CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – April 17, 2017 – One of Charlottesville’s favorite musicians will make his theatrical debut at Heritage Theatre Festival this summer in a show that traces back to his own folk music roots.

Michael Clem, Charlottesville-based singer songwriter and longtime member of the popular folk band Eddie From Ohio, will be part of the HTF production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song, an exuberant musical celebration capturing and celebrating the life and career of the rambling folk singer through his words and music. Conceived and adapted by Peter Glazer, the show has earned new fans and rave revues around America since its 1989 debut. Woody Guthrie’s American Song, directed by Bryan Garey, will be presented from June 30 through July 8 in the Culbreth Theatre.

Clem, who has long wanted to test his talents on the theatrical stage, calls this show a bucket list opportunity. “Theater is something that has always been in the background for me. I got a call from James Scales, the business manager at Heritage, and an Eddie From Ohio fan whom I’ve gotten to know here in Charlottesville, and that led to a meeting with Colleen Kelly (UVA Drama Chair and Interim HTF Artistic Director), and here I am!”

The new gig also brings with it a slice of delayed redemption Clem said. “I applied to UVA oh-so-many years ago…and let’s just say I didn’t go to UVA. But the essay assignment for the application was to write about some historical figure you would like to meet. I wrote about Woody Guthrie.”

The Guthrie connection was first forged for Clem on a summer evening during a family trip to visit his grandparents in Washington State. “We were watching Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger in a concert at Wolf Trap that was on PBS,” Clem said. “The communion of music, the camaraderie they shared, the banter with the crowd, the whole singalong nature…I just got the bug right away.”

The bug has taken Clem all across the country with his band Eddie from Ohio, and found him traversing many of the same highways and byways Guthrie celebrated in his songs. Clem has spent more than 25 years playing bass, singing, and writing songs for EFO, with the band amassing a sizeable grassroots following while releasing nine CD’s and collecting numerous Washington Area Music Awards. He moved to Charlottesville in 2008 and quickly established a foothold in the musical scene, performing with his acoustic trio (joined by Thomas Gunn and Rusty Speidel), sitting in with numerous other bands and artists, leading the house band at a weekly open mic night The Local in Charlottesville, and recently releasing his second recording, Fifty Clementines. The record brings together more than 30 friends from across his life and career and from throughout Virginia. For more information, visit www.michaelclem.com.

The 2017 Heritage Theatre Festival open June 23 with Middletown, Will Eno’s flippant-yet-poignant take on small town life in the most average of average American hamlets. It will also include Chapatti, a touching tale of two late-in-life neighbors who form an unusual bond while searching for homes for their respective pets (July 6-15, Helms Theatre); Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, a madcap comedy adventure featuring a talented troupe of actors playing 40 characters; the Stephen Sondheim classic musical Company, directed by longtime HTF Producing Director Robert Chapel. The season ends on a delightfully ridiculous note when International Clown Hall of Fame member (and former face of the Big Apple Circus) Barry Lubin comes to town for a series of performances and workshops on August 4 and 5.

Season subscriptions for the 2017 HTF season are currently on sale at www.heritagetheatrefestival.org or by calling 434-924-3376. Single tickets for all productions go on sale on June 9.

PR Contact: John Kelly
[email protected]