#70 - Carlene Thissen - Woodstock and Back Again: A Musician's Tale

Carlene Thissen is an American singer-songwriter who is the daughter of a generation with a deep desire to hand down peace and love to the "youngers": the Baby Boomers. She experienced firsthand some of the most captivating periods and moments in the realm of popular music, like Woodstock '69, when her path crossed with wonderful people to experience not only the music, awakening one morning at Woodstock to Joan Baez's voice, but the air of freedom and peace, and the feeling of having no fear of anything.

 

After that experience, she turned into a working person and created a successful business. She stopped making music for 40 years, but deeply remembered the air of Woodstock. That changed when she got involved as a volunteer in the Immokalee Unincorporated Agricultural Community. From that catalyst event, she ended up working at the University of Florida’s research center, which inspired her to get a Master’s Degree in Latin American History, write a book based on her final thesis called “Immokalee’s Fields of Hope,” (based on the moving stories she gleaned from the Immokalee people she got to know), make a documentary based on the book, which needed music she decided to write and perform, even if she didn't know if she could. But she did.

 

From then on, she could not stop writing songs to tell stories of people who are often overlooked, like farm workers, the homeless, and children who lost their parents. She doesn't want to leave with music sitting out there that could benefit people. Carlene's journey is not just about music, but also about the generational value music can bring, the stories that have brought her making music with roots in the first edition of Woodstock, and the work as a volunteer with immigrant communities, which also led her to advocate for compassionate immigration policy, and writing books on the stories she came across.

 

Carlene recently shared a capella version of her beautiful new song, "Carry It On," and moved to be near Woodstock, where the energy she experienced caused her musical journey to take flight and where she will continue to perform.

To connect with Carlene: https://carlenethissen.com/

To get in touch with Tyler: https://www.tylerkamerman.com/