In spite of it all, the Grammy-winning, traveling folkie says it makes no difference to him. Ramblin' Jack, like Guthrie, tends to conjure up images of the America of yore, embodied in the traveler with the gunny sack, the common man with a tale to tell. Jack, on his way from Austin, said this America does still exist and is, in fact, “alive and well,” though it's obviously different than it was in the '30s and '40s.
So what makes Ramblin' Jack Elliot want to keep performing after 50 years? The answer is colorful and acutely honest: “It's my need to get money for movin' and diesel fuel. I like to travel. I'm not a music lover; I just do it for the money.”
Ramblin' Jack Elliott appears at the Outpost Performance Space (210 Yale SE) on Friday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. Opening for him is Nels Andrews.