WoodyFest 2024 – Part 1
WoodyFest 2024 is in the Books
The 2024 Woody Guthrie Festival was held last week in its namesake’s hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma, and it just might have been the best one yet.
Okemah is right along I-40 in the heartland of east central Oklahoma. It’s about 70 miles east of Oklahoma City, and about 65 miles southwest of Tulsa. It’s a beautiful little town in Okfuskee county with friendly people and tons of history. Each year the town’s population swells significantly on the second weekend of July, which happens to usually be the closest to Woody’s birthday of July 14th. This year’s fest was the 27th annual, running July 10th through the 14th , and featured a staggering line-up of talent gathered to share in all things Woody. I say it every year, and this year is no different. There’s something really special about this festival that’s hard to elucidate, though every year I hope to catch just a little bit of it somehow, share it here and hope that maybe just one of you reading this might decide to come experience it yourself first hand.
I had planned on attending each day of the festival this year, but as it usually does, life had different plans. The weekend prior, I got word that a family member in Texas had entered end stage hospice. It was one of those things I knew was coming, but still hit like a brick. With a funeral imminent, my festival plans were up in the air. Things progressed as they do when one leaves this mortal coil, and I found out early last week that services were going to be held Thursday morning. I made the easy and right decision to skip the Wednesday evening Retropective performance featuring Monica Taylor, Joel Rafael and Ellis Paul. Instead, I got a good night’s sleep, loaded up and made a 350 mile drive to Texas starting at at 3am Thursday morning. It was the right choice, and I’m happy I was able to attend the funeral, pay my respects, see some of my family, and to be supportive. Following services, and some goodbyes, I was pretty quickly back on the road, this time just another 330 northerly miles or so back they way I’d just come to get me into Okemah for the musical therapy I really needed.
I made great time, though I’ll probably owe the Texas Toll Authority a fortune for the pleasure of using their “for profit” roads. I made it into Okemah a bit before 6pm and I bee-lined over to the Crystal Theatre, with its marquee welcoming festival attendees as it does each year. Grabbing a parking spot on the street, I was able to slide into the History Center next door to the Crystal to check in with the always friendly WoodyFest folk, before darting in and catching a bit of David Amram and Friends. I’d missed quite a few performances and song-swaps earlier in the day while on the road, but I was so happy to catch a bit of Maestro Amram’s set, and decided the fact that I’d made it just in time was something alike magic. In the least, it boded well for the rest of the fest, I reasoned.
Next, I headed down a few blocks to the Bound For Glory Stage, which was being hosted this year by The Hen House restaurant. I was able to catch the last half of Don Conoscenti’s set, just in time to catch Ellis Paul sit in for a song. I’d been really disappointed that I’d had to miss Ellis the night before, but one of the best parts of WoodyFest is the opportunity to see your favorites a couple times throughout the course of the festival. There’s a great camaraderie between Don and Ellis, and it’s always fun to catch it when you can. Following Don’s set, I drove back east, and across town, circled the lake around the ‘John Fullbright Loop’ (He’s rightfully proud of it too.) and headed on over to the Pastures Of Plenty Stage parking lot to get ready for the night’s shows. Honestly, it was nice to just sit for a minute.
It had been a long day emotional day.
Things kicked off about as Oklahoma as you can get, courtesy of the Red Dirt Rangers. A little bit country, a little bit folk and a whole lot of rock-n-roll, the Rangers are always a blast and a fun way to open up the Pastures Of Plenty each year. With several of the usual suspects sitting in here and there, they roared through a fiery set that included a couple of new songs from a new, forthcoming album. Next up, Jamie Lin Wilson and her band were joined by the Damn Quails‘ Bryon White on guitar and took up right where the Red Dirt Rangers had left off. Wilson played the festival the first year I attended in 2019, and it was great to see her again. I like her songs and appreciate her sense of humor.
There are two questions I’m inevitably asked whether it’s about WoodyFest or when I’m at WoodyFest. Which show was my favorite or which show was I most looking forward to? The answer to both questions is pretty much John Fullbright. I’ve seen him a lot over the years, but there’s something special about these WoodyFest hometown revivals he and his red hot band put on each year. This one was no exception and plus, it’s always like a special treat to see Jesse Aycock sitting in as well! Fulbright’s 2022 The Liar remains one of my favorite and most listened to albums of the last five years, and seeing a bunch of those songs with this band again will be a favorite memory. They wrapped up with a Woody inspired and gospel tinged, “Blowin’ Down This Road” that just really hit home. I was tired, but re-inspired. A good thing really, as I still had another 75 miles or so of road to get on home myself. It had been a really long day in more ways than one. Tomorrow would be a brand new day, and a full day as well! Please check back for the second part of my 2024 WoodyFest Recap coming soon!
Check out WoodyFest here at their website: https://www.woodyfest.com