Arlo Guthrie and Jean Ritchie are among the two dozen individual musicians, groups and organizations with connections to Long Island slated to be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame during gala ceremonies October 21 at Queens College’s Kupferberg Center for the Arts in Flushing.

“It is our hope that these inductees will demonstrate that Long Island has been, and will continue to be, a consistent and never-ending wellspring of world class musical talent,” said Richard L’Hommidieu, chairman of the Hall’s board of directors.  Board members of the nonprofit, membership-based organization selected the second annual class of inductees on the basis of their historical importance and the significance of their contributions to Long Island’s rich musical heritage.  The organization defines Long Island by its geographic boundaries to include Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Kings Counties.

Perhaps best known for his epic talking blues song “Alice’s Restaurant” (released in 1967) and the definitive rendition of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans” (1972), singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie has drawn a wide following “All Over the World” during the past four decades.  The Brooklyn-born and bred son of American folk icon Woody Guthrie, Arlo recently completed a year-long “Solo Reunion Tour – Together At Last” after spending several years touring with his son Abe and Gordon Titcomb.  He’s also shared stages with daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion.  Besides recording and performing concerts the world-over for some 40 years, Arlo has written and published an irreverent newsletter called The Rolling Blunder Review for more than 20 years. 

Known in some parts as “The Mother of Folk,” Jean Ritchie hails from the Southern Appalachians of Kentucky, where her clan was known as the Singing Family of the Cumberland.  Raised on mountain music, she’s been singing work songs, ballads and hymns and picking out tunes on the lap dulcimer (as well as the guitar) practically since she was a toddler – although she did not start doing so professionally until the mid-1940s.  Ritchie, who now resides in Port Washington with her husband, George Pickow, also still maintains a log home on the family homestead in Kentucky.  A recipient of numerous awards and honors – including The Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 1998 Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award, and the University of Kentucky Library Associates Medallion for Intellectual Achievement – Ritchie, though now in her 80s, still makes a limited number of public appearances. 

Although lacking a permanent home at present, the Long Island Music Hall of Fame was created as a place to inspire the desire to explore and celebrate music in all its forms and to be a place where the music community will find the support, resources and leadership necessary to aid in that exploration.  For more information on the organization and on the gala induction ceremonies, visit http://limusichalloffame.org.