July 14th marks Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, though a lot of devoted fans just couldn’t wait until this weekend: festivals and concerts in his honor have been taking place all over the world since January. Though it’s not on the official program of events for the Woody Guthrie Centennial, San Francisco is celebrating with an impromptu evening of acoustic performances from local musicians, including Sonny Pete and Justin Tenuto, Collisionville and Pete Ahonen.

“It seemed like serendipity; seemed to make sense for this show,” says Sonny Pete, who will be performing with Birdmonster bandmate Justin Tenuto. After not being able to secure a venue on short notice, he and Collisionville guitarist Stephen Pride decided to take over a room in a friend’s recording studio. Pete and Justin and the other performers will perform acoustic versions of original material, plus their own take on Guthrie classics. Pete and Justin in particular are preparing “The Dying Miner”, “I Ain’t Got No Home (In This World Anymore)” and “Union Burying Ground”. “So yeah, we’re going with kind of a working man’s blues theme,” he says, chuckling. “Hopefully we will play them respectfully and breathe some new life into them.”

Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday Show, featuring members of Birdmonster, Collisionville, and more
The Live Room in Mr. Toad’s Recording Studios
July 14th, 2012
8PM, free