Woodyfest 2013: Sam Baker

Sam Baker

We wrote about Woodyfest reg­u­lar Sam Baker [Sidenote: This is the sev­enth and final post in our cov­er­age of the six­teenth annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. We’ll con­tinue report­ing with essays and photo gal­leries from the twenty-sec­ond fes­ti­val in 2019 as well as bring­ing you pho­tos and essays from pre­vi­ous years’ fes­ti­vals, so check back often.] just over a year ago so we won’t repeat our­selves here. Baker has played Woodyfest a dozen times as of 2019.

Baker played an after­noon set at the Crystal Theatre on fes­ti­val Saturday. Megan Palmer accom­pa­nied Baker on vio­lin. Also accom­pa­ny­ing Baker are Don Cognoscenti (elec­tric gui­tar, lap steel) and Erik Alvar (con­tra­bass). The late Audrey Auld-Mezera and the Burns Sisters (Jeannie and Marie) joined Baker later in his set.

Gallery: Sam Baker at the Crystal Theatre

I took these pho­tos dur­ing Baker’s ninth appear­ance at the fes­ti­val in 2013. I was still get­ting the hang of expos­ing for stage light­ing when I took them. I’m not proud of these pic­tures — the blown high­lights and out-of-focus main sub­jects are egre­gious — but they are a record of some­thing ephemeral. In that spirit I offer them to you.