WoodyFest 2024 – Part 3
WoodyFest 2024 Day 3 was a Hit
After another soul filling afternoon and evening of music the previous day and a half or so, I was back in Okemah Saturday morning excited about what the day offered. The Saturday line-up is always a busy one, and with the weekend day, a larger audience will be attending and moving from show to show. But even with the noticeably larger crowd, there’s little impact on the “homey” vibe this Festival has. Throughout the week of the festival, you’re as likely to find artists sharing a chat between sets or taking in someone else’s show as you are to see artists and attendees and Coalition members and/or Organizers mingling. I always have some of my favorite music conversations at WoodyFest, and that has everything to do with the people that put on the festival. Each and every year they’re the true all-stars.
The WoodyFest organizers do just a sensational job scheduling the daily concerts, making it possible to see so many different artists, throughout the day, all while missing as little as possible. It can’t be an easy process, but it must also be fascinating to witness. From working out the initial line-ups and venues, to arranging the song-swap participants, and all the other myriad of particulars, there’s undoubtedly countless hours invested in getting everything just right. I’ve no doubt the planning for the next year’s fest starts well before the current one ends. But it always seems to pay off from my point of view. Though it does occasionally mean there’s some tough choices to be made. The main daytime venues, The Crystal Theatre and The Hen House are several blocks apart, and with performers playing every half hour, sometimes some sacrifices have to be made. You might leave one performance just a tad early to make it to another, or maybe it’s just so good, you stay for the whole thing, arriving a bit late for the next one. I had both scenarios each and everyday, and I got the jaunt back and forth between venues down to clockwork. Thankfully for many participants, this year WoodyFest also utilized several shuttle vehicles moving attendees back and forth in style.
Getting started a bit earlier than the previous days, I first settled in to The Hen House Saturday morning for a fine song-swap of Jaimee Harris, Jared Tyler and Travis Linville. Next up and back at the Crystal Theatre I got comfortable for another of my “must-see” performances from My Politic. These guys were one of my absolute favorites from last year’s festival, and I was so happy to see them in Okemah for a second year, and again I was struck with the feeling that I was once again seeing the future of the festival right before me. Their song “Buzzards on a Powerline” was the first song I ever heard them perform, and it’s left quite an impression since then. Still, I wasn’t really expecting it to connect with me today like it did. Having just had traveled back home to family in Texas for my cousin’s funeral, there were elements of the song that resonated with me even stronger than they had previously. Thanks guys, you’re really good at what you do.
I made a quick jaunt back down to the Hen House to catch a bit of the Kierston White set with Terry ‘Buffalo” Ware sitting in on guitar. I’d been fortunate to catch this same duo perform at one of the WoodyFest Road Shows leading up to this year’s festival and I’ve seen Kierston quite a few times over the years. She has a bunch of new, really powerful songs, and I’m excited to see where it leads. I headed back down to the Crystal a bit early, not willing to miss a minute of Serena Guthrie’s set, and I wasn’t alone. Serena’s set was one of the most anticipated and most attended sets I saw, and as it’s been in previous years, it was one of my absolute favorites. Joined by Beat Root Revival & The Folkswingers’ Ben Jones accompanying her on guitar, Guthrie’s set was a wonderful and refreshing blend of folk and jazz originals as well as a smart covers of Blaze Foley and even Waylon Jenning’s “Wurlitzer’s Prize.” Serena lives and performs in Austin these days often playing gigs with Kathy and Sarah Lee in the Guthrie Girls as well as solo shows. Be sure to check them out next time you’re in Austin.
Following Serena & Ben’s set, I headed back over to The Hen House for Carter Sampson’s not to be missed featured set. I had discovered Carter’s songs soon after I moved to Oklahoma, and I’ve seen her all over the state ever since. I always leave her performances with a smile, and this certainly was the case today as I made my way back to the Crystal to listen to a newer favorite Dan Bern. I’d caught a snippet of Dan the previous day in a song-swap with My Politic and Chis Buhalis, and with that, I’d committed to catching this solo set for a better “world view” so to speak. I really enjoyed his songs as well as his humor and approach. Another rabbit hole I’ll be exploring thanks to WoodyFest!
I took a bit of a reprieve from walking back and forth between venues to enjoy a bit of the Crystal’s air conditioning after Dan’s set, deciding on the fly to remain for my second round of David Amram and Friends of the festival. Maestro Amram is a treasure and always provides an enjoyable and informative performance where ever he performs. For this performance, David was joined by a wealth of festival artists including the Red Dirt Rangers, Chris Buhalis, Jaimee Harris and even a special appearance from Abe Guthrie. I was glad I stayed. Next though, I headed back down the road to see Cassie Latshaw and Josh Westbrook’s band for a few rockin’ songs before getting back to the theatre for Crys Matthews, Willi Carlisle and Jaimee Harris. I’d regrettably missed Nashville based Crys Matthews last year, so I was so glad I was able to finally hear her songs and stories in person. Willi’s soundcheck as well as his songs were as exciting as anything I’d seen all week. This song swap was Harris’ final set of the week and her brother, Robby joined her again completing the circle and adding some Stellar guitar throughout this wonderful collaboration.
I was nearly back to The Hen House when I passed Tim Easton headed the other way to get ready for his set. You could hear some fierce rock-n-roll just from restaurant. Tim glanced at me throwing a thumb in the other direction and said, “That dude is the new Tulsa flash!” “That band is F’ ing hot”!
That they were. It was Tulsa native Johnny Mullenax and his band that had raised the temperature inside The Hen House noticeably. I was impressed, and disappointed I hadn’t taken the chance to see them before now. Thinking about this I headed back down for Easton’s set at the Crystal, where Tim was still raving about Mullenax’s set and the propensity of great Oklahoma music artists to be named John. John Fullbright, John Moreland, John Calvin Abney and now Johnny Mullenax. “A rash of Johnnies” is what Tim decided the plural should be, and with that, I had my favorite quote of the festival. The evening performances were coming up soon, but first I sprinted back down to the Hen House for the final daytime venue performance of the fest, always another favorite, Jacob Tovar. He was joined by his band as well as a partial “rash of John’s” featuring John Fullbright and Johnny Mullenax. Tovar always puts on a rocking set, and this one was one of the best I’ve seen. Pure fire start to finish.
The youth movement is strong at WoodyFest, and with that, Audrey Brown took the Pastures Of Plenty stage first this evening to perform her song which won the WoodyFest Children’s Festival Songwriting Contest and really set the stage for the acts to follow. The final evening’s Pastures Of Plenty performances are always a special affair, and this evening’s took that up a notch. I was happy that my wife had been able to make the drive out to see one of her new favorite bands, Beat Root Revival. She’d missed the Road Show performance earlier this year, and regretted it ever since. The husband/wife duo of Andrea Magee and Ben Jones made their festival debut at last years festival and quite simply, brought down the roof with a remarkable performance. Tonight’s performance was every bit as compelling and had people up and dancing throughout the pasture. We were also treated to some new song debuts and the promise of a new album coming soon.
Next was Sad Daddy, an eclectic quartet featuring Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Melissa Carper and Rebecca Patek. Carper and Patek had performed at last year’s festival as a Melissa Carper billing and I had really enjoyed their style, sound and performance. Sad Daddy just takes all that to the next level combining a wealth of approaches and music styles that mesh together impeccably. They’re a really fun band that also had lots of folks up and dancing.
Taking the stage next, and closing out the 2024 Woody Guthrie Festival was the incomparable James McMurtry. In addition to being likely the fiercest and wittiest songwriter you’ll encounter, McMurtry is also a fellow occasional contributor here at Americana Highways. You can check out his previous “Wasteland Bait & Tackle” colums here: https://americanahighways.org/category/columns/wasteland-bait-tackle. Wrapping up the festival with just about the perfect James McMurtry set (including a rare non Continental Club “Chocktaw Bingo”) and a guest performance with Betty Soo, just might be one of my new favorite festival memories. Maybe James’ set had just worn everyone out this year, as the usually robust finale of “This Land is Your Land” felt a bit less poignant than previous years, but was still certainly special enough.
Every year I come away from WoodyFest thinking it was the best one yet, and that always keeps me excited for the next one. When I leave, my heart and soul feel unusually full from all the great songs and camaraderie I’ve encountered, as well as all the experiences I’ve taken in. I’d like to think I come away from Okemah each year a slightly different person than I was when I first arrived. Covering a festival of this scope is a daunting task, and far from easy. During my 2 ½ days attending this year’s fest, I put in over 1000 miles driving, and took over 2000 photographs that I’m still sorting through.
But it’s all worth it, each and every year I’ve attended is better than the last. I try to document as much as I can while also taking the time to enjoy what I’m experiencing. I’m not an overly social person (I only somewhat successfully portray one on social media). But this year, I consciously tried to take the time to have a few more conversations with more people than I have in the past. After all, this really is the friendliest festival I’ve ever attended. I found it took off a bit of the edge from the task at hand. In fact I found some of the conversations rivaled the music at times. That’s hard to beat.
So that’s a wrap on WoodyFest for this year. My sincere thanks to the Coalition Board of Directors and Advisory Board for their friendliness and hospitality each year. I’m always grateful to be a small part of the bigger picture. Also, a big thank you to the Grantors and Sponsors, as well as all the Friends of the Festival for 2024. It couldn’t happen without all of you. Hope to see y’all out in Okemah in 2025!
