Will Kaufman presents Woody Guthrie (Monthly Program)

Woody Guthrie wrote some of America?s best-known and best-loved songs. You probably know many of them. But do you know why Woody wrote them? the musical landscape in which he worked? or the social and political environment of his time? It?s a great story, one that our September program will bring us from Will Kaufman, who delivers it with enthusiasm and wit, as an entertainer with an academic?s discipline.

The New Jersey native tells Woody?s story and sings his songs with guitar, banjo and fiddle. He?s performed his Hard Times & Hard Travelin? show across Europe and the US, presenting a ?living documentary? that takes us back to the oil boom towns of the 1930s, to the great depression, the dust bowl and union halls. We?ll hear about the roots of Woody?s music, the movements in which he worked, and the injustices that riled him and made him set down the words that many still sing.

Kaufman has long had a fascination for the legendary American radical and studied his music last year in the Smithsonian?s Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives. He uses Woody and his historical context to teach English and American studies at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England. (Yes, he?s been known to sing to his students.) We can learn a great deal about our country and its music in Guthrie?s history of rootlessness, family health issues and honest patriotism. Some of us just might find a few parallels between that time and our own. Join Will Kaufman and the spirit of Woody Guthrie in stories, songs and pictures -- and we can sing along ? at 8 pm on Saturday, September 11, at the Washington Ethical Society Auditorium, 7750 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20012. General admission is $15; free to Folklore Society members.