 | The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie (see photo). The 2008 Festival will be held from July 9 to 13 in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Daytime main stage performances are held inside at the Brick Street Cafe and the Crystal Theater. Evening main stage performances are held outdoors at the Pastures of Plenty. |
The festival is planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, whose goal is simply to ensure Guthrie's musical legacy. The event is made possible in part from a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, Woody Guthrie's younger sister, is the festival's perennial guest of honor. Artists for 2008 festival (in the order of confirmation): Judy Collins, Jimmy LaFave, Amy Speace, Joel Rafael, John Gorka, Bob Childers, Don Conoscenti, Sara Hickman, Sam Baker, Romi Mayes, David & Adam Amram, Red Dirt Rangers, Jon Vezner, Ronny Elliott, Nancy Apple, John Flynn with Sean Flynn, Rob McNurlin, Ellis Paul, Butch Hancock, Annie Guthrie, Tony Lee Thomas, Country Joe McDonald, Ramsay Midwood, Ali Harter, Mike Blackwell, Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers, The Farm Couple, Emily Kaitz, Happenstance, Emily Elbert, Broken Wing Routine, Kevin Welch, Audrey Auld, Radoslav Lorkovic, Anthony da Costa, Alexinder Gunn, Jimmy Davis, The Oklahoma Geniuses, Randy Crouch, Maxine Dempsey (aka Lefty Lou), Jamaica Rafael, "Remembering Phil Ochs" Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American songwriter and folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs, ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land" which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. | |
Bruce Springsteen: THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND (Live at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA on September 30, 1985) Original 1944 Lyrics This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me. As I went walking that ribbon of highway I saw above me that endless skyway I saw below me that golden valley This land was made for you and me. I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts While All around me a voice was sounding Saying this land was made for you and me. When the sun came shining, and I was strolling And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling A voice was chanting, as the fog was lifting, This land was made for you and me. This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York Island From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me. | |
| Event: Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Date: July 9 (Wednesday) – 13 (Sunday), 2008 Location: Okemah, Oklahoma USA | |
| SOURCE: Woody Guthrie Folk Festival |
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