Live music returns to the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts tonight for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Guthrie Center, in the rural village of Van Deusenville, was founded by folk rocker Arlo Guthrie in 1991.
“Arlo wanted to create a space where anybody could come and we could address whatever it is they came for," said Executive Director Annie Guthrie, Arlo’s daughter and the granddaughter of family scion Woody. “So if you had somebody that was hungry, they could walk in the door and say, I'm hungry, and we could feed them if they wanted some company, because they were lonely, we could hang out with them. And Arlo has always grown up with this idea that there is a global family, that your family exists not just in your home, but in your community. And there is a global scale of that.”
The center serves as a combination soup kitchen, concert venue and museum, and is housed in the austere, white-painted Old Trinity Church building that dates back to the 1820’s.
“People that walk in this door, even if they don't know Arlo and Woody, they mention, there's something about this building, there's something in these walls. And I really believe that because I feel it personally," said George Laye, who has been the director of the center for 17 years. “There is a special vibration in this building. And I think it's just all the folks that have ever been here, way before us. When they first built the church, they built it out of protest because they were tired of getting pushed around downtown by the other Episcopal Church, the Dutch, and so they built this and said, well, we'll just do our own church. And they were strong, good people, and we feel that we are too.”
Now, the center will be filled anew with fresh vibrations as it holds its first live event since the pandemic shuttered venues in the spring of 2020 in the form of a hootenanny. Laye, a seasoned folkie, offered this definition of the event.
“Anybody that wants to sing can get up and sing," he told WAMC. "I mean, usually, I mean, people sing along at the hootenanny if they're requested to or unless they're requested not to- some artists are here to try their new material out- But it's where anybody, it's usually musicians that come. I mean, there are people that just walk in and say well, I know a song, and that happens too, and that's fun, because they're folks singing. It's folk songs.”
The hootenanny – which features drinks, dinner and the musical stylings of Rick Robbins – is in lieu of an appearance from Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, who had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances.
For Guthrie, executive director for the past year of relative inactivity, tonight’s event – now doubling as her birthday party – is where the rubber truly begins to meet the road for her tenure.
“The mission started with my grandparents," she told WAMC. "This is just the way Woody and Marjorie felt about humanity and the world. They took care of people. That's what they did. My dad took that into raising us kids. You know, my dad was not the type of person that just wrote checks. He was in county home hospitals. He was visiting people, and we went along with him. And so we learned about serving our communities in those ways. So I believe that this legacy, not just a musical legacy, but this legacy of caring for other people is really important. And my dad started this church for that reason. And I feel it's my responsibility and my passion to continue it, and come up with other new ways, along with my siblings. We're all on the board of directors. We're all coming up with ideas and thoughts. My son is working here now.”
She’d like to see the center expand its digital offerings and explore new ways to connect with the broader community after a bruising pandemic year.
“We took a big financial hit in like every other nonprofit in the world," said Guthrie. "Memberships were down. People don't have money. You know, we're just trying to survive this like everybody else, and come up with ideas and ways that we can do that. And make everybody feel good about reuniting with the Guthrie Center, either in the building or outside of it.”
The center plans to hold around six special events and fundraisers throughout 2021.
“Aside from the music series that for adults, we have Terry a la Berry coming and doing children's two children's shows in August, the 13th and the 27th," said Guthrie. "Those will be at 10 a.m., and they're free. So we're looking forward to people bringing their families back and just having a good time here at this place, because that's what the building was for.”
Doors open for the hootenanny at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington tonight at 6:30.
