Arlo Guthrie’s “Second Act” Is the Subject of a New Book

A new book will spotlight Arlo Guthrie’s “second act” as a musician and cultural presence. Hank Reineke’s Rising Son: The Life and Music of Arlo Guthrie tracks the folk troubadour from the 1980s through 2020s, as he continued to tour and release music on his independent label. The biography, which was released on November 3, also features new coonmetry from Guthrie himself.

A note on the book explains:

As a modern-day troubadour drawn to experimentation, Arlo Guthrie has also carried forward the traditions inherited from his legendary father, Woody Guthrie. Rising Son examines Arlo’s role in preserving Woody’s legacy of social protest and examines his collaborations with his father’s friend Pete Seeger. The book also highlights the contributions of Guthrie’s mother, Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, a dancer with the Martha Graham Company and the Guthrie family’s first archivist.

Drawing on substantial research, the author traces Guthrie’s efforts to free himself from corporate oversight of his music and art. In 1983, Guthrie created his own label, Rising Son Records, to reissue titles from his back catalog and create new music. Guthrie speaks frankly about record company blues and music industry tangles, offering lively accounts of the people he met and the places he performed. The narrative takes several detours, with Guthrie sharing memories written in the spirt of his signature shaggy-dog storytelling style.

Rising Son also illuminates the spiritual journey of a restless pilgrim: a man devoted to exploring and synthesizing the most benevolent principles of charity and kindness as practiced by different religious traditions. “What I’ve tried to do,” Guthrie has reflected, “is to use live music to change people’s lives.” This definitive biography invites new appreciation for Arlo Guthrie’s remarkable career as a musician, storyteller, and humanitarian activist.

100% of the writer’s proceeds for this book to The Guthrie Center.