Hayes Carll & Evan Felker at Woody Guthrie Folk Festival 2025
The 28th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival got under way in Okemah, Oklahoma this past Wednesday, July 9th with a truly memorable evening featuring Hayes Carll and Evan Felker along with Sarah Lee Guthrie at the Crystal Theatre.
This one was unique. It was a choice songwriter’s pairing that had never happened before, set in an intimate setting that just happened to be in one of the said songwriter’s home towns, and kicking off the state’s largest music festivals. There was a palpable energy along W. Broadway Street that was noticeable while pulling up to Okemah’s legendary Crystal Theatre this past Wednesday evening. An air of excitement and anticipation unlike any I’d seen before. These were hot tickets, and the show was completely sold out with fans attending from all corners of the country.
Okemah native Evan Felker started off the set with “Every Girl” from The Turnpike Troubadours’ 2010 release Diamonds and Gasoline before introducing Hayes Carll as one of his personal heroes. Carll started with the title track from his 2021 album You Get it All, and over the next hour and 40 minutes, the pair of songwriters mesmerized the packed Crystal Theatre with song after song, and tale after tale. There were sing-a-longs, there was laughter and there were tears. I loved every minute of it. I’ve seen Carll perform more times than I can count. I grew up and lived all over the Houston area and got on the Hayes bandwagon pretty early seeing him play tiny places all over the Woodlands, Spring, Crystal Beach and Bolivar. I hadn’t seen him in several years, and perhaps unbelievably, this was my first time seeing Felker perform. It was magical, and it was all over way to soon.
Felker introduced “Heaven Passing Through” with a tale of gazing at the stars with his daughter, who was in attendance with family and also provided one of the evening’s sweetest moments by yelling out, “Daddy!” just before the song’s final verse. But it was Carll’s reference to the Oklahoma town, Henryetta and the state’s sunsets in “A Bad Liver and a Broken Heart brought one of the evening’s loudest responses, which prompted Carll to look at Felker and say, “That’s why I did it.” Pure gold. There were shared tales of traveling through US/Canada customs with elicit contraband (bamboo plants and citrus), Ray Wylie Hubbard and discomfort, childhood home furnishings, waiting on ferries and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
While the mood was light and playful, both songwriters brought their “A” games. Carll, introduced a pair of new songs from his upcoming We’re Only Human album which releases on August 8th via Highway 87/Thirty Tigers, the first of which was called, “High” (not about drugs, but it can be, if that’s what you need). Still, it might have been his incredibly poignant song about his grandfather’s dementia, “Help Me Remember” that left the largest emotional impact on the evening’s audience, though Felker’s set closing “Pay No Rent” was just as equally moving. Written with fellow Okemah native, John Fullbright, the song was nspired by his late aunt, Lula Johnson who owned and operated Lou’s Rocky Road Tavern, just down the street and around the corner. the song resonated with so many WoodyFest regulars.
Lest we forget why we were all there, one of Arlo Guthrie’s daughters and Woody’s granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie opened the evening with a short set full of Woody songs that just felt like home. Highlights included a wonderful rendition of “Go Waggaloo” and a duet of “Hobo’s Lullaby” with her daughter, Robin who was also making her WoodyFest debut.
The opening night of the 28th annual Woody Guthrie Festival was a memorable one to be sure. At a first glance, it may have been a bit of a departure from the festival’s usual approach to opening night and I’m sure there were some grumblings, but it’s also hard to argue with the results. This was the best attended opening night I recall, again with attendees from across the country. This evening’s performance set the tone, not only for remainder of my favorite WoodyFest yet, but I also believe for the future of the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival as a whole. As Woody said, “Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don’t change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow.”
Setlists:
Evan Felker:
Every Girl
Gin, Smoke, Lies
Good Lord Lorrie
The Bird Hunters
Heaven Passing Through
On the Red River
7&7
A Tornado Warning
Pay No Rent
Hayes Carll:
You Get It All
Beaumont
Bible On the Dash
Bad Liver and A Broken Heart
High
Drunken Poet’s Dream
Help Me Remember
KMAG YOYO
Good While It Lasted
Check out Hayes Carll here: https://www.hayescarll.com, Evan Felker here: https://turnpiketroubadours.com and Sarah Lee Guthrie here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahleeguthrie/?hl=en
Find more about WoodyFest here: https://www.woodyfest.com
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: WoodyFest 2024; Part 1 and Show Review: Hayes Carll and The Heathens and Show Review: Turnpike Troubadours with Lucero and Reckless Kelly