http://www.livedaily.com/news/19684.html
Published July 20, 2009
By Richard Tafoya / LiveDaily Contributing Editor
Folk legend Arlo Guthrie [ tickets ] has plotted out nearly a year of
tour dates, with the next batch rolling out alongside his televised
performance in the Pete Seeger birthday concert on PBS July 30.
The tribute concert--held May 3 at New York's Madison Square
Garden--will air July 30 as a special edition of PBS's "Great
Performances" series, and features more than 40 artists, including
Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez and Dave Matthews. Seeger, a
folk music icon, turned 90 in May and performed Woody Guthrie's "This
Land Is Your Land" with Bruce Springsteen during the Obama inaugural
celebration.
Arlo Guthrie--Woody's son, recently had a birthday as well, turning
62 on July 10. Per Guthrie's website, his birthday was preceded by
the annual "Summer Revival," a three-day benefit for the Guthrie
Center that takes place at the old Trinity Church in Great
Barrington, MA, where the movie "Alice's Restaurant" was filmed.
In a recent post on his website, Arlo--who has never shied away from
a political opinion in his music or speech--lashed out at the Iranian
government for its efforts to monitor and block communication via
social networks in the aftermath of the country's recent presidential
election.
The election results overwhelmingly favored incumbent conservative
candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over challenger and reformist candidate
Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi challenged the results citing
irregularities in the vote process, and increasingly violent
confrontations between authorities and protestors supporting Mousavi
found a worldwide audience via the Internet, prompting a clampdown on
Internet communications emanating from Iran.
Guthrie announced in late June that he was taking part in an online
protest to make it potentially more difficult for Iranian censors to
filter online messages. "I am changing the location of some social
networks (Twitter & MySpace etc.) to Tehran, Iran for the purpose of
giving the Government there one extra address to wade through as they
sneak around spying on their own people," he wrote.
"You guys wearing sacred clothing, holding the Holy Koran in hand,
while your thugs beat, maim and kill your fathers, brothers, sisters
& mothers - Yeah you guys (if you're reading this) - You have shown
the entire world that you would sacrifice your own children for your
temporary authority over them even as you KNOW you will grow old and
pass away, and they will live to create a world of their own. The
only question is how many will perish before you come to your senses
or stand before your creator... How much blood will be spilt before
your shame overcomes you and you shed tears for forgiveness? If the
power of your authority comes only from clubs and guns, what does
that say of your God? It would be better to have no faith than to
have as little as yours."
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