Spring Revival Newsletter: Big Book News!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
News
Revival: A Folk Music Novel has been named one of three finalists for the national Benjamin Franklin Award for Popular Fiction!Look for Scott this summer at New Bedford Summerfest, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and the Kerrville Wine and Music Festival.
If you’d be interested in hosting a summer event or book club for Revival, or if you have any other ideas, please let us know. We’re always looking for new ways to spread the word.
A note from Scott
“So he got in his car and drove to New York, the Big Apple, Gotham, the City So Nice They Named It Twice.” - From Revival
I’m heading back on tour, bringing Revival to the Brooklyn Folk Festival, and the Folk Project Spring Festival, which will make it the subject of their first-ever book club. In between, I’ll be doing radio interviews on WPRB, WXPN, WDIY, WNTI, the syndicated Sing Out! Radio, and Folk Project cable TV show.
During my years with the Boston Globe, I became a real homebody, so it was strange getting back on the road last fall. Things have changed. For one thing, I learned that it doesn’t help to know where your GPS is unless it knows where you are. This trip, I plan to actually put it in my car, rather than safe’n’snug on my kitchen table. As Nathan Warren might say, “Sheesh.”
What hasn’t changed are the people. I can’t tell you how many folk stars I’ve interviewed over the years who say that’s what makes it all worthwhile. As Garnet Rogers said in my first book, Deep Community, “If I moved on to larger halls, I’d lose that sense of walking into a roomful of friends and neighbors, sharing a night out with them.” Even after all the years I spent touring, I was amazed by how welcome I felt, everywhere I went. It’s why I dedicated Revival to the volunteers, to the kind of loving energy that fuels our little world.
I wrote a story about Woody Guthrie for the summer issue of Sing Out!, the Folk Music Magazine. I talked to many musicians, including Tom Paxton, Jonatha Brooke, Will Johnson, Jimmy LeFave, Ellis Paul, Jay Farrar, and Woody’s granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie. This summer marks Woody’s 100th Birthday, and there will be concerts all over the the country, including a tribute show Friday night at the Brooklyn Folk Festival (brooklynfolkfest.com). For other shows, check out woodyguthrie.org.His daughter, Nora Guthrie, told me, “Woody always wrote in the key of you.” We could definitely use more of that these days, eh?
- Scott