CAPE MAY – Folk music takes on a modern twist when Arlo Guthrie and Special Guest Sarah Lee Guthrie perform at the Cape May Summer Concert Series on Wednesday, July 19. The show will be held at Cape May Convention Hall, 714 Beach Ave., Cape May, beginning at 8 p.m.
Arlo Guthrie’s engaging and original “Alice’s Restaurant” became an anthem of 1960s counterculture and inspired a Hollywood film, which starred Guthrie himself. The oldest son of singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie and dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie made his first public performance in 1961, when he was just 13. A few years later, he began touring with his father’s friend, folk singer and social activist Pete Seeger, and the duo performed over 12 shows together almost every year for the next four decades.
An accomplished musician, as well as a master storyteller, Guthrie plays the piano, six and 12-string guitar, harmonica and a dozen other instruments. His 1968 song “Coming Into Los Angeles,” banned by many radio stations, was a favorite at the historic Woodstock Festival. His version of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans” became his biggest commercial hit in 1972, reaching Number 4 on the Billboard Easy Listening Chart and Number 18 on the Hot 100 chart. Guthrie has spent the last 50 years touring throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and in 1991, he purchased the old Trinity Church in Great Barrington, Mass., the scene of the events that inspired “Alice’s Restaurant.” Today, it is the home of The Guthrie Center, a nonprofit, interfaith organization that offers opportunities for cultural, educational and spiritual exchange, and works with other nonprofit agencies to serve those in need.
Sarah Lee Guthrie is Arlo Guthrie’s youngest daughter. The third generation singer/songwriter became interested in theater and dance when she worked as her father’s Road Manager on his 1997 Further Festival tour and watched members of the tour group playing for fun in their free time. She picked up an acoustic guitar, and following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, began writing, performing and recording. Sarah Lee Guthrie has appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Hillside Festival, as well as theaters, performing arts centers and schools throughout the country.
Tickets for this and all other summer concerts are $42 for reserved seats and can be purchased in person at Cape May Convention Hall, 714 Beach Ave. or online at DiscoverCapeMayNJ.com. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/capemaycity and follow us on Twitter @capemaycity. For more information, call (609) 884-9563 or (609) 884-9565.