Arlo Gurthrie decided to retire in 2020, but evidently it didn't take: He's going back on the road.
Speaking to Billboard, the folk music legend, who suffered a number of strokes in 2019, explains, "I decided I could recuperate better in front of a live audience, rather than just sit at home, and [my wife and I] both agreed I should get back out there as part of my rehabilitation.”
“There’s nothing like playing before a live audience,” he adds. But Guthrie's new tour will feature more talking than playing. Called What's Left of Me -- A Conversation with Bob Santelli, the four-city theater trek is described as a "storytelling tour." Guthrie will discuss his life and career with Santelli, the executive director of LA's Grammy Museum. He'll also talk about his famous dad, Woody Guthrie.
The shows will take place in Boston on April 1; Albany, New York, on April 21; West Long Branch, New Jersey, on April 28; and Stowe, Vermont, on May 27.
Guthrie, 75, says the stroke has affected his ability to play music, which is why he describes the show to Billboard as "a conversation between two people with maybe some music included."
"I would rather have it that way," he says. "There may be some young people who have no idea who I am, but who got dragged to these events by overenthusiastic friends or parents or even grandparents, and you’ve got to reeducate people and tell them where you’ve been and who you’ve been and make it as much fun as possible."
And don't worry fans: Guthrie will definitely be telling the story behind his perennial Thanksgiving favorite, "Alice's Restaurant" aka "Alice's Restaurant Massacree."