Woody Guthrie: Hard times and hard travellin'
Wednesday 25 February 2009
A live musical programme that sets the songs of Woody Guthrie in the context of the American 1930s - the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself. Will Kaufman brings such hard-hitting Guthrie songs as 'Vigilante man', 'Pretty boy Floyd' and 'I ain't got no home' into conversation with other songs of the Depression Era - from Joe Hill's 'The preacher and the slave' to 'Brother, can you spare a dime?'. These renditions, buttressed by detailed historical commentary, exemplify the blending of music and radical politics that marks Guthrie's most powerful and evocative work.
Will Kaufman is from New Jersey and is professor of American literature and culture at the University of Central Lancashire. He has published widely on many aspects of American culture and has been a semi-professional folksinger and musician for over thirty years. He comes from a musical family (his brother,
Steve Kaufman, is one of America's most celebrated bluegrass guitarists) and he is equally at home on the guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin.
In 2008, Will was awarded the Woody Guthrie Research Fellowship from the BMI Foundation and the Woody Guthrie Foundation.
Presented by the Eccles Centre for American Studies, the British Library.
Event Time: 18.30 -20.00
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £6 (concessions £4) (advance booking recommended)
