GREENSBORO – It was a sold-out house and an enthusiastic audience at the Highland Center for the Arts last Saturday evening at the fundraiser supporting Migrant Justice and the Vermont Asylum Project, “Voices of Resistance, Solidarity and Hope, Celebrating Woody Guthrie and the American Folk Tradition.”
photo by Vince Illuzzi
The concert featured over a dozen talented local musicians performing eighteen numbers that demonstrated the power of music to inspire us to vigorously oppose injustice, particularly right now the capricious abuse of power in kidnapping immigrants by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement police, arresting people often on spurious charges and breaking up families in the name of law and order.
In Vermont some 1,058 people have been arrested and detained with traumatic tactics since January 2025 until this past May of this year, about half of them held for two weeks and some deported to intentionally overcrowded prisons in other states without the benefit of legal counsel.
Mateo Kehler of Jasper Hill Cheese began the event with a very articulate talk about these issues, reminding us that we are on Abenaki lands, and that we all are the descendants of immigrants who wanted safer lives and better opportunities for their children.
Folk music has long been what people sing when they are told to be silent and was very important in the civil rights movement to end segregation in the 1950s and 60s, as well as in the expansion of women’s and gay rights. While at the time many didn’t think America could change, this country did become a more functional democracy built on human dignity, with no exceptions. Migrant Justice and the Vermont Asylum Assistance program provide legal help, information and material support for those detained by I.C.E.
Christine Malcolm stated the performance with a Bob Dylan song, “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” which had poetic but powerful lyrics about difficult times ahead but a determination to transcend them. Her own original composition, “Say Her Name,” was next, which had a nice melody and a meaningful message, enhanced by her fine voice. Jess O’Brien joined her in singing a “Handful of Earth,” a worker’s song with a great tune by Ed Pickford. On the back wall of the stage images of various protests were projected throughout thes how.
Patti Casey gave an excellent rendition of a Woody Guthrie piece, “Do Re Mi,” with her expressive, pure voice, about the difficulties of finding a paradise in this country. She was accompanied by Roy MacNeil on violin and Dan and Will Lindner on banjo and guitar.
Another Bob Dylan piece, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” was sung by Jess O’Brien with conviction and impressive vocal skill. She continued with a composition of her own “Gold Sky California,” evoking the peace and beauty of the landscape in a rich melody, with some improvisations by Roy MacNeil on his violin.
“Hope for One and All,” a David Mallett number, was sung by Don Houghton, along with Jess O’Brien and Patti Casey, with scenes of nature as metaphors for human aspirations. Dan and Will Lindner, Nancy Mosher (Will’s wife) and Fran Formin on bass added to the instrumental mix. The Lindners continued in an energetic version of their own work, “We Are Not Removed,” urging resolute resistance to injustice. They followed tha by the classic tune by Steve Goodman, the “City of New Orleans,” with its memorable words and melody.
The great-grandson of Woody Guthrie (and Arlo Guthrie’s grandson), Krishna Guthrie, sang with poignancy the powerful song, “Deportee” by Woody, which depicts the suffering of immigrants while being deported, whose deaths were callously dismissed by the authorities as “just” those of deportees. A translation in Spanish by Tish Hinojosa was also given. A great selection was “I Hear Them All,” written by the Old Crow Medicine Show, which brought together Roy MacNeal, Patti Casey, Jess O’Brien, Christine Malcolm and Ed Pickford on mandolin.
Roy MacNeal then gave a moving performance of one of J.S. Bach’s “Partitas for Solo Violin,” which morphed into the beautiful Ashokan Farewell medley of Jay Unger. Earl Robinson’s “Joe Hill” was a ballad about a hero of the struggle for worker’s rights. “If I Had a Hammer” was a rousing song to action for justice by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, which Don Houghton lead with the audience joining in singing the familiar lyrics. The next piece, “Lift Us Up” by Peter and Bethany Yarrow, had the memorable line, “Let it be known when we stand together, no one stands alone,” hoping for the triumph of love over hared.
Patti Casey returned with an original song she wrote after the shock of the 2016 election, “Stronger Than That,” whose lyrics proclaim, “We are not going back,” “We will not feel hate,” “Love is stronger than that.” The traditional gospel hymn, “We Shall Overcome,” popularized by Pete Seeger, was lead by Krishna Guthrie, conveying the deepest hope that love and peace will prevail. It was one of the cornerstones of music in the civil rights movement.
The last piece on the program was Woody Guthrie’s immortal song, “This Land Is our Land,” whose beautiful and powerful lyrics should inspire us all to work for what is best about this country. All the musicians joined Jeff Felinger in singing, along with the audience, which then gave them a standing ovation. Certainly this concert encouraged us all to feel some well needed hope for the future.
Tish Hinojosa will be giving a benefit concert for the Greensboro Nursing Home at the United Church of Christ on Sunday, July 20, at 3 p.m.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
