Pitchfork

Photo courtesy of the Palladin Group

Just on the surface, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck have plenty in common. Guthrie was an Okie; Steinbeck wrote about them. Both filled their work with rural people and descriptions of the natural world, and in the process, both became spokesmen of sorts for the disenchanted.

It turns out the connection between Guthrie and Steinbeck runs deeper than a comparison of their oeuvres would suggest, blood deep even. Guthrie's granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie (daughter of Arlo), and Steinbeck's great nephew, Johnny Irion, are married, and they will represent both of their families when they play the This Land Is Your Land tribute at Concord, California's Sleep Train Pavilion on September 20.

This Land Is Your Land is a celebration of the legacies of Guthrie and Steinbeck, with a portion of ticket proceeds going to aid the educational and preservational efforts of the National Steinbeck Center and the Woody Guthrie Foundation.

The other artists playing This Land Is Your Land are Cat Power, the Black Keys, Henry Rollins, Sheryl Crow, Son Volt, and Mike Ness of Social Distortion. Not relatives of Guthrie or Steinbeck (that we know of), but certainly not slouches either.