Darryl Holter grabbed his guitar, hung a harmonica around his neck, and played four songs from his new album, Radio Songs in Downtown LA last week. Standing on the street corner of Fourth and Main, recently designated as Woody Guthrie Square, Darryl explained to a noon-time crowd that the songs were written by Woody Guthrie when he hosted a daily radio show on KFVD in Los Angeles from 1937 to 1939. The radio show became one of the most popular offerings at the station, with listeners drawn especially from the large population of migrants and refuges from the Dust Bowl states.

“Guthrie’s songs reminded folks of the music they heard back home,” said Darryl “But the songs also focused on current issues, local concerns, and politics that were on the minds of people in the 1930s.” Big City Ways warns listeners to avoid the temptations of the big city. The Los Angeles New Years’ Flood describes how hundreds were lost and left homeless after a powerful cloudburst flooded the banks of the Los Angeles River.

Darryl was accompanied by Tim Young and his four-string guitar. Footage of the street event will be included in a DVD that will accompany Radio Songs.

Next stop: Recording from a local radio station.