Legends beget legends. In the case of the Guthrie family, the legend continues with Arlo Guthrie, who has carried on his family’s legacy of timeless folk music ever since his father, Woody, inspired an entire planet with his peaceful songs of protest. On Tuesday, April 11, Guthrie visits one of his favorite venues, the Lobero Theatre, for a night of inspiring classics on his Running Down The Road tour. I wrote Guthrie over email, who spoke about Santa Barbara, Alice’s Restaurant, and the nature of change.
How is your 2017 going? We’re now more than halfway through the current tour, and I couldn’t be more happy. It actually began last October and will end in May. We generally arrange the shows and tours in the same way that most venues do — that is, rather than the normal calendar year, our years run from June through the following May.
How do you feel about the upcoming S.B. show and S.B. in general, since you have family here? What kind of material will you be performing at the Lobero show? I’ve loved coming to Santa Barbara for over 50 years. We began performing at one of the hotels on the beach back in the late ’60s and have done the Bowl and other venues over the years. But the Lobero is one of my favorite places. The set list for this tour is posted on our home page [ arloguthrie.com ], although I’ve been known to alter it on occasion.