This Land Is Your Land This Land Is Your Land "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940, based on an existing melody, a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire", in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically wrote "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land." In 2002, "This Land Is Your Land" was one
Woody Guthrie Folk Festival musicians performed concerts for children: Ellis Paul and Bob Livingstone (Friday) and The Red Dirt Rangers and Melissa Hembree (Saturday). Monica Taylor and Dan Navarro were interviewed at the 5th annual "Art of the Song" radio show tapings at WoodyFest. In addition to music, several other events took place during the festival. Thomas Jones presented "Woody Sed" – his 1-man show about the life and times of Woody Guthrie. Featuring 19 songs, Jones portrays 25 different characters during the 90-minute play. A representative of the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa presented "Adding to the Collection and Continuing Woody’s Legacy". Reverend