Woody Guthrie Folk Festival - 2012: The Centennial Celebration

2012: The Centennial Celebration

During a "Woody100" celebration concert held at the Brady Theater in Tulsa on March 10, 2012, Robert Santelli, Director of the Grammy Museum, presented a plaque to Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon and a representative of the Woody Guthrie Coalition. Santelli read the inscription which honors the city of Okemah and the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for their tremendous efforts in preserving the music of Woody Guthrie.

The 15th annual festival - commemorating what would have been Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday on Saturday, July 14, 2012 - kicked off with a concert by Arlo Guthrie on July 11, 2012 in the newly-renovated Crystal Theater. Gretchen Peters was the opener. Other performers during the course of the 5-day festival included Billy Bragg, Jimmy LaFave, Judy Collins, Joel Rafael, Don Conoscenti, Michael Fracasso, Ellis Paul, The Red Dirt Rangers, John Fullbright, Johnsmith, David Amram, Sam Baker, Butch Hancock, Bill Chambers, Radoslav Lorkovic, and others.

Artists making their WoodyFest debut in 2012 included Melanie, John McCutcheon, and Carolyn Hester. Local musician, John Fullbright, who first performed at the festival while still a student at Okemah High School, made his first appearance on the Pastures of Plenty main stage. "People who hadn’t heard Fullbright previously were stopped in their tracks by the brilliance of this 24 year old whose mature lyrics have an immediate impact."

A non-musical highlight of the centennial celebration included a book-signing event by Woody Guthrie's sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon who published her new book "Woody's Road: Woody Guthrie's Letters Home, Drawings, Photos and Other Unburied Treasures" earlier in the month. Musician David Amram - who wrote the foreword to the book - was on hand for the book signing, along with co-author and Woody Guthrie historian, Guy Logsdon. At her annual pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, 89-year old Edgmon said "My voice is not so good anymore. I’m talking through brand-new false teeth. But I applaud the people who came here to swelter, just for this little Okie."

After an absence of 13 years, Billy Bragg returned to Okemah as the Thursday night headliner. "The protest folk singer, who headlined on Thursday, took the (outdoor) main stage, strapped his Telecaster guitar around his neck and proceeded to capture the essence of Guthrie as he sang songs from the Mermaid Avenue sessions." Jimmy LaFave closed out Friday night by finishing his set with Woody Guthrie's "Oklahoma Hills" and "This Land is Your Land".

"The festival finale was given over to the ageless Judy Collins. Known as an interpretive singer, her voice is still clear and beautiful. She told stories about times in New York, meeting a young Arlo Guthrie, being with Bob Dylan when he wrote "Mr. Tambourine Man" and sang snippets of songs, without accompaniment, by way of illustration – her clear soprano ringing out across the Pastures of Plenty. Accompanied by her pianist, she entranced the audience with, amongst others, the Grammy winning "Both Sides Now", Joan Baez’s "Diamonds and Rust" and took to the piano herself for a moving song about her late mother "In The Twilight". Collins returned for one encore "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" - a fitting end to the centenary celebrations.

The artwork for this year's festival was specially created by Woody Fest regular and Advisory Board member, Ellis Paul. The original of Paul's artwork was auctioned on e-bay as a fundraiser for the Woody Guthrie Coalition.