WoodyFest 2007:  The Spirit of Song

 

The indomitable spirit of Woody Guthrie was with all who camped through the continued heartland deluge July 11-15; it was with the Festival presenters as they made the tough decisions to keep the music flowing no matter the cost; and it was with the musicians on the stages and around the Okemah, Oklahoma, campfires who sang Woody’s songs, and their own songs, of love and peace and protest.

 

Part I: WoodyFest 10-Year Jam

 

An opening concert benefiting the Festival (all else is free) at the old Crystal Theater—where Woody Guthrie had performed and his mother had watched movies—commemorated the 10th annual event, featuring the musicians who had performed in all nine previous Festivals.  Not just a performance, this night was for them a family reunion, and all took the stage together for the first songs, Roll and Down By the River, before their somewhat solo acts. 

 

The Terry ‘Buffalo’ Ware House Band was always on hand and included Ware on guitar; Dean Brown, percussion; Randy Crouch, fiddle; Don Morris, bass; Dan Duggin, accordion; and T.Z. Wright, keyboard and accordion. 

 

Bob Childers, the Godfather of Red Dirt Music, was also in house, for what would become his final appearance in memory of Woody Guthrie.  We are now memorializing Bob. 

 

 

 

 

A smattering of the evening’s offerings include:

 

Joel Rafael, who has recorded two CDs of Guthrie songs, played WG’s Pretty Boy Floyd from the 2002 “Woodeye” CD, and the tragic Don’t Kill My Baby and My Son, an account of the lynching of a black woman and her child in Okemah, also on “Woodeye.” Rafael was backed by the Steppin’ In It band from Lansing, and he continued to offer WG songs throughout the Festival.  His latest CD, “Woodyboye,” was released in April, and both CDs feature previously unrecorded WG lyrics Rafael has set to music with the blessings of Nora Guthrie, administrator of the Woody Guthrie Archives.

 

 

 

 

The Red Dirt Rangers stepped up with two new, very motivational protest songs. Turn This Train Around by Skinner/Childers/Trout rails against the takeover of America by Big Business.  Under the Radar by Cooper/Childers/McClure/Piccolo is a roots-rocking anti-war song inspirationally delivered by lead singer and mandolinist John Cooper.  In between protests was This Time by Piccolo/Wiles.  All three songs are on the recently released RDR CD “Ranger Motel.” Band members include Ben Han on lead guitar and vocals, Brad Piccolo on rhythm guitar and vocals, Jimmie Karstein on percussion, Randy Crouch on fiddle, and Cooper; and joined by various members of the House Band for the Wednesday eve concert.

 

 

 

 

 

Don Conoscenti crafted his set beautifully between two acts.  He first sang a duet with Cooper and RDR, What Else Could I Do?, a Native American chief’s lament to his grandchildren for having signed treaties, by Cooper/Conoscenti/Piccolo.  Then while the stage was being broken down and set up, he went solo and played a sweet, jazzy, mouth-watering rendition of Ray Charles’s Georgia on My Mind.  Finally, joined by Ellis Paul on harmony, they performed Conoscenti’s other-worldly The Other Side from his “Extremely Live at Eddie’s Attic” CD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellis Paul, seated at the keyboard, melted the audience with his Once Upon A Summertime.  Then joined by Conoscenti and both on guitar they sang Paul’s Maria’s Beautiful Mess.  Paul delivered an interesting account of having WG tattooed on his right shoulder when he was 26 years old, and finished with WG’s God’s Promise set to his own music, written while WG was in the hospital. 

 

 

 

Besides Conoscenti, this song was backed by The Burns Sisters’ 3-part harmonies and Radoslav Lorkovic on accordion.

 

 

 

Jimmy LaFave took the House Band, with Conoscenti and Lorkovic added, to new heights with his soulful Red Dirt sound.  He opened with Kevin Welch’s When the Sun Shines Down on Me.  [Kevin Welch was a regular at The Swingin’ Door in Fayetteville many years ago, and played a set later in this Festival that commanded both his audience’s and the other musicians’ attention.]  With Dylan’s Dusty Old Fairgrounds next, it seemed like LaFave was floating a mantra for sun and dried-out conditions at the Festival campgrounds (that didn’t happen).  Finally, he was joined by the RDR, Burns Sisters, Rafael and Crouch for an intensely personal performance of WG’s Oklahoma Hills.

 

After an intermission, the 10-year participants were recognized and there was an onstage jam that also included Rob McNurlin, Ronny Elliott, Greg Klyma and Steppin’ In It, with LaFave leading musicians and audience in singing The Weight.

 

All of the above musicians and many more regional and national acts performed separate hour-long sets throughout the Festival, or backed up those acts, as part of the free, official Festival program.  Standouts not previously mentioned include David & Adam Amram, Arlo Guthrie (who closed down the Festival per custom), Terri Hendrix w/Lloyd Maines, Ronny Cox, Antje Duvekot, Michael Fracasso, Butch Hancock, Jonsmith, Tim O’Brien, Larry Spears, Eliza Gilkyson, and more.