Jeannie Yandel speaks with Greg Vandy about his new book, "26 Songs in 30 Days: Woody Guthrie's Columbia River Songs and the Planned Promise Land in the Pacific Northwest."
In 1941, the federal government needed someone to sell farmers living near the Columbia River on a huge public works project, the Grand Coulee Dam. So they hired Guthrie. He spent the whole month of May 1941 traveling around Washington and Oregon and writing songs for a government-made documentary about the river, the farmers and how the dam would make life better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sH6CcsTafw
If you'd like to hear more of the music, there will be a tribute concert at Benaroya Hall on May 26. There'll also be a free concert and laser show May 28 at the Grand Coulee Dam.
Or, you could check out a Seattle Sounders home match.
https://youtu.be/aPGd5BMcLKY
