In the human lexicon there is the old adage that says, “Talent skips a generation.” In the music business, however, that cliché has been proven wrong many times. In the case of Sarah Lee Guthrie, who returns to MOTR Pub to perform with her musical partner in crime Johnny Irion, there are multiple generations of song running through her veins.
Guthrie’s father is the legendary singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie. Her grandfather was the iconic singer, songwriter, traveler, troubadour and activist Woody Guthrie and her great, great uncle was the championship Texas fiddler Jeff Davis Guthrie.
Nevertheless, Guthrie did not begin to take music seriously until she met her now-husband, Irion, whose own lineage includes literary giant John Steinbeck, his great uncle.
Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion play a free show with Pike 27 Friday, Nov. 1 at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine.
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2013.