Artists
Billy Bragg
Alternative rocker, song writer and political activist Billy Bragg was born in Barking, Essex, England. His 1986 recording Talking with the Taxman about Poetry climbed to the Top 10 on the English pop charts and established him as one of the country's most outspoken protest singers. In his songs, stage performances, and writings, Bragg became a champion of progressive causes dear to Woody Guthrie's heart — support for exploited workers, the exposure of corporate greed, and promoting racial equality and immigrant rights. His most recent effort, Fight Songs: Polemic Tunes in the Age of Indifference (2012), includes blistering indictments of Bush's Iraq War, big oil and the banking industry. In 1995, at the urging of Nora Guthrie, Bragg scoured the Guthrie archives and set 15 previously unpublished sets of Guthrie lyrics to new music. The resulting recording, Mermaid Avenue, won a Grammy nomination in 1998 for best Contemporary Folk Album and introduced Guthrie's lyrics to a new generation of music fans.
Judy Collins
A native of Seattle, Judy Collins was one of the most influential singer/songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s. Trained in classical piano, she turned to folk music as a teenager upon hearing the songs of Guthrie and Seeger. After settling in New York City she recorded A Maid of Constant Sorrow in 1961, the first of more than 30 albums she would release. She is best known for her 1967 Grammy-winning recording of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," her 1970 rendition of the traditional hymn "Amazing Grace," and her 1975 arrangement of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." On her most recent album, Bohemian, she returns to her roots with a moving performance of Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty." In addition to her singing career, Collins has been active in numerous progressive causes, including UNICEF and international campaigns to abolish landmines.
The Klezmatics
Lorin Sklamberg is the lead singer for New York's innovative klezmer ensemble, the Klezmatics. Since coming together in 1986, the Klezmatics have forged an eclectic style that blends traditional Eastern-European klezmer with elements of American folk, rock, funk and jazz music. At the invitation of Nora Guthrie, Sklamberg and bandmates Lisa Gutkin, Frank London, Matt Darriau and Paul Morrissett wrote new music to Guthrie's unpublished lyrics that celebrated his life in Coney Island and his connections to Brooklyn's Jewish community. The latter was due in part to Guthrie's relationship with his mother-in-law, the renowned Yiddish poet, song writer and activist Aliza Greenblatt. In 2006 the Klezmatics released their material on two recordings: Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah, and the Grammy Award–winning Wonder Wheel.
