Performance by Joel Underwood
The Story of Woody Guthrie
Friday April 17, 2026, 7:00pm
Offered by Lopez Island Library and Lopez Center
Admission
Free
"Underwood's portrait performances are not strictly dramatic, simply concerts, or solely lectures, but a mixture of all three. At the end of the night, audiences know they have spent time with an able historian, a top-flight musician, and a master storyteller."
That Ribbon of Highway: Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest
Folksinger and activist Woody Guthrie composed 26 songs in 30 days while riding along the Columbia River and touring the Grand Coulee Dam Project in 1941. With his unique, authentic voice, he chronicled both the grandeur and the perils of what he called “The Greatest Thing That Man Has Ever Done” as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration. His time here in the Pacific Northwest inspired a swell of patriotism that led Guthrie to enlist in the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, after which he returned home to fame and notoriety, but also to tragedy and tremendous personal loss. Come and sing along with such beloved tunes as "Roll On, Columbia", "Rueben James", and of course, "This Land Is Your Land" while learning the stories behind the songs.
Joel Underwood is an actor, teacher, musician, and historian, currently on the history faculty of Pierce College in western Washington. A recipient of the Woody Guthrie Fellowship, Underwood was granted access to the Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to research Woody’s time in the World War II Merchant Marines while writing his graduate thesis. A Humanities Washington (NEH) speaker in their most recent cycle, Underwood continues to tour as a musician and lecturer throughout the Pacific Northwest. His webpage with a complete schedule of his Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Hank Williams performances is at jtunderwoodmusic.com and he makes his home in Olympia.
That Ribbon of Highway: Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest
Folksinger and activist Woody Guthrie composed 26 songs in 30 days while riding along the Columbia River and touring the Grand Coulee Dam Project in 1941. With his unique, authentic voice, he chronicled both the grandeur and the perils of what he called “The Greatest Thing That Man Has Ever Done” as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration. His time here in the Pacific Northwest inspired a swell of patriotism that led Guthrie to enlist in the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, after which he returned home to fame and notoriety, but also to tragedy and tremendous personal loss. Come and sing along with such beloved tunes as "Roll On, Columbia", "Rueben James", and of course, "This Land Is Your Land" while learning the stories behind the songs.
Joel Underwood is an actor, teacher, musician, and historian, currently on the history faculty of Pierce College in western Washington. A recipient of the Woody Guthrie Fellowship, Underwood was granted access to the Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to research Woody’s time in the World War II Merchant Marines while writing his graduate thesis. A Humanities Washington (NEH) speaker in their most recent cycle, Underwood continues to tour as a musician and lecturer throughout the Pacific Northwest. His webpage with a complete schedule of his Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Hank Williams performances is at jtunderwoodmusic.com and he makes his home in Olympia.