Nightflying: The Entertainment Guide

Bob Childers, the Godfather of Red Dirt Music and a core presence at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for the past ten years, will be honored on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at a special pre-festival tribute show at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. Several of the many artists influenced by Childers – who passed away in April - will gather to celebrate his life and music in song. Performers include Jimmy LaFave, The Burns Sisters, The Red Dirt Rangers, Mike McClure, Jason Boland, Joel Rafael, Stoney LaRue and Tom Skinner. Tickets are available at www.gettix.com.

Country Joe McDonald’s Tribute to Woody Guthrie: A One-Man, Two-Act Musical Play, opens the festival the following night, July 9, at the historic Crystal Theater in Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah. McDonald's tribute includes songs by Guthrie and others, readings from Guthrie's writings, and McDonald’s personal reminiscences. This is the festival’s only ticketed event and is a fundraiser to help offset the costs of producing the four-day FREE festival. General Admission seats are $20 and a limited number of Gold Circle seats are available for $35 at www.gettix.com. Purchase of a Gold Circle seat also includes admission to an after-show reception at the Brick Street Café, a short walk from the Crystal Theater.
Organizers of the festival announced earlier that Judy Collins would make her festival debut this year and that the 2008 festival would also include a special Phil Ochs Song Night performance. Confirmed performers for the Ochs tribute show, emceed by Ochs’ sister Sonny Ochs, include John Gorka, John Flynn, Sean Flynn, David Amram and Joel Rafael.

Ellis Paul released his first children’s album, The Dragonfly Races, in early 2008. The album was recently awarded a Silver Medallion by the Parents’ Choice Foundation. In addition to his main stage appearance at this year’s WoodyFest, Paul will also perform songs from his award-winning children’s album at the Children’s Festival. This years Children’s Festival, which is sponsored by the Viersen Family Foundation, will also feature crafts for children, harmonica lessons with Pat Steward, a water slide, clowns, surrey rides, and more.

There’s more than music to be experienced at WoodyFest. Other free events – theater, lectures, film and more – examine the many different sides of Woody Guthrie’s life and legacy.

This year’s extra-musical activities include:
Storytime with Lefty Lou. Maxine “Lefty Lou” Crissman will be in attendance at the festival for the first time this year. In the 1930s, the “Woody and Lefty Lou” radio show aired on Hollywood’s KFVD. Lefty Lou will share eyewitness tales of Woody’s early career and songwriting.

“Time Changes Everything.” This one-act play features two characters: Woody Guthrie and Bob Wills. Although there is no evidence that these two famous songwriters ever met, this play considers the possibility by chronicling two conversations between the men. The play will be a table reading of a new script. The starring “roles” will be read by two of The Red Dirt Rangers: John Cooper as Wills and Brad Piccolo as Guthrie.
“North of Austin, West of Nashville: Red Dirt Music.” This new documentary attempts to define and showcase the slippery but solid strain of music that often serves as the centerpiece of WoodyFest: Red Dirt music. The 90-minute film, produced by students at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, features many WoodyFest regulars including the late Bob Childers and the Red Dirt Rangers.

Woody Guthrie Poets. This will mark the fourth annual appearance of the Woody Guthrie Poets at a two-hour event featuring 19 poets and complemented by the music of David Amram.

Woody Guthrie: A Life in Songs. This program by Oklahoma Panhandle University professor Tom Lewis will summarize the life of Woody Guthrie in song and will feature selections from Guthrie’s 2008 Grammy award-winning Live Wire CD as well as other albums.

Collecting Woody. Barry Ollman, member of the Advisory
Board of the Woody Guthrie Foundation, has compiled one of the largest collections of Woody Guthrie letters, artwork, and personal papers, as well as related papers of Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and more. Ollman will share information about his 20-year endeavor.

Mary Jo’s Pancake Breakfast. Woody Guthrie’s youngest sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, hosts her annual “pancake breakfast" as a forum to share memories and stories. The informal event, a fundraiser for the Huntington’s Disease Society, includes unplanned and unrehearsed performances – anchored by festival regulars Jimmy LaFave and Joel Rafael.
The 11th Annual Festival will be held July 9-13, 2008 in Okemah, Oklahoma - Guthrie’s hometown – located 90 miles east of Oklahoma City. The festival celebrates the life and musical legacy of one of America’s greatest folk music songwriters and troubadours. The festival concludes on Sunday with the Hoot for Huntington’s – a hootenanny backed by members of the house band under the direction of Terry “Buffalo” Ware. There’s always lots of spontaneity, usually with a surprise performance or two, and festival regulars know not to miss this relaxed event.

The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, which attracts attendees from around the world, is organized and produced by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, and is made possible in part by grants provided by the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Viersen Family Foundation. Other sponsors include New Dominion LLC, Music Road Records, George Kaiser Foundation, Grape Ranch Vineyards, Okemah National Bank, Parks Brothers ACE Hardware, Oklahoma State AFL-CIO, Okemah Care Center, Golden Pony Casino, The Intellitouch Tuner, Nightflying and Oasis Disc Manufacturing. For information about sponsorship opportunities, a detailed schedule of events, and other information, please visit www.woodyguthrie.com.

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