Johnny Irion & Sarah Lee Guthrie
"Enjoying the nostalgia their music evokes in the audience, they play a perfect balance of traditional music stemming from their folk and country roots, accompanied by original songs and stories making them a "refreshing and unpredictable addition to American roots music."-- The Independent (Raleigh, NC)
"Blessed with a high, clear tenor voice that recalls Gram Parsons or a "Harvest"-era Neil Young and an elegant six-string style, Mr. Irion's songs gravitate toward themes of travel and movement, searching for those truths that can only be found on the open road, someplace between nowhere and any place at all." -- Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA)
"Irion ... plays mean acoustic and steel guitars and sings like a soulful bird, perfectly matching Guthrie's sweet and winsome but sometimes steel- edged voice."-- The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
Young folk artists Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion began performing together as an acoustic duo in the fall of 2000. With Irion's background in rock and the blues coupled with Guthrie's roots in folk and country, the real-life couple have developed an original sound graced that evokes the traditional, story-oriented songs their music echoes.
The couple met in Los Angeles through a mutual friendship with the Black Crowe's Chris Robinson. Irion, who grew up in Durham, NC, moved out to Los Angeles for three years where he performed in a roots-rock band. After meeting Guthrie, their friendship grew into a romance, and they embarked on a life and musical partnership in 1999. After their wedding, they moved back East to tour and write music, splitting their time between Massachusetts and South Carolina. Their daughter, Olivia Nora, was born August 12, 2002, and has already seen plenty of America in the couple's touring van.
Sarah Lee, the youngest daughter of world-renowned folksinger Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of the legendary Woody Guthrie, has embraced the music and lifestyle of her musical heritage, hanging on to the traditional stories and poetry of her past while forging her own uniquely elegant style. As a third generation singer/songwriter, Sarah Lee recently released her first self-titled album on the Guthrie family's owned-and-operated imprint, Rising Son Records. The CD has garnered critical acclaim from such publications as Entertainment Weekly and Dirty Linen for its eclectic, smokin' grooves.
Johnny comes from a family of artists. His grandfather, tenor Fred Knight, was cast as the lead in the traveling version of the Broadway musical Oklahoma and his grandmother, Rubilee Knight, is a classical violinist. His uncle, Thomas Steinbeck, son of John Steinbeck, writes books and screenplays. Being surrounded by music all of his life as well as being exposed to great literature by his uncle, it was a natural progression for Johnny to become a writer and performer. At 15, he started a band with his neighborhood buddies called Queen Sarah Saturday, an independent rock band that signed and released albums with Thirsty Ear (an alternative label at Sony Music). Touring the states and developing a wide fan base, QSS developed a cult following. As a solo artist, Johnny explores a more soulful side of his songwriting -- it's been compared to Neil Young's country rock or a Gram Parson's material. The music is honest and poetic. Live, his strong acoustic, dobro, harmonica and electric guitar playing provides a solid foundation for the duo's performances. He recently released his solo debut album, Unity Lodge, on Yep Roc Records.
Sarah Lee and Johnny have appeared at the Newport and Philadelphia Folk Festivals, as well as theatres, listening rooms, performing art centers and schools nationwide. When not performing as a duo, they tour nationally with Arlo Guthrie, opening the show and then joining him onstage as part of the Guthrie family's concert series; they recently played Carnegie Hall with Arlo, Pete Seeger and The Dillards. They toured as part of the Ribbon of Highway Endless Skyway Woody Guthrie tribute tour this past year and joined such country luminaries as Nanci Griffith and Marty Stuart when the tour played Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium in February 2003. Johnny and Sarah will play the Blue Highway Festival in the Netherlands in April 2003, followed by an Italian tour with Arlo.
The couple are now writing and recording material for their first album as a duo. The album, scheduled for a spring 2004 release, will feature original tunes like "No Church Tonight" (with lyrics taken from Woody Guthrie's archives).
