In May of 1941, Woody Guthrie was hired by Stephan Kahn of the Bonneville Power Administration to write folk songs for a new film called The Columbia. The government film would promote the benefits of cheap hydroelectric power, irrigation, and land reclamation from a huge public works project on the Columbia River featuring the Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams. The ambitious New Deal planners and America’s most topical songwriter would team up in an effort to create a new promised land in the Pacific Northwest. It was ambitious, unlikely, and part of a big optimistic dream to help workers and farmers in the midst of the Great Depression.
It was a very unique time in American history, punctuated with utopian dogma, progressive politics, and a new brand of Americanism that emphasized the cultural wealth of average citizens. It was the beginnings of an American folk revival as a response to hard times. As a temporary employee, Woody Guthrie was assigned to write a song a day. He wrote 26 in 30 days in a song cycle that was unusually focused and extremely inspiring. Including songs like 'Roll On Columbia' and 'Pastures of Plenty', many of these songs have become folk song classics.
KEXP DJ Greg Vandy takes readers inside the unusual partnership between one of America's great folk artists and the federal government, and shows how the first American folk revival of the 1930's was a response to hard times. 26 Songs In 30 Days plunges deeply into the historical context of the time and the progressive politics that embraced Social Democracy during an era in which the United States severely suffered from The Great Depression. And though this is a musical history of a vibrant American musical icon and a specific part of the country, it couldn't be a better reminder of how relevant such topics are in today's political discourse.
