the guthrie experience

We call it folk music, but since I was little, I've been calling it 'heart music': lyrics and rhythms that keeps your heart warm company on a cold lonely night. The show is Arlo Guthrie, playing in the Guthrie Center, and Saturday, October 3rd is none other than a full-on Guthrie experience. Staying in sweet harmony with what his music seems to represent, The Guthrie Center was a church that in 1991 he converted into a music venue/spiritual place that welcomes folk and folks of all beliefs. It's a gem, to say the least.

The whole family is on stage singing their big and little hearts out. More than worth noting is Arlo's daughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, who has a voice and face that is full of grace;her aura has the power to ease all of your troubles with the drop of a word. And her husband musical collaborator of ten years, Johnny Irion, is no shadow. They are touring all year long, and are very much worth checking out.

When family man, Arlo Guthrie, gets on stage, there is a sort of calm that washes over you because in some way, it isn't just the group on stage that are his family, but every one of us in the audience too. He closes with "This Land is Your Land", a song his father, Woody Guthrie, was famous for: and the experience of this magical place and Arlo's moving music and energy are constant reminders that his father had truly stumbled onto a spectacular notion: 'this land was made for you and me.'

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