Folk singer/songwriter to inspire caring for Florida’s natural world at Books & Books

The threatened Florida Scrub-Jay may call in a language we don’t know, but Grant Livingston tries to make sure we understand.

The singer-songwriter’s music tells the stories of birds, armadillos, the Everglades and much more of the wild world, with a mission to bring awareness and insight.

Livingston will perform his joyful music at Coral Gables Books & Books from 5 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, in a special event that will reflect on the intersection of books and song. The event is free.

He will also give tips on songwriting. And the store’s website hints that the musician and the Sunday night audience might even create something new together.

Livingston grew up loving animals, and now his passion for protecting our natural heritage shines through everything he writes.

“I can’t remember not feeling like I related to plants and animals,” he said.

He said he wants his audience to laugh, to think, to sing along, to believe and ultimately to be the ones who make a difference for our future.

Over the summer, he played at Books & Books in support of author Michael Grunwald and his new book, “We Are Eating the Planet.” Livingston wrote and sang a new song, “Land is Not Free,” for the occasion.

Livingston has been advocating for the environment since the 1980s. He regularly performs at Tropical Audubon Society and Native Plant Society events, Luna Star Cafe and the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs.

Singer-songwriter-producer Diane Ward calls Livingston “a treasure.” They got to know each other at monthly songwriter meetings at Luna Star Cafe.

“Grant Livingston’s tireless passion, advocacy and care for the environment is consistent with who I have known him to be all these 20-plus years,” she said.

The two wrote a new song in honor of Sun Day, a day of action on Sept. 21 that celebrates the power of clean energy. Livingston will premiere it at the Books & Books event.

“I was honored that he asked me to help write, ‘Turn to the Sun,’ a hopeful song of reverence for the sun’s mighty power,” Ward said. “Grant’s conviction in his life’s work is inspiring and contagious. We are thrilled how the song came out and had a blast writing together!”

Earlier this month, he was a guest again on Michael Stock’s “Folk and Acoustic Music” program on WLRN-FM 91.3, something he said he loves to do.

One of his heroes is Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who gave the Everglades its name, The River of Grass.

“She herself became known as the Voice of the River, for all she did to protect the Everglades,” Livingston said. He wrote a song with his friend Lenny Cravens the year Marjory passed away. You can hear “Voice of the River” and others on YouTube.

Livingston, who lives near South Miami, never stops writing songs, advocating and performing to help others learn.

His song about the Florida Scrub-Jay on the Archbold Biological Station & Buck Island Ranch channel is particularly moving.

“This is one bird who lives nowhere else but Florida. This, our only endemic, is threatened by loss of its scrub habitat. At Archbold Biological Station near Sebring, they’ve been studying a population of these birds, accounting for the location of each individual once a month. They’ve been doing this for over 50 years. I’ve gotten the chance to participate in this census twice, while I was working on this song,” Livingston said.

He said legendary folksingers the late Frank and Ann Thomas were a big reason why he writes about Florida.

“They invited me to the Florida Folk Festival in 1987. I wrote ‘The Armadillo Song’ that same year. I didn’t think that much of it. To my surprise, it turned out to be an audience favorite,” he said. He got the idea for the song while driving home from the festival and pulled over to write down the lyrics.

Livingston also writes about national parks and performs with childhood friend Gary Bremen, who grew up to be a National Park Ranger and is now retired. They have presented “Songs & Stories of Our National Parks” across the country for the past nine years

“Gary’s an award-winning storyteller,” Livingston said. “We joined forces to present Gary’s program about the history of America’s Best Idea, our National Parks. I’m his ‘band’. We’ve been fortunate to have the chance to present this program across the country. My favorite spot was at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park at sunset.” They were recently part of the Climate Storytellers’ Summit.

Livingston’s musical style draws on ragtime, country-blues, swing, vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley. He even has a bit of 1960s troubadour in him, especially with his trademark white Panama hat.

He likes to encourage everyone to sing along to his funny songs about plants and animals.

“There are some critters, invasives, who don’t belong here, like the Burmese python. The pythons started out as pets, but they’ve been introduced into the Everglades. That’s an ecological disaster according to everyone. Everyone, that is, except the python,” he said.

“In 2019, I also had the privilege of being Artist-in-Residence in Everglades National Park (AIRIE). I got to live in the park for a month,” Livingston said. “The artist in residence has a responsibility to create a work of art for the park during their residency, in my case a song.

“I went to listen to the rangers give their talk every morning. There were three of them, and they each had their own ways of talking about the River of Grass. But there was one question they all addressed: How do you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?” he said.

So, he wrote a song called “The Difference.”

“For 30-plus years I’ve been working to celebrate and preserve the Florida I love. I sing about serious things, but I keep it fun. Folks listen best while laughing, even better while singing along,” Livingston said.

Mentoring songwriters is also important to him, and Livingston has coordinated the South Florida Chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International for more than 30 years. He has taught songwriting at Miami-Dade College and to kids and adults at festivals and other venues. Livingston has four CDs of original songs. More at www.GrantLivingston.com

“I like to make people laugh to open their minds,” he said. “Look at the manatee, the Florida Scrub-Jay, the Everglades, the springs. Florida is unique and beautiful and worth protecting, like Marjory showed us.

“My tools are my songs, and I hope I can make a difference too.”

Free reservations are at bit.ly/4nEIe3K or www.booksandbooks.com

Write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com with news for this column.