Instruments guitar Years active 1981–present | Name Fred Small Role Singer-songwriter | |
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Birth name Frederick Emerson Small Born November 6, 1952 (age 71)
United States ( 1952-11-06 ) Genres American folk music, Protest music Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, lawyer, Unitarian minister Albums Everything Possible: Fred Small in Concert, I Will Stand Fast, Jaguar, No Limit, The Heart of the Appaloosa Education Yale University, Harvard University Record labels Rounder Records, Flying Fish Records Similar People Holly Near, Judy Small, The Flirtations, Charlie King, Roy Bailey | ||
Frederick Emerson Small (born November 6, 1952), known publicly as Fred Small, is an American singer-songwriter. He began his career as a lawyer and later became a Unitarian Universalist minister.
His songs often make a political or ethical statement. Among his best-known songs are "Heart of the Appaloosa," "Everything Possible," "Peace Is", and "Cranes Over Hiroshima". He is hailed by Pete Seeger as "one of America's best songwriters".
His debut album, Love's Gonna Carry Us (1981), featured Small singing and accompanying himself on guitar. As his fame and success increased, so too did the production level of his albums, as he included more instrumentation, and appearances by other artists, including instrumental and vocal backing by popular New England folk artists. Famous fiddlers, guitarists, and mandolin players alike became a part of Small's discography and helped Small increase his popularity.
After graduating from Harvard Divinity School, he became the minister of First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts in 1996. On April 20, 2008, he was called as Senior Minister at First Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Small resigned in September 2015 to devote his energies to climate advocacy. He is currently Minister for Climate Justice at Arlington Street Church, Boston, and Director of Faith Outreach for Climate XChange, which advocates for carbon pricing legislation in Massachusetts.