Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Jan 8, 2004

JOHN McCUTCHEON COMES TO SANTA CRUZ

Imagine the surprise the operators at the U.S Postal Service's 800 phone number experienced when they began receiving inquiries about the song being used for the Postal Service's Holiday TV ad campaign. After all, the Customer Service 800 number is there to field complaints. But when John McCutcheon's snappy version of Woody Guthrie's song Mail Myself to You was heard in the background of the ad hundreds of people across the country called to ask about the song and the singer they were hearing.

This was one more boost for folk music, which has enjoyed a resurgence of interest, mostly due to the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou sound track.

Last year the ad agency commissioned to produce the Postal Service's 2003 Holiday TV ad went to John's former longtime record company, Rounder Records, and made a deal to use his recording of Mail Myself to You. Initially the Postal Service turned down the idea in favor of finding a Christmas song, but the agency prevailed sighting the over abundance of Christmas music used to sell products during that time of year. The ad was produced and aired and a folk music favorite received national exposure on television.

John McCutcheon has been performing his finely crafted music for over 30 years with almost as many recordings to his credit. His latest recordings are two independently produced political satires called Hail to the Chief and Stand Up. (Political songs can have a short "shelf life". John decided to put them out on his own due to the length of time it can take to complete a project with a record company.) He is multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, autoharp, piano and hammer dulcimer, which is heard on Mail Myself to You.

He is also a talented songwriter. His song They're Closing the Bookstore Down was inspired by the closing of a locally owned bookstore in John's hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. With small businesses being being forced to close everyday by competition from large chain stores this song has become one of the most requested at his performances. The people who come to see John McCutcheon value the small stores and the real music.

John has been politically active for decades, starting in his early 20s at the Highlander Center in the mountains of Tennessee. The Highlander Center was co-founded by folk musicians and activists as an education and training center for people who work to fight social injustice mostly in the southeastern part of the U.S.

Originally from northern Wisconsin, John attended St. John's College in Minnesota, a small college where he was able to work out an independent study program. Through this program he was allowed to travel to the southern states in search of banjo players, such as Roscoe Holcomb, and he received a degree in American Folk Studies. It was during that time that he became aware of places like the Highlander Center and other such political organizations working throughout the country.

In recent years John has been involved with the formation and growth of the American Federation of Musicians' Local 1000. This local started out as a sort of thorn in the side of the more conservative A.F.M., which had been experiencing a decline in membership for years. The powers that be in the A.F.M. did not look kindly on this "radical upstart" group and feared that Local 1000 would bring about the end of the Musicians' Union.

Musicians who played regularly in orchestras, on television, or on recording sessions benefited by their membership in the A.F.M. But these were also the only musicians who could receive a pension plan through the union.

Other working musicians could look forward to paying an initiation fee, keeping up membership dues and paying work dues for each gig if they filed a union contract. Hospitalization and life insurance could be purchased, but there was no real security in belonging to the Musicians' Union for the average musician struggling to make a living playing music. This type inequity was what Local 1000 sought to change.

The Musicians' Union has gone on strike for better wages and working conditions, but these strikes have almost always been for the benefit of the members who qualified to receive a pension plan. Musicians on the other end of the spectrum were minimally affected by the strikes, if they were affected at all.

But slowly, through years of work and negotiation Local 1000 has made considerable headway. It is now possible for members in all locals to take part in the pension plan. For the average folk musician this is big news and membership in Local 1000 is growing, bringing about a well earned respect from the A.F.M. "establishment". This sort of victory is rare these days and it's due to the diligence and work of people like John McCutcheon.

Every January John comes to Santa Cruz to play two concerts to benefit the Resource Center for Nonviolence. This Friday, January 9, he will play a sit-down show at 7:30 pm. He will play his children's show Saturday morning at 10. Both performances take place at the First Congregational Church, 900 High St. in Santa Cruz. John's visits are a beloved annual tradition. For ticket information call the Resource Center at 423-1626.

See you there.

Mary McCaslin is offering fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo lessons at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz. Email her at roundup@marymccaslin.com