The Woody Guthrie Center will honor singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez with the 2020 Woody Guthrie Prize during this year’s virtual edition of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Baez, who has performed at the festival numerous times, is slated to accept the award on August 16 in recognition of her groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes over the span of 60 years.
Since 2014, the Woody Guthrie Prize has been given annually to an artist who best exemplifies the spirit and life work of Woody Guthrie by speaking for the less fortunate through music, film, literature, dance or other art forms and serving as a positive force for social change in America. “We hope that the Woody Guthrie Prize will shed an inspirational light on those who have decided to use their talents for the common good rather than for personal gain,” said Nora Guthrie, daughter of Woody Guthrie. Past recipients who have used their talents to speak for those without a platform include Chuck D, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Lear, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, and Mavis Staples.
“As I have followed in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, it has been my mission to use my music as a voice for those who cannot be heard or have been silenced by fear and powerlessness,” Baez said in a news release issued by the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“In his lyrics to ‘Tom Joad,’ Woody wrote ‘Wherever people ain’t free/Wherever men are fightin’ for their rights/That’s where I’m gonna be,” said Deana McCloud, the center’s executive director. ’”For the past seven decades, that’s exactly where Joan Baez has been. A staunch activist, Ms. Baez has consistently been on the front lines in the fight for social justice, peace and equality. As a true child of Woody Guthrie, she has continued the work he began during his short life, and we are proud to present her with this well-deserved recognition.”
Baez has released nearly 70 albums – including compilations and live ones — and has inspired a generation of female singer-songwriters. Besides scoring hits with her own compositions like “Diamonds in the Rust” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” the soprano with a three-octave vocal range also has drawn accolades for her interpretations of songs by the likes of The Beatles, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin, Phil Ochs and Malvina Reynolds.
Baez has been the recipient of many awards and honors. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. The National Academy for the Recording Arts & Sciences (the organization behind the Grammy Awards, for which she ‘s been an eight-time nominee) presented her with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Baez’s seminal 1960 debut album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. The Americana Music Association has honored her with its Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award, which “recognizes and celebrates artists who have ignited discussion and challenged the status quo through their music and actions.”
A longtime committed social activist, as well as a seminal recording artist, Baez has been engaged in a number of social movements and causes over the years — notably including the civil rights and anti-war movements. A recipient of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Earl Warren Award for commitment to human and civil rights issues, she sang out for and about freedom and civil rights on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed March on Washington in 1963 and helped inspire Vaclav Haval in his fight for a Czech Republic. Baez participated in the birth of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley during the turbulent 1960s and co-founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence that today operates as Resource Center for Nonviolence, as well as the Humanitas International Human Rights Committee. She stood in the California fields along with Cesar Chavez and migrant farm workers pressing their case for fair wages and better treatment. She marched, sang and fought against the Vietnam War, helped establish Amnesty International’s presence on the West Coast and participated in the international human rights organization’s first concert tour. In 1985, Baez opened the U.S. segment of the worldwide Live Aid telecast. She also stood alongside South Africa’s Nelson Mandela when the world celebrated his 90th birthday in London’s Hyde Park. Amnesty International has honored Baez with its Ambassador of Conscience Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership in the fight for human rights. Over the years, Baez has also been involved with Human Rights Watch and Bread and Roses — the latter of which was founded by her late sister, Mimi Farina.
Baez was the focus of a 2009 PBS American Masters series documentary entitled Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound that chronicles the private life and public career of the living folk legend who made her debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and returned to that stage in August 2009 as part of her worldwide tour celebrating 50 years as a recording artist and performer.
Woody Guthrie Center to Also Host a Stage at Virtual Philadelphia Folk Festival
In addition to accepting the Woody Guthrie Prize during the virtual Philadelphia Folk Festival, Baez will engage in a conversation moderated by Bob Santelli, founding executive director of the GRAMMY Museum. A center of investigation for inspiration — featuring exhibits, an extensive outreach and education program, and a concert series — the Woody Guthrie Center (which is currently closed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic) is also partnering with the Philadelphia Folksong Society to present an array of artists whose music will stream online during the festival.
The Center’s virtual stage will feature music from all along Woody’s Ribbon of Highway — including his granddaughter Cathy Guthrie as part of Folk Uke (with Willie Nelson’s daughter Amy), a spotlight on Tulsa’s hip-hop artists and the Fire in Little Africa recording project being done to commemorate the centennial of Tulsa’s race massacre, a Tulsa Revue, and a preview of an album that Tulsa artists recorded at Leon Russell’s Grand Lake home studio that will drop the end of August, entitled Back to Paradise. according to McCloud. “With all that music history as part of our stage, having the presentation of the Woody Guthrie Prize to Joan Baez was a perfect choice to complement it,” she said, noting that the prize event usually serves as a fundraiser for programs promoting Guthrie’s legacy and message of social justice.
A pay-what-you-can ticket must be purchased to view the program. Tickets and more information about the virtual Philadelphia Folk Festival are available at folkfest.org.
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