrow, David Amram, Guy Davis and Donovan. And he had a life altering relationship with Pete Seeger.

Spook Handy and Pete Seeger:
Spook performed alongside Pete Seeger more than 50 times in the last ten years of Pete’s life. In 2003, Pete invited Spook to perform with him a the Pumpkin Festival in Beacon, New York. The two hit it off. What happened that day profoundly changed the direction of Spook’s life. Over the next ten years, Spook learned a lot of Pete’s songs and the stories behind them. And he learned a lot about who Pete Seeger was and what he stood for.

Spook was profoundly impressed with Pete’s belief that each of us has all the tools we need to shape ourselves and our world into what we wish them to be – a belief Spook himself has held for most of his adult life. For some, these tools are within our grasp. For some they are at arms length. And for others they are just beyond arm’s length. But they are all attainable if we work together.