Rosa Kehoe reported this story on assignment from the Rutland Herald. The Community News Service is a program in which students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. This is the first in an ongoing series of articles that introduce readers to local Rutland individuals who are making a difference in their community.
With a grandfather and great-grandfather like Arlo and Woody Guthrie, respectively, it may not come as a surprise that Krishna Guthrie has been playing music since before he can remember. With their legacy in mind, Guthrie is making a name for himself as a performer and, as it says on his website, “(carving) his own initials in the family tree.” He and his band play every Saturday at the Wobbly Barn in Killington.
Q: When did you start playing music?
Guthrie: My parents say that when I was 1½, I was taking chopsticks or straws or spoons and playing drums. They bought me a drum set when I was about 2.
When did you start singing? What made you want to keep going?
About 15 years ago now. I started taking it seriously about 10 years ago. … From a very young age, I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life. … I started gigging professionally when I was 12. Over the years, it’s been the ebb and flow of being able to support myself or not. But for the last 10 years, I’ve been pretty solid in the music business. And the last seven or so, I haven’t had another job that’s supporting me. So it just keeps moving upwards.
How has being a descendant of Woody and Arlo Guthrie shaped your life and music?
It’s been interesting because until I was about 18, I didn’t really understand how famous they were outside of the family. It’s hard to see that stuff when you’re a kid. … I was touring with Arlo, and my dad played with him, too, and this was just what my family does. … When I kind of figured out how important Woody and Arlo were to the rest of the world, it made me go, “Oh, OK, well I don’t want to just grow up in the shadow of them and be expected to just do what they did. If I’m going to do this, I want to do it my own way.” So I decided to stop playing with the family and grow my own brand. I am really proud of where I come from. I think it’s really cool, but I also try to separate myself from that legacy. I still play some of their songs, to pay tribute to the family.
How does it feel to follow in their footsteps?
I think it’s really cool that most of my family is musical in one way or another … how something like that can run through the family. And even though I’m not directly following in their footsteps, I think it’s really cool that we walked on the same trail for a little while.
What struggles do you face when writing new songs? How long does it take before you’re finished?
I guess I struggle with lyrics the most. I want them to speak to people, but sometimes I tend to overthink them. … Some songs I have written in an hour — it just came and went really quickly. There’s some that have taken me years to craft and perfect the way that I like them.
What is your favorite song you wrote, and what was the meaning behind it?
“The Struggle” and “One Shot.” “The Struggle” is about three different types of people you meet throughout life. People that when you are happy and they are happy, you guys get along fine. When something else happens in your life that brings you down, they decide you are too much and don’t want to hang out with you anymore. The second type is the type you meet when you are down, and don’t like to see you succeed. They don’t want you to leave them. The third type that loves you no matter what goes on in life. “One Shot” is about one of my best friends that committed suicide, almost six years ago now. It’s a story about how it happened.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
Honestly, I have no idea what I would do without music. If I was not performing music, I would probably side step to audio engineering.