Blues-folk singer and slide guitarist Rory Block
(HOUSATONIC, Mass.) – John Gorka, Christine Lavin, Dan Bern, Bill Staines, Rory Block, Jonathan Edwards, Barry McGuire, Vance Gilbert, and, of course, Arlo Guthrie, are just a few of those slated to perform in the 2011 Summer Troubadour Series at the Guthrie Center, located at the Old Trinity Church where Alice of Alice’s Restaurant fame once lived.
Arlo Guthrie himself kicked off the summer season on Memorial Day Weekend with three spirited shows that included members of the ever-growing first-family of folk. This coming weekend, Kim and Reggie Harris perform on Friday, June 3, and folk-rock singer-songwriter Milton performs on Saturday, June 4.
Dan Bern
The Troubadour Series takes its name from the legendary West Hollywood club founded by long-time Guthrie family friend, the late Doug Weston. In its heyday, the Troubadour helped launch the careers of such musical luminaries as Hoyt Axton, Phil Ochs and the Association. The concert series at the Old Trinity Church has been underway since the spring of 2000 to support the Guthrie Center’s commitment to local and global musical traditions. Many friends of the Center who would not otherwise appear in such a small, intimate venue have graciously headlined Troubadour Series concerts. Younger and regional talents also perform regularly.
Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion
Guthrie Center Director George Laye says, “The Guthrie Center Troubadour Series is about good music, and the good people who write and play it, but music is not all we do at The Guthrie Center. Our mission is based on Arlo’s vision of a nurtured and equitable nation and world.”
Shows are held every Friday and Saturday nights (with some weekend including Sunday shows) and begin at The Guthrie Center at 8 p.m., with seating opening at 6 p.m.
For tickets and info, call 413.528.1955 or visit the Guthrie Center.
2011 Troubadour Series Schedule
May 27, 28, 29: Arlo Guthrie
June 3: Kim & Reggie Harris
June 4: Milton
June 10: Bella’s Bartok
June 11: The Kennedys
June 17: Meg Hutchinson
June 18: “Before I Forget…A Memoir with Music” (Sally Jane Heit)
June 24: Jonathan Edwards
June 25: Joel Rafael
July 1 & 2: Imagined: The Songs of John Lennon (The Nu-Utopians)
July 8 & 9: Christine Lavin & Don White
July 15: Work O’ The Weavers
July 16: Rory Block
July 22: Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion
July 23: John Gorka
July 24: Barry McGuire
July 29: Tim Grimm’s John Prine Tribute
July 30: Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams
August 5: Vance Gilbert
August 6: Angel Band
August 12: David Roth
August 13: Caroline Doctorow (Songs of Mimi & Richard Farina)
August 19: Dan Bern
August 20: TBA
August 26: Work O’ The Weavers
August 27: Bill Staines
Sept. 2 & 3: James Montgomery
Sept. 4: The Dust Poets
Singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson
The Guthrie Center is housed in the Old Trinity Church, where Arlo Guthrie’s famous song, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” was set and the movie “Alice’s Restaurant” was filmed. Alice’s actual restaurant is long gone, but Old Trinity Church where Alice Brock and her husband Roy once lived, and where the “Alice’s Restaurant” saga opens, has been home to the Guthrie Center and the Guthrie Foundation since Arlo purchased it in 1991.
Singer-songwriter John Gorka
The Center, an interfaith church, and the Foundation both are dedicated to the belief that an infinite number of ways exist to approach the “one truth.” The Center’s programs have ranged from meditation and prayer to transporting people in need, and from alternative therapies such as massage and acupuncture to support for friends and families coping with HIV/AIDS and Huntington’s Disease. The Foundation supports efforts to preserve traditional music, storytelling, medicine, dance and spiritual practices from encroaching globalization.