Will Kaufman

Will Kaufman is the leading academic/musician on the life and times – and legacy - of Woody Guthrie. His shows include history, politics and songs of Guthrie. He has performed Woody Guthrie - Hard Times and Hard Travellin’ all over the world. It is a captivating "live documentary" that sets the songs of Woody Guthrie in the context of the American 1930s - the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself. Such hard-hitting Guthrie songs as Vigilante Man, Pretty Boy Floyd and I Ain't Got No Home are brought into conversation with other relevant songs - from Joe Hill's The Preacher and the Slave to Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?. Altogether the show highlights the blending of music and radical politics that marks Guthrie's most powerful work.