Old Man Trump

In 1950, American raconteur and folk icon ‪Woody Guthrie wrote a song about his landlord. It took over half a century for these lyrics to surface, but earlier this year, Guthrie scholar Will Kaufman unearthed the handwritten lyrics while performing research at the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Normally a discovery like this would be notable for the folk set and Guthrie fanatics – but this song, and this year is different. Woody’s landlord was none other than Fred Trump, father of Donald J. Trump, and the subject matter could have been pulled directly from the campaign of 2016.

Now, in partnership with the Guthrie archives and the Guthrie family, Woody’s words have been put to music by California rock band U.S. Elevator; fronted by Johnny Irion who is married to Sarah Lee Guthrie, Woody’s granddaughter.

With a historic and handwringing election just a month away, U.S. Elevator is available to perform Woody Guthrie’s words at Democratic and Progressive events. US Elevator is offering this as a special engagement and not as promotion.

We want Americans to hear what Woody had to say so that we remember that his wisdom – as well as the judgment of our country’s great thinkers, writers, artists, and singers – can protect us from treading dangerous paths.