Dustbowl Follies

Woody Fest was held this past weekend in Okemah, OK. Steve Earle apparently did a scorching acoustic set, although his cussin' apparently caused some to seek the exits early. Earle fans will recall it was just this issue that caused the split with Del McCoury. That's Del's story anyway, Steve maintains it was because egos were ruffled when he got higher billing. Whatever the reason, it was a loss as they were scheduled to tour Australia. Our own Audrey Auld also performed. 

Edited Wednesday to add setlist

Baby Let Me Follow You Down
Steve's Last Ramble
Taneytown
South Nashville Blues
Tom Ames' Prayer
Now Shes Gone
Goodbye
You Know the rest
Ellis Unit One
The Mountain
Dixieland
Devil's Right Hand
Copperhead Road
Townes Intro
Rex's Blues
Ft Worth Blues
John Walkers' Blues
Jerusalem
Christmas In Washington
Rich Mans War
 
Okemah was quite slow to acknowledge their most famous son, what with him being a Communist and all.

"Commemoration just isn't justified because of Guthrie's Communist affiliation, whether he was active or duped," says Allison Kelly, a banker.

"Commemoration is justified because Woody was a great musician and a great individualist who nobody ever proved was a Communist," counters Earl Walker, a petroleum company owner who recently bought the old Guthrie house from another family for $7000 and hopes to turn it into a "living memorial" run by a nonprofit foundation.

 

Happily, things have changed and the town now calls itself "The Home of Woody Guthrie" on its website.

If nothing else, I guess Woody Fest helps kill the time between turkey hunts.