Larry Long’s entire archives will be digitized by the University of Minnesota Libraries over the next three years thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources’ Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices program.

The UMN Libraries announcement by Adria Carpenter reads, as follows:

Not long after his 20th birthday in 1971, Larry Long packed his life into his guitar case and left Minnesota to follow in the footsteps of his role model, Woody Guthrie.

He hitchhiked across the country, hopped freight trains, traveled with a fiddle player, and saw America in a way many people don’t. But no matter where he went, working-class people would always open their homes to him.

Long didn’t have much money, but he could make music. So before taking off, he wrote ballads on paper bags, in colored pencil with illustrations, and left them pinned to the fridge with a magnet as thank-you’s.

“I developed a deep loyalty to working class people because they had very little, but they always had room for one more at their table,” Long said. “I just wanted to give thanks to people, give gratitude for kindness.”

Now approaching 74, Long is an accomplished folk musician and singer-songwriter. He’s a Smithsonian Folkways recording artist, recipient of the Pope John XXIII Award and the Spirit of Crazy Horse Award, has performed the world across — including at Madison Square Garden with Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, and many others for Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday — and was inducted into the National Old Time Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

Long recently donated his archives of over 150 boxes containing media recordings, performance work, oral histories, letters and correspondence, and more to the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Performing Arts Archives (PAA).

His entire collection will be digitized over the next three years thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources’ Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices program.

“The gold of Larry’s work is that he is working with people,” said Deborah Ultan, curator of the Performing Arts Archive. “It’s the voice of the common family, the immigrant family. It’s about the families and individuals who have struggled to make a life for themselves … It tells a richness of our American history that could otherwise get lost.”

The working class troubadour

Long himself came from a working class family. His grandfather quit school in the sixth grade to work in the coal mines or Missouri and eventually resettled in Des Moines, Iowa, where he owned and operated a fish market.

Long skinned fish in the market for his grandfather, and it exposed him to people from different backgrounds, like the local Jewish and African-American communities. In their off hours, they volunteered in homeless shelters. After retirement, his grandfather became a street preacher and working class poet.

“A lot of his family drank pretty heavily, so he laid down the bottle and picked up the Bible with the same fervor,” Long said. “He just had a really strong ethic about human decency. I really cherish those times in Des Moines.”

But when Long was around 10 years old, his father, a Hills Bros. Coffee salesman, got transferred to Minnesota, and they found a new home in St. Louis Park. Two years later, his father passed away; Long and his two sisters were raised by his mother.

They didn’t have much money, but people in the community — small grocery store owners, friends and neighbors, people who knew his father, members of his mother’s church — gave what they could to help.

“My father died young at 36, so I thought that I would die young too. I never thought I would live to be older than my father,” he said.

‘That’s what I want to do’

Around this time, Long started writing his own music. Growing up in the Baptist churches of Des Moines, Long listened to old hymns like “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and “I Surrender All” that still resonate with him.

But his real musical impulse came from his parents. His mother was a pianist, and his father loved to sing around the house and listen to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Dean Martin, though Long preferred The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.

It was through Bob Dylan that he discovered Woody Guthrie, and Long developed an immediate kinship. Long and Guthrie both grew up in working class families in America’s heartland and had difficult childhoods. So reading Guthrie’s autobiography, “Bound for Glory,” was a watershed moment in his life.

“When I read that book I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ So that’s what I did,” Long said. “Woody Guthrie wasn’t writing songs to become commercially famous. He was just very loyal to the people that helped him out, the good working class people, everyday people, neighbors.”

“And I had that same passion in my heart. I wanted to thank people who’ve been good to us,” he continued. “I just wanted to go out and hit the road and just get to know America in the same way that Woody did.”

Follow your bliss

In 1979, Long joined the Tractorcade protest, organized by the American Agricultural Movement, where thousands of farmers led a convoy of tractors to the nation’s capitol, demanding higher pay for crops and a voice in agricultural policy decisions.

There, he met Pete Seeger and learned about his environmental advocacy. Seeger inspired him to organize the Mississippi River Revival, a decade-long cleanup project. From there he met Amos Owen, a Dakota elder from the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota, and got involved with the American Indian Movement, writing songs with and for them.

And from his musical advocacy, Long was invited by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to travel throughout Oklahoma writing songs with students in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. There he organized the first hometown tribute to Woody Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma, which today has become the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

Long continued his educational work in rural school districts throughout Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, California, Georgia, and Alabama. Long later received the Bush Artist Fellowship and recorded two albums with Smithsonian Folkways. One song, entitled “Hey Coal Miner” was released on the Smithsonian Folkways Children’s Collection, along with works by Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Ella Jenkins, and others.

“All that happened like a river because I followed my calling,” Long said. “To all the young people, follow your bliss. Do what you do, not so much to make a living, but to make a life. And if you do what you love, you’ll have a wonderful life.”

Crossing lines of complexion

While working in Alabama, Long created Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song, an intergenerational program that brings elders into the classroom to share their stories, so students can learn about each other and their communities.

The program developed from Long’s relationship with indigenous people, specifically Amos Owen, with the goal to honor people of all nations and cross lines of complexion, like class, culture, gender, and so on.

“What better way for kids to learn about each other than through the voices of their elders,” Long explained.

Four elders from different backgrounds and perspectives visit the students to give them a broad understanding of their neighborhood. At Prairie View Elementary School, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for example, students listened to Helen Tsuchiya’s story about living in the Japanese-American internment camps.

“We urge the elders to talk about struggles in life, to go deep into those things that are tough, which ends up helping students who are struggling in their own life,” he said.

The interviews are recorded and transcribed, and the students use them to create songs based on the elders’ experiences. They break the transcripts into themes, which become the verses, while the elders’ words of wisdom become the chorus.

“Spoken word connects to the folk process, in that when you hear me speak, there’s a melody to how I talk. And if you listen closely, you can kind of feel the breath and the notes,” Long said. “There’s a sense of melody and beauty to everyone.”

Once the songs are finished, the class hosts a celebration for the elders and their families. The elders receive a rose and a copy of the song lyrics, and the students sing the songs to the elders.

“It moves from students getting to know each other, to the community getting to know each other,” Long said. “A lot of transformation comes out of this process.”

The St. Louis Park Public School District has adopted the program into its curriculum, and school systems across Minnesota have followed suit. Long hopes to teach his process at the University of Minnesota to educators, so that it can be replicated throughout the country.

Make room for the stranger

Long donated his archives to the Performing Arts Archives, not so that it would be merely preserved, but so that it would be a “living archive.” He hopes his materials will be useful, accessible, and meaningful to people.

“My hope for this archive is that it doesn’t get stuck in a box at the University, but that the archive expands like a web that connects communities to institutions and institutions to communities,” Long said. “The best outcome of my work is that it may inspire others to maybe look at life a little bit differently … The greatest thing an artist can do is inspire someone else to create.”

The majority of the CLIR Grant will support the digitization of at-risk media, Ultan said, like old reels, cassette tapes, and videos. They’ll use another portion to hire a project specialist who will process the archive and work with Ultan to curate an exhibit, which will open in 2028 and coincide with Long’s 75th birthday.

Getting his work digitized and available worldwide has been “a fulfillment of a dream” for Long. With this grant, everyone will have access to his archive, especially those he has long collaborated with – the immigrant and working-class communities who have always welcomed him – as well as large institutions like the Woody Guthrie Museum, the Smithsonian, and the Minnesota Historical Society.

Now an elder himself, Long has his own words of wisdom he wants to share with the next generation: “to listen, to suspend judgement, to make room at your table for the stranger, and to move through life with a great kindness and compassion for those who do our work.”

Hop abard Larry Long & Fiddlin’ Pete’s musical train on January 4th in the intimacy of Big Top Chautauqua’s ‘Backstage’ venue in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Showtime: 7 pm | For Tickets: 715.373.5552 and/or Web | Where: Backstage | 84810 State Hwy 13 | Bayfield, WI 54814

The story of Fiddlin Pete & Larry is something out of a John Steinbeck novel. In their early twenties they hitchhiked and hopped freight-trains throughout the West passing the hat from bar to bar, performing most anywhere that people gather. In exchange for the hospitality and generosity shown by those who helped them out along the way, Larry would write a song in their honor. The lyrics were left pinned onto their refrigerator door with a magnet before Fiddlin’ Pete and Larry headed back on the road.

In the course of their travels they joined up with bassist Larry Dalton, who they met in the High Sierra Mountain Range town of Truckee, California. Now fifty years later, Larry and Fiddlin’ Pete have come back together with bassist Larry Dalton to celebrate five decades of friendship and the release of their new recording, “As In Those Early Days”.

Now this is a good start for a Happy New Year! American Roots Revue will take to the Dakota stage with a new show “Songs of Freedom, Freight Trains& Hope.”.

Show Times: 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. | For Tickets: www.dakotacooks.com | Dakota Box Office: 612-332-5299

Larry Long, guitar, vocals | Robert Robinson, vocals | Tonia Hughes Kendrick, vocals | Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott, violin, guitar, vocals | Billy Steele, piano | Larry Dalton, bass | Daryl Boudreaux, percussion | Joe Savage, dobro, banjo, pedal steel

American Roots Revue is a revolving showcase of world-class musicians, playing a diverse repertoire. Each performance features American roots standards, plus original songs by guest artists and the core group.

Robert Robinson  is reason to believe that the greatest music crosses every border from audiences in the Pontiac Silverdome to troops in South Korea. Minnesota’s Insight News calls Robert “a beloved institution.” His live performance is “a soaring presence” which always leaves his audiences spellbound.

Larry Long tells the stories in song of hard working people that highlights the courage, deep personal experiences, and heroism found in their lives within a tradition for which Woody Guthrie is famous and Larry Long continues. Long is an award-winning songwriter on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. When Pete Seeger was told that Larry is often referred to as the Pete Seeger of Minnesota, Pete replied “I would be honored to be called the Larry Long of New York”.

Tonia Hughes Kendrick is notably one of Minnesota’s most gifted artists. Her voice has mesmerized audiences across the nation including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York and with the Minnesota Orchestra close to home.  Tonia is a recipient of the prestigious and coveted Musician’s Fellowship from the McKnight Foundation.

Billy Steele is a member of the Grammy Award winning ‘Sounds of Blackness’ and the legendary Steeles who have toured the world performing and recording with Prince, Mavis Staples, Five Blind Boys of Alabama and many more. His voice can be heard on soundtracks with Rod Stewart and James Earl Jones. He has an honesty and humility that touches the hearts of all who hear him sing and perform.

Pete Watercott is one of the most amazing fiddle players in the world. After meeting up with Larry Long in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1971, they began hitchhiking and hopping freight-trains throughoutthe western United States performing most anywhere that people gather.  Pete now calls the High Sierra Nevada Mountain Range home, where he is a mainstay at the Mill Pond Music Festival and the NationalCowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko,  Nevada.

Larry Long & Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott’s life story is something out of a John Steinbeck novel.  Throughout their early twenties they hitchhiked and hopped freight-trains throughout the West passing the hat from bar to bar, performing most anywhere that people gather.  In exchange for the hospitality and generosity shown by those who helped them out along the way, Larry would write a song in their honor.  The lyrics were left pinned onto their refrigerator door with a magnet before Fiddlin’ Pete and Larry headed back on the road.

In the course of their travels they joined up with bassist Larry Dalton, who they met in the High Sierra Mountain Range town of Truckee, California in 1976.

The music they perform together is deeply rooted in the American song tradition of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills. Their live performances are an equal measure of lyrical ballads, country-swing and old time fiddle tunes woven together with threads of explosive instrumental improvisation.  As the legendary Jesse Ashlock, who performed with Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys remarked, “You guys got an entirely different sound and I like it.” And then with a twinkle in his eye, replied, “After sitting and listening to you play Pete, looking back, I should have never picked up the fiddle.”

 

Now fifty-years later, Larry Long and Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott have come back together with bassist Larry Dalton for this 2024 Reunion Tour to celebrate five-decades of friendship.  They are also releasing their new live acoustic recording entitled  ‘As In Those Early Days’, which they recorded along the banks of the Mississippi Rivers through the good graces of Brett Huus, Soundstrations Audio.

We sure hope  that you can join Larry Long & Fiddlin Pete Watercott on their 2024 Reunion Tour with bassist Larry Dalton.

October 13th (Sunday) Trempealeau Hotel, Trempealeau, Wisconsin 4 PM– 6 PM: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge along with special guests ‘Big River Magazine’ Editor Reggie McCleod, ‘Storyteller & Servant Leader’ Tom Thibodeau, and ‘Brief Sermon Columnist & Songwriter’ Eddie Allen.

October 15th (Tuesday) The Commons, Viroqua, Wisconsin 7 PM – 9 PM: An evening of stories and songs with special guest ‘Community of Goodness WDRT Podcast & Radio co-host Tom Thibodeau.

October 17th (Thursday) St. Francis Campus, Little Falls, Minnesota  2:15 – 3:45

October 18th (Friday) Grassroots Concert Series, Live Well Night Club &  Coffee Bar, Nisswa, Minnesota 7:30 – 9:30

October 19th (Saturday) New York Mills Cultural & Arts Center, New York Mills, Minnesota 7:30 – 9:30 PM

October 20th (Sunday) Granite City Folk Society, Bo Diddley’s, St. Cloud, Minnesota  7:00 – 9:00 PM

October 22nd (Tuesday) American School of Storytelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

 

 

 

 

 

Okemah, Oklahoma’s first tribute for Woody Guthrie will be available on digital platforms worldwide on July 14, 2024.  The first tribute took place on December 1, 1988 at the historic Crystal Theatre in Okemah.  This album is a live recording of that event.   It contains works by Guthrie, as well as songs collectively written by Larry Long and children of Oklahoma.

The event played before a full house which included Guthrie’s sister, Mary Jo Edgmon, who wrote, “I felt the warmth of my family all around me. Clara, Roy, Woody, George, Papa and Mama. They, too, all sat in this very theater many years ago. When the children came marching down the aisle and onto the stage, I swelled with pride and the tears came. I knew Woody was watching.”

Besides Larry Long and seventy school children from Okemah, Langston, and Davenport, Oklahoma there was banjo virtuoso Alan Munde, “Fiddlin’ Pete” Watercott, gospel pianist Shirley Davis, Woodrow (Wotko) Haney and  Olen Edwards.  This was not only the first time that an African American Choir had ever graced the stage of the Crystal Theatre, but that Woody Guthrie’s words were spoken in both the Seminole & Creek language.

As a result of Long’s work in Okemah, an organization known as W.O.O.D.Y. (Woody Guthrie Okemah Organization for Developing Youth) was born. Founding members included Okemah residents Carolyn Price, Dr. Larry and Vicki McKinney, Lois Tanner, Mark Smyth, Shari Parks, Bobby Massey, and Mike and Wilma Lambeth. The organization’s goal was to hold an annual event to not only honor Woody Guthrie, but to also raise funds for the education of local youth. This organization eventually transitioned into the Woody Guthrie Coalition Inc.

One of the featured songs on this collection, which was collectively written with Okemah youth, entitled “Okemah Waltz” became Okemah’s official town song on November 12, 2012 by a unanimous vote of the Okemah City Council.

Plans are presently in the works for Larry Long & the Children of Oklahoma to have a reunion in 2025 during the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

The entirety of It Takes a Lot of People can also be downloaded on Larry’s Bandcamp site.

 

Larry Long writes songs the same way an artists uses found objects: a bit of local folklore here, a traditional American Indian instrument there, and, before you know it, he’s created a thing of beauty.  It might take a little time before that beauty becomes clear, but the listener’s patience never goes unrewarded.

On this, his third album, the Minneapolis song crafter and guardian of the Mississippi River has assembled a most intriguing and beguiling collection of tunes.  (Long has called in some chips, and fans of local music will recognize assistants like Michael Johnson, Peter Ostroushko, Claudia Schmidt, Leo Kottke, Billy Peterson and Bruce Kurnow).

The centerpiece of the album is a 13-minute-long “Water in the Rain,” which recalls and is dedicated to the 38 Dakota warriors who were hanged en masse in Mankato in 1862.  It also features Dakota poet Amos Owen listing the names of the 38 and offering a prayer for reconciliation.  It is a project of moving depth and emotion that demands repeated hearing and rapt attention.  Rating: 4 Stars – James M. Tarbox, St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

Larry Long – Lead Vocal, 12-String Guitar | Amos Owen – Dakota Prayer & Reciting the names of the 38 Dakota hung by Lincoln’s decree in 1862 | Raymond Owen – Hand Drum on Memorial Song ‘Dakota Oyate’| Mitch Walking Elk – Drum, Singer on ‘Dakota Oyate’.| Sherry Blakey Banai – Singer on ‘Dakota Oyate’.| Claudia Schmidt – Support vocals | Peter Ostroushko – Violin
Billy Peterson – Acoustic Bass | Steve Faison – Beanpod, Congas | Ron Miles – Rainstick | Production: Amos Owen, Larry Long, Rick McArthur, Billy Peterson

Produced by Billy Peterson & Larry Long
Digitally recorded at Creation Audio
Recording Engineer: Chopper Black
Mixing Engineers: Chopper Black & Lynn F. Peterson
Musical Consultant: Rick McArthur
Front Cover Art: Traditional Cree Biting of Birch Innerbark by Angelique Merasty (Beaver Lake, Saskatchewan)
Front Cover Photo: Ron Miles

Sweet Thunder is made available through Larry Long Music in association with Rock the Cause Records

The University of Minnesota Libraries is one of the largest special collections departments in a university setting in the United States.

Larry Long’s Archives include the life-stories of over one-thousand elders who’ve been honored through his multicultural curriculum entitled ‘Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song’. These elder stories personalize their tragedies and triumphs, often against injustice and terrible odds, while contributing to the well-being of their communities.

This collection also includes artifacts from Larry’s fifty-years of performing and organizing throughout the world, including the Central Minnesota Powerline Struggle, American Agriculture Movement’s Tractorcade to Washington D.C., Senator Paul Wellstone, Mississippi River Revival, Run For Freedom with Lakota youth, American Indian Movement, Pete Seeger, Studs Terkel, Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott, Kris Kristofferson, Meridel Le Sueuer, Hormel Strike, Soviet-American Peace Cruises down the Volga and Mississippi Rivers, South Africa, Brazil, PACERS Small Schools Cooperative in rural Alabama, honoring of Mrs. Rosa Parks at the 45th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the first hometown tribute for Woody Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma.

The University of Minnesota’s goal is to have Long’s archives digitized and available to the public by for his 75th birthday on November 21, 2026.

Larry Long Music in association with Rock the Cause Records & the Orchard are happy to announce the release of Dove with Claws by LARRY LONG from the Melvin James Sessions on digital platforms worldwide, including Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, iTunes, YouTube, and more.
As Eddie Allen, Brief Sermon Columnist, writes in the linear notes, “The late Johnny Cash coined the phrase “a dove with claws” to describe the fierce pacifism that grew from his first-hand look at America’s endless wars while entertaining soldiers in Vietnam. Cash’s words are a perfect description of the life and work of Larry Long. Long’s music had an indelible influence on a young cousin fromhttps://orcd.co/2008jk2 Iowa who became the charting rock artist, Melvin James. Now Larry and Melvin have joined forces. The claws of Melvin’s guitar sharpen the urgency of Long’s message in a way that will surprise and delight you. “
Featured songs: All Across America (3:04), Lay Me Down Easy (3:53), Mississippi Levee (2:48), Living In A Rich Man’s World (3:55), Walking Like Rain (4:45), Circle Time (2:54), Joshua Tree (4:03)
Seven Strong Women (3:08), Old Ways (3:27), Lay Hatred Down (3:27), plus bonus track Uncle Mel (2:31).
In celebration of today’s release filmmaker Bob Trench kindly uploaded ‘Living in a Rich Man’s World Director’s Cut’ onto my LarryLongTroubadour YouTube Channel to view.
Larry Long: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica | Melvin James: Backup Vocals, Guitar, Drums | Sid Gasner: Bass | Sandy Berlin: Backup vocals on Lay Hatred Down & Joshua Tree
Recorded at Junior’s Motel, Otho, Iowa | Special thanks to Kirk Kaufman for his hospitality | Photographs: Roger Feldhans | Design: Planet Claire Creative
All words & music by Larry Long | Produced by Melvin James
Larry had a lengthy association with folk music icon Pete Seeger. When Larry got together with Phil Nusbaum from JAZZ 88.FM to talk about the American Roots Revue, Larry first addressed the influence of Pete Seeger.  The show will be broadcast the week of January 8; Monday 8:20PM Thursday 11:20AM and 5:20PM.  Listen now by clicking on JAZZ 88FM.
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 PM
For tickets: www.dakotacooks.com
Box Office: 612-332-5299
 Dakota Address: 1010 Nicollet Mall | Minneapolis MN 55403

For over 40 years Larry Long worked in communities throughout the United States honoring over one-thousand elders through his program Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song. 

Two years ago his alma mater, St. Louis Park Schools, contracted Larry to assist in integrating Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song  into their curriculum.

One of the elders they honored was Nadia Mohamed, subsequently elected mayor of St. Louis Park, becoming the first elected Somali American immigrant in the US to serve as mayor in any state.

Here is a portion of the words she shared with 4th grade students in the St. Louis Park Schools. In response, the students then honored Ms. Mohamed and other community elders with a song and celebration.

I am Somalian American. That means I come from Africa. I’ve been here for about 15 years. I graduated from the high school, and I have a twin brother, which is a pretty cool thing.   I have a little brother, a little sister, and one older brother.  So in total we are a family of seven including my two parents. . .We all grew up in St. Louis Park. . . it was pretty difficult for me because there wasn’t a lot of kids that looked like me. And there weren’t kids that were dressed like me. When I say dressed like me, as you guys can tell, I wear a longer skirt, right? And I wear a hijab. . . or a scarf.

There are a lot of times where I didn’t feel like the things that were being done around me were right. So, I think I waited up until like college to start talking. That’s when I found my voice, I started going to community events. I actually went to Susan Lindgren. . .to their parent-teacher committee. .  I had conversations with them about how to be more inclusive with their students, with parents of color, and just kind of having those conversations and going to those community events, my voice got louder and louder and louder. Then I won a human rights award from the city, which is just basically saying that you fight for, or you advocate for human rights. Right?

After I won the human rights award, the council member before me reached out. . . you should run for office. . . at the time, I think the only person of color . . . in a position of an elected official was Barak Obama. . .

So, when you come from a different country, especially from Somalia, it is so different from America, right? Our grocery stores are like fresh markets. Everything is outside. Our fruits are outside, our meats. Everything is just fresh. There’s no like frozen stuff. I don’t know if you guys know this, but the main reason why a lot of people moved away from Somalia, because there was a war that broke out.

There was no school systems set up. There was no health system set up, a lot of the things that we had that made us a successful country, we lost during the war. So, a lot of people were like my children, needing a better future.  They need to get an education.  They need to do better than I am.  I can’t keep being afraid for my life.

Be kind to yourself as much as you are kind to others. And truly and actually believe in yourself that you can quite literally do anything.”

 

 

American Roots Revue is baaaaack! The Revue’s stellar players slated for the band’s return for two shows on Saturday, January 13th in the new year include gospel legend Robert Robinson, R&B, soul singer and actor Tonia Hughes Kendrick, American Troubadour Larry Long, singer-songwriter and film composer Barbara Cohen, vocalist & keyboardist Billy Steele, drummer Michael Bland with Cellist Jacqueline Ultanlead guitarist Jeremy Yivisaker, Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott, bassist Liz Draper, and Anishinaabe Ojibwe singer Alana Dickenson-Gaabay Aniikwaad.

Indigenous song, Gospel, R&B, Blues, Folk, Rock and all stops in between and combined are on tap when the American Roots Revue takes the Dakota stage with its most robust – and rootsiest – lineup ever! The evening will swing from an Anishinaabe Ojibwe tribute for water to rhythm and blues, old-time fiddle tunes, soul, folk, and gospel and a handful of memorable Larry Long original tunes.

Band Led by former Prince and current Soul Asylum Drummer Michael Bland and Keyboardist Billy Steele from Sounds of Blackness.

Show Times: 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
For tickets: www.dakotacooks.com
Box Office: 612-332-5299

“You could think of the American Roots Revue as Larry Long’s version of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. Well-known rockers, soul singers, folkies and other first-class musicians rotate through the line-up at different gigs, giving audiences the rare chance to see different artists collaborating on each other’s songs.” – Martin Keller, Twin Cities Author & Journalist

American Roots Revue’s last performance at the Dakota in October 2022 was featured on the inaugural of STAGE TPT-PBS.

That performance is also captured on American Roots Revue Live at the Dakota and is now available on all social media platforms, Spotify, Apple, etc., plus on CD.  Available for purchase online through the Dakota.

Larry Long writes songs the same way an artists uses found objects: a bit of local folklore here, a traditional American Indian instrument there, and, before you know it, he’s created a thing of beauty.  It might take a little time before that beauty becomes clear, but the listener’s patience never goes unrewarded.

On this, his third album, the Minneapolis song crafter and guardian of the Mississippi River has assembled a most intriguing and beguiling collection of tunes.  (Long has called in some chips, and fans of local music will recognize assistants like Michael Johnson, Peter Ostroushko, Claudia Schmidt, Leo Kottke, Billy Peterson and Bruce Kurnow).

The centerpiece of the album is a 13-minute-long “Water in the Rain,” which recalls and is dedicated to the 38 Dakota warriors who were hanged en masse in Mankato in 1862.  It also features Dakota poet Amos Owen listing the names of the 38 and offering a prayer for reconciliation.  It is a project of moving depth and emotion that demands repeated hearing and rapt attention.  Rating: 4 Stars – James M. Tarbox, St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

Larry Long – Lead Vocal, 12-String Guitar | Amos Owen – Dakota Prayer & Reciting the names of the 38 Dakota hung by Lincoln’s decree in 1862 | Raymond Owen – Hand Drum on Memorial Song ‘Dakota Oyate’| Mitch Walking Elk – Drum, Singer on ‘Dakota Oyate’.| Sherry Blakey Banai – Singer on ‘Dakota Oyate’.| Claudia Schmidt – Support vocals | Peter Ostroushko – Violin
Billy Peterson – Acoustic Bass | Steve Faison – Beanpod, Congas | Ron Miles – Rainstick | Production: Amos Owen, Larry Long, Rick McArthur, Billy Peterson

Produced by Billy Peterson & Larry Long
Digitally recorded at Creation Audio
Recording Engineer: Chopper Black
Mixing Engineers: Chopper Black & Lynn F. Peterson
Musical Consultant: Rick McArthur
Front Cover Art: Traditional Cree Biting of Birch Innerbark by Angelique Merasty (Beaver Lake, Saskatchewan)
Front Cover Photo: Ron Miles

Sweet Thunder is made available through Larry Long Music in association with Rock the Cause Records

Larry Long’s lost classic Run For Freedom has been reissued and remastered digitally for the first time. Run for Freedom is a tapestry of working-class anthems and social justice hymns from a bygone era that still speak urgently to the social and environmental justice activations of the present day. We encourage you to discover Run For Freedom for yourself and dig deep into the legacy of one of America’s still-living folk greats!  – Scott Herald, Rock the Cause Records   (Click to stream or download)

From Woody Guthrie’s America, Larry Long has come a-singing and organizing, his dog Dubious at his side, his guitar slung handsomely over his faded work shirt. Long hasn’t made a record in a number of years and if you studied his calendar, you’d see why he hasn’t had the time.  For one he spent three years organizing chapters up and down the Mississippi ver, trying to clean up the Big Muddy.  Two, he’s put in a lot of time singing for the American Indians and their numerous causes, not to mention Central American peace committees, farmers who are about to lose the seat of their pants plus their land, and just about anyone else who asks to be on his mailing list.

So, Run for Freedom is a long-time a-comin’, but it’s come out real good (as they say down on the farm) in the long run.  Moving to the city from his little Granite City abode in St. Cloud has sharpened his musical wits and exposed him to a wide range of non-folkie players, most of whom he uses judiciously and, in the case of Billy Peterson, the grand Twin Cities bassist, poetically.  Peterson’s playing on “Michael” is as spirited as it can get without drawing to much attention to itself.  And although the ubiquitous Claudia Schmidt falls apart on “It Feels OK,” crumbling into the contagious laughter Long can elicit with his own big grin and muse, that’s OK, too. ‘Cause throughout “Run for Freedom” a genuine spiritless remains – even when the story is told at the expense of songcraft, “Anna Mae” is a case in point.  The song seeks to immortalize people such as Anna Mae Aquash, a recent Indian hero, and by some accounts, including Long’s, a martyr for a human and just cause – Indian rights. The message gets in the way, but the emotion runs so true within the tale that it finally doesn’t matter whether the songs itself works.

The rest of Long’s second record is chock full of American folksinger attributes – tuneful melodies and strong lyrics looped over tunes about the wide panorama of North America’s varied regions. It has what John Wayne called “true grit”.

In “Blue Highway” Long confirms the sentiment of William Least Heat Moon’s travelogue, “Blue Highways”.  Both are about life on the road, as so many good American stories are, and Long underlines the same dimension: the unseen people who live along those untraveled backroads and affect us with their invisibility.  (Long penned this song as he watched the river near St. Anthony Falls and claims that he never laid eyes on Moon’s best seller).

The passing of causes and individuals – whether their American Indians or farmers resorting again to penny sales Long sings about in “Grandma’s Penny Sale” – represents an important time in American history. The folk singer has always been there to record his or her version of these transitions, whether they’re tragic or magical, (the feeling behind “Sacred Black Hills” covers both). To his credit, Long’s written and recorded the transitions of our time in one of the finest national anthems the USA has ever heard – “American Hymn” – a deep song that makes room for everyone, regardless of political motivation or how you feel about corporations or fishing rights on Leech Lake.

Larry Long has a pretty good idea about what’s bad in America.  But more importantly he understands it’s people.  So, when he’s singing these songs, he’s really just singing about me and you, and how we stand above what some other folkie once called “the fruited plain”.  The patriot who wrote those lines would do well to check out the “Run for Freedom” LP.  The population has changed quite drastically – more newborn babies, worldwide immigrants, and illegal aliens everyday – since “purple mountains’ majesty” was an “in phrase”.  Long might be able to provide quite a few new lines for “America the Beautiful.”  Knowing his budget for such endeavors, it’s likely he’d work cheap with this fellow songwriter, providing, of course, the chap picks up a copy of this vinyl history.  – Martin Keller | City Pages| 1984

Join the Alliance and community leaders for its fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Celebration, an extraordinary evening with inspiring talks, music and delicious French Meadow food & drinks. Discover the incredible impact the Alliance has had over 40 years and its innovative programs and vision for the next 40. Be uplifted by thought-provoking talks by famed Diet for a Small Planet author, Alternative Nobel-Prize winner and Small Planet Institute Founder Frances Moore Lappé, along with Alliance Co-Founder, President and author Terry Gips.

Enjoy energizing live performances by Smithsonian Folkways recording artist and “true American troubadour” Larry Long and award-winning singer-songwriter-actress Mari Harris. Be part of this unforgettable evening at historic French Meadow Bakery and Café, the oldest continually operating organic bakery in the US.

  • 5 pm Reception on French Meadow’s beautiful garden patio where you can connect with Frances Moore Lappé and other leaders over appetizers and drinks
  • 5:45 pm Organic, Gluten-Free Buffet Dinner featuring some of the best of French Meadow’s culinary creations, including locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients; No Host Cash Bar
  • 6:30 pm Program with a welcome from elected leaders, followed by the talks and music
  • 8:45 pm Dessert Social and Book Signing where you can indulge in delicious French Meadow desserts while getting to meet Frances Moore Lappé and get them personally signed (books will be available for purchase)

There are only 150 tickets available for this unique gathering, so please register as soon as possible.

Date & Time: JANUARY 12, 2023 |THURSDAY | 7 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: American Swedish Institute
2600 Park Avenue | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Free Parking
Free & Open to the Public
Donations go to the Ukrainian-American Center
$5000 match has been secured.

Featuring: Tatiana Riabokin, the haunting Ukrainian singer and bandura player (the national instrument of Ukraine) with singer Nataly Nowytski, troubadour Larry Long with cellist Jacqueline Ultan, John Munson of the New Standards, clever singer/songwriter Dylan Hicks with cellist Michelle Kinney, singer-songwriters Fendrick and Peck, poets Hawona Sullivan-Janzen, Thomas R. Smith, Dougie Padilla, Jim Lenfestey, Robert Bly in absentia, poet-musician Tim Frantzich.

“The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.” — Wendell Berry

American Roots Revue returns to the Dakota jazz club in Minneapolis, Minnesota for two shows Saturday, November 12th. This concert celebrates the release of American Roots Revue Live at the Dakota, recorded at their sold-out performance in April and filmed by PBS. The November show will feature new artistry by Robert Robinson (“Pavarotti of Gospel”), Claudia Schmidt (“Masterful Weaver of Story & Song”), Tonia Hughes (“Powerhouse of Soul”), and Larry Long (“American Troubadour”).

LISTEN to interview with Larry Long & Michael Bland:
American Roots Revue Returns to the Dakota in Minneapolis for Two Shows on November 12
from KBEM/Jazz88—Twin Cities Weekend

The all-star band is led by Michael Bland (former Prince and Current Soul Asylum Drummer) and Billy Steele (Keyboardist for the Legendary Steele Family and Sounds of Blackness). The Roots band includes the virtuosity of Joe Savage on dobro and pedal steel, and first-time performances by Jeff Bailey (Bassist for Joey McIntyre, Andres Prado, Minnesota Orchestra), world percussionist Marc Anderson, and new sensation Geoff LeCrone on lead guitar.

Show Times: 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Tickets:  6:30 PM – $40/$35 / $30   |  8:30 PM – $30/ $25/ $20
Ticket Sales: www.dakotacooks.com — and at the door

Watch the April performance of American Roots Revue: Live at the Dakota now streaming on PBS-TPT Stage.