Banjo Politico

Here’s one guy who isn’t even remotely insipid, and he’s definitely picked his man. Since the towers fell, multi-instrumentalist

Pierce Woodward has drastically changed his tune, his one-time ordinary songwriting is now deluged with progressive politics, dealt with charming wit.

“What got me going was the way the media handled September 11,” says the 26-year-old Beacon resident. “It radicalized me politically and got me thinking about whether I was having the most impact I could have as a musician.”

Although Woodward wasn’t politically outspoken until that day, his liberal views later led him to an internship at New Hampshire Public Radio as a news commentator and freelance reporter. He found his position in the media highly frustrating.

“The whole reason I wanted to get involved in the media was because I thought they were doing such a terrible job, and they weren’t reporting on the things I thought needed to be reported on. I found myself torn, unable to express what I wanted to. I was required to keep my opinions to myself.”

Around this time, Woodward hooked up with Pete Seeger’s grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger of the popular local band The Mammals. Rodriguez-Seeger, also the host of WAMC’s Albany radio show “The Tao of Tao,” invited Woodward to contribute political commentary once a month.

Coincidentally, they were also looking for a bass player. “I thought, ‘this is the way I can get back into music and still retain that sense of having an influence.’ I’d have access to the mass media but in a format where I was called upon to express my opinions instead of conceal them.”