By DAN ARMONAITIS
Earlier this year, singer-songwriter Johnny Irion released one of his songs, “Hard Working People,” as a single, and it ended up being featured on Amazon’s Fresh Folk & Americana Playlist.
As the title implies, the song celebrates the lives of everyday folks such as farmers, bartenders, military personnel and teachers who “keep us going,” and there’s certainly a socio-political message being conveyed.
“I think it’s like J.J. Cale meets Neil Young with a little Woody — I wouldn’t even say Woody Guthrie, I would just call it Woody Springsteen,” Irion said of the tune.
Irion, a renowned folk-rock troubadour who will perform on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at The Peddler in downtown Spartanburg, wrote the song several years ago and played it for the first time in public at an Occupy D.C. protest in which he participated at the invitation of legendary singer-songwriter Jackson Browne in October 2011.
“I was in D.C., and some friends of mine have an incredible hotel there called The Mansion on O Street,” Irion said. “And Jackson was there and heard that I was in the mansion and invited me to come down and sing that morning, and, of course, I did. My buddy Zeke Hutchins and I woke up and went down there, and I was like, ‘I’m going to try this new song.'”
The fact that “Hard Working People,” in its new studio recording form, continues to resonate is a testament to the staying power of Irion’s music.
“A lot of the stuff I was writing about 10, 15 years ago, it seems like it’s finally caught up,” Irion said. “It’s weird. I feel like even with the younger generation, these things are happening and people are a little more in tune to caring, it seems, so that’s good.”
Irion said the song probably should have been included on his latest album, 2018’s “Driving Friend,” but he simply doesn’t really like long albums and decided to exclude it.
“I write a lot of songs, so it’s just a matter of which ones go together,” Irion said. “It’s like figuring out how long it takes for the painting to kind of come into focus.”
Irion, a Columbia native who now resides in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts, has built a stellar reputation for crafting thoughtful songs rooted in the classic folk tradition but with a boldly contemporary edge that sometimes hearkens to the late 1960s and early ’70s Laurel Canyon folk-rock scene.
He’s been married to fellow singer-songwriter Sarah Lee Guthrie for more than 20 years and has collaborated with such folk titans as Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and his father-in-law Arlo Guthrie as well as with such creative figures as Jeff Bridges and John Goodwin. Irion has also worked closely with singer-songwriter Glen Phillips and with members of such bands as Wilco, The Jayhawks and Superchunk.
Songwriting “means the world to me,” Irion said. “I like to make people happy. Obviously, there are songs that are sad and introspective, but I’m always writing for that hour-and-a-half or two-hour set. There’s political songs, there’s love songs, there’s kid’s songs, there’s funny songs, songs about your grandmother. It’s just like a lifetime of work in two hours, and I’m constantly trying to update that two hours.”
Irion said he’s been writing a lot of new material lately but has also been working as a producer for other artists, including a band called The Whisky Treaty Roadshow, at a recording studio he has inside an old stationery factory in Massachusetts.
“I think I’ve definitely become a better editor as far as editing myself by editing other people,” Irion said. “I think that’s been helpful (because) if you’re editing someone else’s work and then all of a sudden you’re working on this new song (of your own) and you listen back, you’re like, ‘oh, I definitely need to cut to the chase here or extend that’ or whatever.”
In recent years, Irion, who also heads a rock band called US Elevator, has forged a relationship with Blackwing Music, which sponsored his latest album, “Driving Friend.” Blackwing is the maker of high-quality pencils that were favored by celebrated author John Steinbeck, who is actually Irion’s great uncle, and the company’s venture into music seeks to shine a spotlight on musicians who deserve attention through live performances, storytelling and album releases.
Irion has also delved into acting over the years and said he’s currently working on a possible film project with North Carolina-based author Jay Erskine Leutze.
“Jay has an incredible book called ‘Stand Up That Mountain,’ and he and I are working on a film project for the book,” Irion said. “I’m about three and a half years into the project, so we’re getting to the tilting point of either me going nuts or getting it done. But a lot of the songs I’ve been doing are based on that book.”
Irion performed a couple of times at The Peddler’s former location and is looking forward to returning to Spartanburg for his first performance at the venue’s new site.
Referring to The Peddler’s longtime talent buyer, Irion said, “Ricky (Harris) is an advocate for a good song, so hopefully people will go wherever he has an event happening. And, of course, I’m always excited just to be in that part of the world because I was born in Columbia.”