Historic Videos

Okemah, Oklahoma’s first hometown tribute for their native son Woody Guthrie was held on December 1, 1988 at the historic Crystal Theatre, built in 1921. Woody Guthrie performed on this very stage as a member of Okemah’s High School Glee Club. Guthrie died in 1967 after a long struggle with Huntington’s chorea, a hereditary degenerative brain disease. Twenty years after Woody Guthrie died, Minnesota musician Larry Long decided to continue in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie and become a traveling troubadour. With a grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Arts Council, Long moved to Okemah and began working with Okemah school students in the Oakes Elementary School and in the Okemah Middle School where he became an artist-in-residence. Over several years Long managed to garner support from local residents to have the students participate in a Woody Guthrie tribute concert.

Larry Long – All Across America (Official Music Video)

Firefighter (Duty, Honor, Courage) by Larry Long & American Roots Revue
The Minnesota Firefighter Initiative (MnFIRE) and American singer-songwriter Larry Long have partnered to release a new song that highlights the need to do more to protect the health of Minnesota’s firefighters. The song, called “Firefighter (Duty, Honor, Courage),” was written with MnFIRE as an anthem for the state’s firefighters as the 2020 legislative session begins and the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program (SF2264 and HF1782) is up for consideration once again.

Larry Long presents Be Kind To All That Live (Honoring Helen Tsuchiya)
Helen Tanigawa Tsuchiya (December 25, 1924 – February 4, 2017) was a Japanese-American woman known for her resilience and advocacy following her internment during World War II. Born in Selma, California, to Japanese immigrant parents, she grew up on her family’s grape farm alongside her three sisters and one brother.

Pete Seeger & Larry Long “Well May The World Go”
Peter Yarrow asks we share this recording from Smithsonian Folkways CD, Well May The World Go (SFW40114). It is also featured on If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol 2, Appleseed Recordings. The interview came out of a two hour conversation with Pete, while traveling with him in California to the Children’s Music Network Conference.

Larry Long presents “Tibet”
Gyatsho Tshering (1936–2009) was a Tibetan scholar and librarian who played a key role in preserving Tibetan literature and culture. He served as the director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala, India, where he worked to safeguard Tibetan manuscripts and promote research on Tibetan history and Buddhism. His efforts contributed significantly to the documentation and dissemination of Tibetan heritage in exile.

Pete Seeger & Larry Long “Well May The World Go”
Peter Yarrow asks we share this recording from Smithsonian Folkways CD, Well May The World Go (SFW40114). It is also featured on If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol 2, Appleseed Recordings. The interview came out of a two hour conversation with Pete, while traveling with him in California to the Children’s Music Network Conference.

Larry Long Presents American Roots Revue
A legendary Minneapolis rocker now by way of New Orleans and a well known New York actor, writer and international blues recording artist — both with deep ties to America’s broadly defined folk music traditions — joined the latest incarnation of the American Roots Revue for two shows at the Dakota, Saturday, March 7. Soul Asylum leader Dave Pirner and the multi-talented Guy Davis will team up with Minneapolis Gospel singer Robert Robinson and Troubadour and Community Builder Larry Long, with special guest, Native American singer Waubanewquay Day.