Guthrie Concert To Benefit Library

A benefit concert sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Foundation will feature the music of one of America’s favorite musical icons.
“Woody Guthrie: Tunes & Tales of the Columbia River,” featuring Laura Sable and Bill Wiemuth, will be presented Friday, April 21, in the Community Room. The doors open at 7 p.m., and the performance begins at 7:30 pm.
Sable and Wiemuth previously performed at the library with a benefit concert featuring the life and music of Patsy Cline.
Admission is $30 person. Tickets are available online at: /brownpapertickets.com/event/2865420/.
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Okla. During the Great Depression, Guthrie took to the road and the rails and gathered experiences that were reflected in his music.
In May 1941, after a brief stay in Los Angeles, Guthrie moved his family north to the Portland, Ore., neighborhood of Lents, on the promise of a job.
The Department of the Interior hired him for one month to write songs about the Columbia River and the construction of the federal dams for the soundtrack for a documentary film to be called “Columbia.” Guthrie toured the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest.
About the region, Guthrie said he “couldn't believe it, it's a paradise,” which appeared to inspire him creatively. In one month Guthrie wrote 26 songs, including three of his most famous: “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On,” “Pastures of Plenty,” and "Grand Coulee Dam.” The surviving songs were released as “Columbia River Songs.” The film "Columbia" was not completed until 1949.
Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. Woody Guthrie died from complications of Huntington's disease, a progressive genetic neurological disorder. During his later years, in spite of his illness, Guthrie served as a figurehead in the folk movement, providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan.