Political activists ask: What would Woody do?Byline: Matt Cooper Matt Cooper may refer to:
Woody Guthrie Noun 1. Woody Guthrie - United States folk singer and songwriter (1912-1967) Guthrie, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie - musician, author, poet and artist of the 1940s and '50s - was, above all else, an activist. Who better to channel for a show two weeks before Election Day? "He's inspiring now, because it's just as relevant, if not more," said Rob Wasserman Rob Wasserman is an American Jewish double bass player who has played with Dan Hicks, Van Morrison, Oingo Boingo, Banyan, and Ratdog. Through his career, he has helped to popularize the use of the double bass in rock music. , 52, one-third of the Spirit of Guthrie Tour that plays the WOW Hall tonight. "This is a critical time. We're really on the crossroads of America "The Crossroads of America" is a nickname given to the state of Indiana as it, and, more specifically, the city of Indianapolis is the hub for several major Interstate highways that criss-cross the state, connecting Hoosiers to the rest of the United States. really becoming an oppressive state, if it already hasn't happened." The tour features Wasserman, an accomplished bass player who has riffed with the likes of Lou Reed Lou Reed, born Lewis Allen Reed[1] March 2, 1942, is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965-1973). and the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir; Vince Herman, lead singer of Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is a genre-bending band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene. ; and singer-songwriter Jim Page, who has shared the stage with Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8, 1949) is a nine-time Grammy award-winning American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist who was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt. , Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston, 24 February, 1962, in Dallas, Texas) is a U.S. singer-songwriter whose music and performances are influenced by her Texas roots, her political activism, and a self-assured style that her first major-label producer likened to and Joan Baez. Together and in solo performances, they will improvise lyrics and debut new songs inspired by Guthrie, as well as featuring his ideals and newly discovered poems and note- books. The tour is presented by HeadCount, a nonprofit group that promotes voter registration Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens to check in with some central registry before being allowed to vote in elections. An effort to get people to register is known as a voter registration drive. Centralized/compulsory vs. and turnout. While Wasserman doesn't see the show as politically left or right, he hopes crowds will leave determined to get involved. "I don't want to say vote Democrat or Green or yellow or blue, but if everyone votes, they're going to feel a little more responsibility for what happens after," Wasserman said by telephone from his home in Mill Valley, Calif. "When you read about Woody Guthrie, he didn't really protest so much as he was always in the middle of everything that was going on." Nora Guthrie, Guthrie's daughter and keeper of his archives - some 10,000 original song lyrics, notebooks, manuscripts, personal papers, artwork and recordings - first contacted Wasserman five years ago, inviting him to put his bass together with Guthrie's unseen journals. That project, due out next spring, will feature Wasser- man's take on unreleased lyrics and poems with Ani DiFranco, Lou Reed, Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (born May 16, 1912) is an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. Early life and career Terkel was born in New York, NY, but at the age of two, he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois, where he has spent most of his life. , DJ Logic, Michael Franti and others. Wasserman was jamming at home this past summer with Herman and Page when the talk turned to that project. When Wasserman showed Guthrie's material, Herman and Page "flipped out," he said, and the Spirit of Guthrie Tour was born. "We started talking about Woody Guthrie's life and how relevant it would be to the upcoming election, since he's such an activist and such a musician of the people - the true definition of folk musician, people's musician," Wasserman said. "It just seemed like it would be fun to try to use some of these words during a show, and make up some new musical material to go along with the words." Herman and Page will pro- vide improvised lyrics, Wasserman will play bass. Together, they'll debut new songs. The trick is presenting Guthrie's words, which can be serious or lighthearted, and sometimes layered with double-meanings that fit his working-man bent. A 1940s poem, for example, refers to a lonely and barren desert that, "sprinkled with union waters, turns sands to fertile lands." "Union Air in Union Square," on the other hand, is comical: "I walked out in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of town to the place called Union Square/ Where trees are thick and people bark and the pigeons fill the air/ Where pure manure and bird drops are flying from the sky/ You'll get it in your ears and brain, as well as in your eye." The trio planned to map the show out just two days prior to embarking on the 16-date tour that started earlier this month. While each musician had time to rehearse their individual performances, Wasserman said the brief planning period is in keeping with the spirit of the tour. "A big part of this thing is spontaneity," Wasserman said. "They're not going to be like pop tunes. We're not too worried, because a lot of it is based on improv A multidimensional Windows spreadsheet from Lotus that allows for easy switching to different views of the data. Data are referenced by name as in a database, rather than the typical spreadsheet row and column coordinates. Improv was originally developed for the NeXt computer. , and Woody Guthrie pretty much would just get up there and make up these words. `That's why there are thousands of (Guthrie) things that have been discovered." CONCERT PREVIEW Spirit of Guthrie Tour With: Rob Wasserman, Vince Herman, Jim Page When: 9 p.m. today Where: WOW Hall, 291 W. Eighth Ave. Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at the door; 687-2746 CAPTION(S): Clockwise from above: The Spirit of Guthrie tour features Rob Wasserman, a bassist who has played with Lou Reed, Bob Weir and others; Vince Herman, lead singer of Leftover Salmon; and singer-songwriter Jim Page. |
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