Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Guthrie is no stranger to the festival circuit – now approaching his 60th birthday; he’s always performed around the world at events such as these, so it’s a real pleasure to welcome the son of folk legend Woody Guthrie to Belladrum.

He turns out to be the perfect addition to the woodland surrounded Garden Stage – a mix of old songs as well as new songs, and lots of little anecdotes that raise a smile on all of the hundreds of faces in attendance.

It’s possible that Arlo could be the most interesting man in music – even though he takes up a whole five minutes with a little tale of how a member of his band (who incidentally consist of three generations of the Guthrie family – his son on keyboards, his grandson on drums) wasn’t able to get his new mandolin strings on the plane up due to the ongoing terrorist drama at the time, and nobody minded, as he is a truly engaging person, and someone who you could listen to all day and not get bored.

However, when he does play the music, he truly is outstanding – the new material (some of it inspired by the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the U.S. last year) stands up well alongside some of the older classics, and a version of “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” provokes the awe and admiration from the crowd that he truly deserves.

It’s a shame that his name will always be overshadowed by that of his father, because Arlo is truly a folk legend by his own right, and a fantastic addition to any festival.

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