Yale Strom and his band will be performing an evening of Yiddish and American labor songs, inspired by Yale’s work last year producing the film “American Socialist,” spotlighting the life and work of Eugene Debs, an early labor organizer. It was a culmination of five years of research and production, prompted by the current use of the word “socialist” as a political epithet. Most people in America do not know that the contemporary political movement to address income inequality began over 100 years ago with Eugene Victor Debs. The film traces the history of American populism, with the man who inspired progressive ideas – from FDR’s New Deal to Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. The lineup will be: Yale Strom – violin Elizabeth Schwartz – vocals Jeff Pekarek – bass Gunnar Biggs – guitar Walt Richards – banjo Yale Strom (violin, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, playwright) is a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Roma communities. Yale has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Europe and taught at NYU for the 4 years, where he created the course “Artist-Ethnographer Expeditions”. At present he is Artist-in-Residence and professor in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University.