Devoted

Description

This is an album of songs by Woody Guthrie performed by a man who has dedicated himself to the subject for most of his adult life – the notable list of master musicians who accompanied Andy Irvine on these recordings includes Donal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Michael McGoldrick, John Doyle, Rens van der Zalm, and Nikola Parov. Andy spent most of his youth searching for the music he knew existed somewhere and found it on "More Songs by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston." Andy was then introduced to Pete Seeger, who told him about Woody's incarceration at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey. Irvine was able to communicate with Guthrie through letter exchanges with the help of Sid Gleason at Woody's bedside. This friendship led Andy to send song tapes to Guthrie, and a letter from Sid told Andy how Woody sang along with the recordings. The idea for this collection has been germinating for at least thirty years. It is unique in its Irish approach, with immediately recognizable links to Woody Guthrie's style of playing and singing, the result of over sixty years of Andy's study of his works.