Untitled Document

Jimmy LaFave:

“What attracts me to Woody’s music is that it's music for the common man. The whole thing I like about his lyrics is that he traveled around the country back in the 30’s and 40’s and picked up bits and pieces of the landscape. That’s something that I like to do. Not only do you get to know the land, but the people around the country. I love that sense of rambling in his music. He also adds, “Woody was way ahead of his time. He was a painter, an illustrator, and a philosopher. There are so many facets to his life, that his music is just part of the bigger picture.” Jimmy LaFave 11/02

BIO:

Not only are Woody’s songs a great inspiration to Jimmy, but also his writings. Jimmy took all the excerpts of narrative that you are hearing between songs tonight from various Woody books include in; Bound for Glory, Seeds of Man, Born to Win, and Woody Sez.

Jimmy LaFave was born in Wills Point, Texas and by Junior High was making music perched behind his Sears and Roebuck drum kit. It wasn’t long before his mother traded a drawer full of green stamps for his first guitar and the switch to singer-songwriter was in progress. His family later moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Although, he has lived in Austin, Texas for the past 17 years, many people think of him from being from Oklahoma, because of his strong musical ties to the state and what he often refers to as his “red dirt music.” It was in this landscape that he began to define his sound, which in part, a combination of his experiences there among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody Guthrie.

LaFave has released six critically acclaimed albums and counts Austin Singer Songwriter of the of the Year (twice) among his many awards.

Eliza Gilkyson:

“Woody Guthrie gave voice to the innocent and flawed beauty of the American dream. He also bore witness to the core of the disease of greed and divisiveness that ultimately could be this country's downfall. We would do well to study the heart of his music, to remember who we were, who we could be, and what we will become if we do not regain our greater vision as individuals, as a country.” Eliza 11/02

BIO: The daughter of successful folksinger Terry Gilkyson: Eliza is a third-generation poet/musician who, growing up in Los Angeles, knew that her life would revolve around music. "I got into it for all the wrong reasons, more as a survival tool then anything else, but it proved to serve me more than I dared to imagine it ever could." As a young teenager she recorded demos for her dad (who wrote folk/pop music hits "Greenfields", Marianne", and "Memories are Made of This", among others) and started writing and recording her own material as well. Over the years, she developed a loyal fan base in the Southwest and Texas, as well as a uniquely intimate style shaped by her personal experiences and her and her need to stay true to her muse. The 2000 release of Hard Times In Babylon, on Redhouse Records, secured Eliza's place on the contemporary folk music scene with a strong collection of songs, lean production, and a vocal confidence only hinted at in her previous recordings. Although she still avoids stylistic categories, she continues to evolve musically as a storyteller with blood ties to folk music blended with a pop-influenced passion for a large melody and deep personal lyrics. Throughout 2001 and 2002, Eliza has gained a wider audience through appearances on Austin City Limits and National Public Radio, the inclusion of her version of Bob Dylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" on Redhouse Record's Nod to Bob CD, European and North American tours. The 2002 release of Lost and Found demonstrates her continued growth as an artist and human being. Eliza is now living in Austin, Texas and telling her story as truthfully, melodically and lyrically as she can. "Sometimes I wish I could unplug this cord and my soul or my money I could save but every time I say I'm gonna quit the beauty way I hear my bones just turning in their grave little darling bones turning in their grave" -- "Beauty Way"

Ellis Paul:

“Woody's life reads like the history of the 20th Century, growing up in the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, serving in World War 2, being part of the whole Commmie scare in the fifties, and affecting the folk and rock music of the sixties and beyond. His music tells this country's story as well as any history book. I can't help but be amazed by the size of his song
catalogue... He was constantly writing, creating, seeing, thinking, philosophizing... all with a great deal of honesty and directness.” Ellis 11/02

BIO: Woody's daughter, Nora Guthrie, is a good friend and fan of Ellis's, and invited him to pore through her father’s archive of unpublished songs, from which he brilliantly molded "God's Promise" into a vital modern hymn. At first she resists comparing Ellis and Woody, stressing the uniqueness of each artist; but then said there was a "job description my father left behind, and that Ellis has taken on."

"One of the things that is compulsory about that job plan is individuality," she says, "so the way Ellis is most like Woody is that he is true to himself. Every time I see him, there’s a brightness about him, a hopefulness, a liveliness. You never get this feeling of the drudgery of the folk singer's life, which a lot of people write songs about it. And I don't like that; I never heard it in my dad's songs. You would hear criticism, but never complaining. I feel the same thing in Ellis; there’s never anything pathetic or self-pitying in him. That really attracts me to his work - that and his humor, which is something else I would compare to my dad, that very dry, subtle, witty humor."

…"I put him on there as a guide," Ellis says of his Woody Guthrie tattoo, "to remind me what the mission statement was, and how committed he was to it every time he went out on the road or put pen to paper. It was almost like a little badge of courage, to remind me to write honestly, to write songs that reflect reality; to show people the hard side of life, but also the softer side."

Slaid Cleaves:

Woody's music has served as a guidepost for as long as I've been a songwriter. I'll always try to write, as Woody did, about what's important to people.And I'll try my best to do it with economy, wit, compassion and honesty. Woody taught me that you don't need any fancy equipment or virtuosso talent, you just need to speak the truth, the deep down truth. He told me what I already knew. Slaid Cleaves 11/02

BIO Like the best of his songwriting contemporaries, Cleaves' music is neither country, folk or rock. Similarly, the world created by his songs isn't time-specific. On his CD, Broke Down, there is a version of Woody Guthrie's "This Morning I Am Born Again," which is set to Cleaves' own melody. Here, the singer crosses over - Twilight Zone style - into Guthrie's world. Woody's lyrics, which reject the notion that Heaven is only attained in death, underscores Broke Down's ultimate message: that life is a struggle, but one worth fighting. "There was some confusion, because a couple of other artists had recorded it," he explains. "I didn't think I'd be able to get permission to do it, but it turned out that the other artists didn't release it, so it was still up for grabs. It's a real thrill to have it say, 'This Morning I Am Born Again by Slaid Cleaves and Woody Guthrie.'" Cleaves recalls two other encounters with Guthrie's music, once when his kindergarten-teacher mom played him Guthrie and Pete Seeger's children's album as a young tyke, and again at 20 when his love for Bruce Springsteen drove him to raid his parents' attic record collection in search of the Boss' musical idols. "I literally went up to the attic and dug all those records out," he says. "Taped 'em all."

Sarah Lee Guthrie:

“Woody Guthrie helps me be who I am” SLG 11/02

BIO :Sarah Lee Guthrie was born into the first family of American folk music in the colorful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. As the youngest daughter of world-renowned folksinger Arlo Guthrie and granddaughter of the legendary Woody Guthrie, Sarah Lee grew up with music as a part of her everyday life experience. With a close family that extended from her parents Arlo and Jackie to her mentors, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Hoyt Axton and many others, the youngest Guthrie found herself in the spotlight as a third generation singer/songwriter. Sarah Lee Guthrie delivers a sweet and powerful performance at every show. Alone or with others, Sarah Lee, through no fault of her own, has become the next Guthrie in the legacy of a great family. And, as her father once noted, "There's more where she came from". Together with husband Johnny Irion the next generation is ready to see the world and carry on the family legacy.
Johnny Irion: “ When looking for the American Spirit—I go to Woody.” Johnny Irion 11/02
BIO : Johnny Irion originates from a family of artists. His grandfather, Fred Knight, a tenor singer, was cast as the lead in the traveling Broadway show, "Oklahoma". His grandmother, Rubilee Knight is a classical violinist. His uncle, Thomas Steinbeck, son of John Steinbeck, writes books and screenplays. Having been surrounded by music all of his life, then exposed to great literature by his uncle, writing and performing was a natural progression for him.
“Blessed with a high, clear tenor voice that recalls Gram Parsons or a Harvest-era Neil Young and an elegant six-string style. Mr. Irion's songs gravitate toward themes of travel and movement and searching for those truths that can only be found on the open road, someplace between nowhere and any place at all.”
Augusta Chronicle Augusta, GA

Johnny Irion:

“ When looking for the American Spirit—I go to Woody.”

Johnny Irion originates from a family of artists. His grandfather, Fred Knight, a tenor singer, was cast as the lead in the traveling Broadway show, "Oklahoma". His grandmother, Rubilee Knight is a classical violinist. His uncle, Thomas Steinbeck, son of John Steinbeck, writes books and screenplays. Having been surrounded by music all of his life, then exposed to great literature by his uncle, writing and performing was a natural progression for him.
“Blessed with a high, clear tenor voice that recalls Gram Parsons or a Harvest-era Neil Young and an elegant six-string style. Mr. Irion's songs gravitate toward themes of travel and movement and searching for those truths that can only be found on the open road, someplace between nowhere and any place at all.”
Augusta Chronicle Augusta, GA

Kevin Welch:

"Growing up in Oklahoma, I was hit hard by Woody Guthrie. There’s a collection of essays, poems, rants and rambles called Born To Win that was my Bible through my teens and into my 20’s, and he threw a big shadow over Kerouac and H. Williams and the Beatles and everything else. There wouldn’t be much rock and roll without him, I know that much, and I'd be a different kind of
critter too. Probably a lot more boring...." Kevin 11/02 .

BIO: Kevin's special gift, is the ability to write lyrics so visual that hearing them is like watching a movie inside your head. He put that talent to work as a staff songwriter for many years, having songs cut by such artists as Moe Bandy (who cut several), T. Graham Brown, Jonathan Edwards, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Highwaymen, Scott Joss, The Judds, The Kendalls, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Charlie Pride, Ricky Skaggs, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Conway Twitty, Don Williams, and Trisha Yearwood.
"Kevin Welch defines the new "Americana" sound as well as anybody: hardbitten songs of busted knuckles and bruised hearts played out in sweet, virile melodies and articulated in a smooth-as-Kentucky-bourbon singing voice....Welch's debut on the Dead Reckoning label is lightning in a bottle."--Wallace Baine, Addicted to Noise

Michael Fracasso:
" Woody Guthrie invented my job, and I consider myself blessed to be able to go around and meet people, sing to them, maybe make them feel better." Michael F. 11/02

BIO : Michael's songs remind us why we still seek out great songwriting. In five minutes or less he can make us feel like we couldn't have spent the time better were we reading Tolstoy or Joyce....And then there's that voice. Like the great vocalists to whom he has been compared (Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Buddy Holly), Michael is simultaneously wry and forlorn, ephemeral and urgent, down but not out. His voice touches us in many places at once, and his touch leaves us renewed and more alive.
"No other artist playing the folk/rock circuit today comes as close to really putting all the great strains of American music into such a cohesive package.
Only Springsteen with "Born to Run" and Petty with "Damn the Torpedoes" have come as close to such a definitive album that rocks without
being adolescent..." Greg Johnson Oklahoma Gazette on Michael's "World in a Drop of Water"

Joel Rafael:

"Woody Guthrie was a walking, talking, singing
celebration of life and the human spirit. His spirit continues to inspire me everywhere I go." Joel Rafael 11/02

BIO : Described as a natural interpreter of Woody Guthrie’s lyrics and music, nationally acclaimed songwriter Joel Rafael has recently released a new musical project to celebrate the songs of Woody Guthrie. Woodeye, Rafael’s fourth CD, will be released on January 21, 2003 on Inside Recordings/9 Yards Records and distributed nationally by ADA.

Produced by Dan Rothchild, Woodeye contains fourteen songs. Twelve were penned by Guthrie, one by Rafael, and one unpublished lyric—“Dance A Little Longer”—is a co-write with words by Guthrie and music by Rafael. The album also includes guest appearances by Jennifer Warnes, Ellis Paul, Van Dyke Parks, and Matt Cartsonis.
“I really wanted to make a recording that would be a Woody Guthrie experience for a new audience: a collection of songs, both familiar and rare, that would bring Woody’s material within reach of the ears of today’s listeners,” explains Rafael.

Considered one of the most refreshing new acts on the national folk festival scene, Joel and his acoustic band have been performing and touring the country for the last ten years. In 2000, the Joel Rafael Band—Joel Rafael, (lead vocals & guitar), his daughter Jamaica (violin, viola & vocals), Carl Johnson (acoustic lead guitar) and Jeff Berkley (ethno-percussion)—released their third album, Hopper on Inside Recordings, an independent label created by Jackson Browne and his management. This highly acclaimed album was nominated in 2001 for an Association For Independent Music–AFIM ‘Best Contemporary Folk’ award.

Last year, the Joel Rafael Band was also featured on two compilation CDs: Folkscene, Vol. 3, released on Red House Records, and If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2 on Appleseed Recordings, performing Guthrie and Seeger tunes, respectively.

Rafael’s all-acoustic interpretation of Guthrie’s songs draws from real-life experiences. And, like Guthrie, Rafael’s music evokes the inspiration, the hope and the greater realization that there is often more to life than what is readily apparent.

FILMS AVAILABLE in VHS Format:
· 17 min. “All or None” produced by North American Folk Alliance. Made available courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Archives. A beautifully produced piece on Woody.
· “This Land Is Your Land”: 22 min. Animated cartoon of Woody’s childrens songs. Fun for Intermission!

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