Artist: Si Kahn
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Song: āBeen a Long Timeā
Album: Been a Long Time (released in 2000, reissued 2021)
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Label: Sliced Bread Records
In Their Words: āI never waited in a house built of grey rock and stone for Gabriel Kahn, my fatherās father, my grandfather, my Zade to come home from a job on the railroad. But itās also true that after āGabeā deserted the Czarās army in Russia, he indentured himself to the Canadian Pacific Railway, a yearās labor in return for shipās passage to Canada, swinging a pick, digging with a shovel as they built the roadbed and laid the track. Did hearing his stories, told in Yiddish-tinged English, inspire me to write the song āBeen a Long Timeā? I donāt know. Itās been too long a time. But listening to the song now for the first time in many years, I am grateful to welcome him home.ā ā Si Kahn
Photo Credit: Janice Jo Lee